Posted by seldomseen on February 17, 2009, at 6:27:52
In reply to Re: Come back Seldom Seen!!! » seldomseen, posted by JadeKelly on February 16, 2009, at 21:28:24
Thank you for your post. Hello right back to you. I can talk bipolar for days. I consider bipolar to be a pyschotic disorder.
It just seems to me that everyone these days is pushing bipolar. While I don't doubt that in some cases it is the "correct" diagnosis, as I said, the symptoms all fall on a continuum. My personal opinion is that the "threshold" for what constitutes bipolar 1, bipolar 2 etc... on that continuum has gotten pushed way back.
What I do know is that, in those that do have it, it can be a refractory illness.
I think it is entirely possible (obviously) that one twin could have bipolar and the other not. I know some researchers at my university that would be very interested in your boys, as they are studying the emergence of symptoms in first degree relatives of the psychotic disorders.
My mom suffered for years with her illness, and left quite a wake behind her too. The only drug that worked for her (probably because she would actually take it) was lamictal. When she hit the therapeutic range of that drug, I literally saw her unwind, relax. She actually paints now, can read a whole book, and manages her money very well (which is a total, utter miracle). The suicide threats are just gone. She said the lamictal just felt "smoother" than the other drugs and her body just accepted it better. It didn't kill "her" just fixed her. (her words)
The other therapies just "stoned her out" which to some degree was true.
During a particularly harsh manic phase in which she lost her job of 30 years, she gave depakote a good try. It made her drool and stare. It broke my heart. I'm actually the one that suggested that she might want to consider something else.
Her mother clearly has bipolar as well, but the only drug she will accept is ativan.
I don't have it, neither does my brother. But the words "bipolar tendencies" (which IMHO, is what Bipolar 2 actually is) have come up in my therapy when the anxiety gets really cranked up. My brother deals with a fair share of anxiety as well, which curiously showed up in both of us in our mid-late 30s. He's a drinker.
As Garnet's pdoc (and mine for that matter) has indicated, severe anxiety can manifest with the similar racing thoughts and "pressure" that looks very similar to a manic bipolar. It takes a really good doc to *listen* to the patient, sort it all out, and propose an appropriate path to relief. I think sometimes that path may include the atypical anti-psychotics, but it all depends on how the patient presents, and what therapies they will accept or won't. Any regimen will only work if the patient will take it.
I do wonder sometimes what happens in the brain to "flip" that anxiety over to overt psychosis /mania in some people. I also wonder if the crash to depression is simply a protective mechanism or just simply exhaustion.
My current regimen is Prozac and Klonopin with Trazadone for sleep. I have long periods of relief, but still have bad days (who doesn't). My symptoms are quite stable and I predict they will stay that way.
Seldom.
poster:seldomseen
thread:878621
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090213/msgs/880653.html