Posted by bleauberry on February 24, 2009, at 19:15:06
In reply to Is this a sign of being Bipolar?, posted by incubusfan5 on February 22, 2009, at 14:02:07
Bipolar or not, I don't know. Ask 10 different docs and you'll get 10 different opinions. No one even knows what bipolar is. It is just a name given to apparently unprovoked mood swings. Why those swings happen deserves a look before trying to blindly take a shot at treating it.
But what you describe sounds like something to me that should be investigated. The two things that stand out in my mind are:
Start a food/drink diary. Carry it with you at all times for 2 weeks and write down every single thing you put in your mouth and at what time you did it. Try to identify any particular mood pattern associated with something you consume. Wheat, coffee come-down, chocolate, nuts, whatever, anything and everything. You might be allergic to something and don't know it. Once you have identified something that might be involved, it is easy to test by not consuming it for a while, and then consuming it to see what happens. You might find that nothing you eat or drink has anything at all to do with your mood swings. That is good because you have ruled something out.
From an alternative MD, integrative MD, or naturopath doctor, request a 24 hour saliva cortisol test. It measures your cortisol at four points throughout a day. Cortisol is very much in control of many things including mood. An unexplained dip below the normal curve, on your lab results chart, that coincides with when you experience your mood drop, is clear as day. A dip like that is a general hint that your body and/or mind is under a bit more stress than your adrenal glands can deal with, and they are getting exhausted. Treatment would be to calm some things down in your life, eat more veggies, less sugar, less coffee, and respect that the body is not an iron tank that can take abuse forever.
The food diary for some kind of intolerance, sensitivity, or allergy is free. The cortisol test is about $100. A diagnosis of bipolar without testing for basic things is eventually about a $20,000 bill.
poster:bleauberry
thread:881680
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090223/msgs/882235.html