Posted by BarbaraCat on July 6, 2002, at 0:10:11
In reply to Re: Bipolar or ADD??? Now what?, posted by MomO3 on July 3, 2002, at 16:45:50
Hi Mom o'
I've also struggled with the BP-II vs. ADD question and asked my pdoc. He said that a good test is how consistent your chaotic, disorganized thinking and behaviors are. If it's an all the time thing, it's probably ADD. If it's cyclical, it's probably BP-II. I've used that criteria and looking back over my life I've seen that the frantic overwhelmed life is falling apart feeling has been cyclic and is always followed or accompanied by a huge black engulfing depression. This despairing wailing black hole kind of agitated depression accompanying it is called bipolar mixed states and is presumably the most dangerous suicide prone kind of depression. I can vouch for that. It's hideous in the extreme. However, there are long periods of blessed calmness and relative normalcy. My concentration is generally excellent, except for periodic plunges into madness. This is not indicative of ADD.Have SSRI's alone exacerbated your anxiety or symptoms? For me all SSRI's and their analogs righteously pooped out and any increase in dosage would drive me into panic attacks, until I started adding lithium. This is pretty classic and sure wish I had known about it years ago - would've saved some singed nerves from all those panic attacks. So, SSRI non-response and/or agitation is a BP-II thing, but not an ADD thing.
The extreme weariness you describe is what raises a red flag, however. You've probably gotten your thyroid tested but has it been recently? As someone who suffers from hypothryoidism, fibromyalgia as well as BPII mixed states (yikes! that sounds serious) I can relate to crawling on all fours as you describe, and a bone crunching fatigue. Hypothyroidism is rampant among women, you could say a true epidemic. It's a tricky thing also because many, many doctors will let a subclinical case slide 'oh, it's borderline low'. Crapola! TSH levels need to be 2.0 and lower, period. Also, the kind of thyroid you take is important, with the natural hormone generally better for those of us with mood disorders. Anyhow, long story short, I just raised my dose recently hoping to kick start my weight loss efforts and lo and behold, even my fibro symptoms are improving. Your tiredness truly sounds like it has a physical basis and perhaps a small dose of thryoid just to see is in order. It's worth a try, Mommy. - BarbaraCat
poster:BarbaraCat
thread:111115
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020628/msgs/111540.html