Posted by worrier on May 14, 2003, at 20:16:18
In reply to Re: Help! I think I may be manic!, posted by garylee on May 13, 2003, at 11:43:30
> Hi Katia
>
> It sounds to me like your experiencing 'Hypomania' not full blown Mania. I believe in full blown mania you would probably be becoming psychotic after two weeks of it, also I'd say you would not have be sleeping AT ALL. I have seen Mania, and it is not a pretty sight...
>
> As I read you post I instantly thought Bipolar II, like myself, and most probably SSRI induced!
>
> I was initially constantly depressed, with occasional good days (perhaps very mild Hypomania?). My first proper go at an SSRI was Prozac. After 6 weeks I felt it wasn't doing much so I started to taper off, then BANG! Hypomanic for 3 - 4 weeks. Then came the inevitable crash back down to earth...
>
> From experience (and many other BPII's would agree) SSRI's and Bipolar II do not mix, and there is tons of evidence pointing to this. My older brother was tried on every AD there is, all of which made him worse. They then tried two at once (can't remember what they were), this made him the worst he has ever been, and he has not really improved since. They have definitely messed up his brain for the foreseeable future.
>
> In my opinion try sticking to mood stabilisers, and avoid anything with Serotonin action. Lamictal would be the first to try, it was a life saver for me.
>
> Anyway good luck.
>
> Gary
>
>
>
>Just wanted to say AMEN! SSRIs sent me to the ER, literally thought I was dying after a month or so on paxil....and I don't mean the kind of thought I was dying I was familiar with after years of panic attacks. I mean the real deal, I had vomiting,horrible tremors profuse sweating, agitation so severe I literally had to walk miles to stay remotely connected,heart rate way over 100 at rest, you name it. The ER doc gave me xanax and told me to take it to my MD and say "give me this, it works" so I did and she said absolutely not. Said I was having "breakthrough anxiety" and needed a higher dose of paxil ( I had already had bad reactions to prozac, wellbutrin and effexor, maybe she should have seen a pattern here) anyway, like a dope I did what she said, got much worse...didn't sleep for ages, paced the floor constantly worked in the garden for literally hours (until it got to dark to see) then paced the floor until daylight. Never thought about suicide, but definitely understood why people do. Finally ,in a rare moment of clarity got an appointment with a good pdoc who recognized what was going on as a seotonin storm. To make a short story really long, some people just really need to stay away from anything with serotonin effects. Best to all, worrier.
poster:worrier
thread:225051
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030514/msgs/226710.html