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Re: Dysthymia versus Bipolar type 2 » barbaracat

Posted by olysi79 on January 3, 2005, at 19:07:32

In reply to Re: Dysthymia versus Bipolar type 2 » Mr.Scott, posted by barbaracat on December 30, 2004, at 14:05:14

Hi barbaracat, it's chris (formerly cpallen79- new screenname now)

I agree with your post. I have those awful agitated depressions with intense racing thoughts, paranoia, panic, and despair. I've had two over the past 9 years that were incredibly intense. I've also had couch potato sleep 15 hours a day type depressions too. Like you, I'll take those ANYDAY. Ask me 6 months ago if I thought I was bipolar and I woulda said nope, that is until I started to rapid cycle and alternated between hypomania and depression and anxiety. It was quite a discovery that still presents problems but I'm working through it and faithfully taking my meds, and goign about my business. I need to take an SSRI for my ocd and will not give it up, which may or may not exhasberate the problem. Mood stabilizers have helped, but it's all a balancing act. For me, a combo of mood stabilizers and antidepressants have helped and when things start to get out of control, I pop Zyprexa, extra trileptal, ativan, and some bendryl.
I think that those with agitated depressions need to really consider adding mood stabilizers or anti-psychotics into their cocktail.

----------------------

> What are your Major Depressions like? My experience is that there are two noticeable types of depressions that I experience as a BP-II (and I'm 99% sure I am BP-II if not even I). One type of depression is the classic couch potato can't give a rip everything sucks and so do I want to sleep and forget this sh*tty life and everyone hates me anyway and I'm sad and numb and dumb.
>
> The other is a very agitated wailing bleak dark despair. Like an existential angst run through the frightening filters of Edgar Allen Poe. Can't sleep, fret, panic attacks, ultra sensitive, some tinges of visual and auditory psychoses. It's horrible, awful. I'll take the first kind any day. This second kind is Bipolar mixed-states and is definitely different than garden variety dysphoria, depression or hypomania. It's hypomania and depression at the same time. Pressured intense depression.
>
> If you have the first kind, you may be BP-II since lethargic depression is the typical BP depression. But BP has to have some component of a pressured mania, whether hypo or not. If you have irritability, anxiety, distraction and disorganization of the ADD variety and/or pressured thoughts and speech, flights of ideas, starting multiple projects that 'seem like a good idea at the time' and then never finishing, being attracted to liquor cause it relieves the bad feelings quicker than anything, then that is hypomania. Hypomania is NOT always fun. It can manifest as good old ANGER and feeling like constantly wanting to throw something.
>
> If you have the second type of depression, along with hypomanic symptoms, you are probably definitely Bipolar, and if it's I or II is not clear to me. But with mixed-states depression, there is no doubt that you're dealing with a different animal alltogether - and I'm still not sure what it is except lithium helps it.
>
> Lines blur with 'mere' agitated dysphoria and BP disorder and I think the succesful treatment determines what the dx is. I think I can distil hypomania into the word 'pressured'. You can feel anxiety, productivity, pleasure, anger, irritability and all that, but feeling them in the presence of pressure is a good sign of hypomania. Mania, of course, is another thing but you'd have no question as to your dx if you had manic episodes. At any rate, I'm just about 'cured' since taking lithium and St. John's Wort. If you want to read my account of how ST. John's made a huge difference in my life where no other AD worked, go to:
>
> http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20041212/msgs/435452.html>;
>
> Good luck, my friend. I know how frustrating it is. - BarbaraCat
>
>
>
> > Am I a blind fool for not being able to tell which one of these I have?
> >
> > I would have to say I have a chronic depressive/chronic anxiety condition with occassional Major Depressions. I also have lots of anger issues. My father is a lifelong dysthmic. My doc however says I have bipolar 2. Mood stabilizers offer me no noticeable benefit that I can see. When I take antidepressants I can experience an initial hypomania. But since the ssri's help me so much with my anxiety, I can't tell if they actually worsen my depression by increasing my cycling or if I just am totally upset that they work for my anxiety except that they cause me a number of very unpleasant side effects. I can basically be talked into having any depressive/anxiety/bipolar disorder at this point.
> >
> > The reason I posed my initial question is because I am stuck between whether or not I should pursue antidepressants or anticonvulsants.
> >
> > A part of me wants to say to hell with it all and go back to using alcohol and drugs even if it kills me!
> >
> > Scott
>
>


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URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050103/msgs/437329.html