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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Tom Twilight on December 8, 2006, at 10:15:55
High all
I've been posting a lot lately, appologies for clogging up the board!
I'm just wondering if there could be any possibility I'm Bi-polar.
My depression is cronic and unremitting for the most part.
However I don't seem to experience Manic periods, my mood seems really unstable though.
ADs don't make me manic either, just tired, even Parnate made me tired!One minuet I think & feel one thing, and the next its something different, I long for some consistancy!
I experience a lot of Anxiety & I have terrible social anxiety, but stimulats don't make me more anxious, appart from Caffeine of course.
Any ideas?
Has anyone with Unipolar depression been helped with a mood stabalizer?
Posted by yesac on December 8, 2006, at 11:49:23
In reply to Could I possibly be Bi-Polar?, posted by Tom Twilight on December 8, 2006, at 10:15:55
> Any ideas?
> Has anyone with Unipolar depression been helped with a mood stabalizer?
I don't know if you're bipolar or not. There some different ideas these days about what "bipolar" is and who might be helped by mood stabilizers. I would recommend visiting www.psycheducation.org for more information (sorry-- I don't know how to make it a link).As for your question about people with unipolar depression being helped with mood stabilizers.... Yes, I have been helped. I'm a lot like you in that I have a chronic, unremitting depression. I don't know if I am "bipolar" or not. I'm definitely not classically bipolar, but I do have some bipolar *traits*, if you will.... Mostly I get terribly agitated and revved up at times. Call it what you will.
I've taken lithium for about a year and a half. Lithium as well as some antipsychotics (which are usually considered mood stabilizers) have helped calm my agitation, revved-up-ness, and mind racing/spinning, and helped a tiny bit with depression. Not a lot, but more than any antidepressant ever has helped.
So, if I were you, I would definitely give some consideration to mood stabilizers. Lithium, Lamictal, and antipsychotics I think are most commonly used in unipolar depression or depression with some possible bipolar traits.
I hope this helps. Good luck!
Posted by Phillipa on December 8, 2006, at 13:10:16
In reply to Re: Could I possibly be Bi-Polar? » Tom Twilight, posted by yesac on December 8, 2006, at 11:49:23
So the fear I have and anxiety and depression I either can't take the meds or they do nothing means I maybe be bipolar? I even have trouble going to the grocery store. My pdoc basically said do what you want. Gave me a script for l0mg of prozac. Of course afraid to take it. Love Phillipa ps I tried lamictal at 50mg and it was okay but an infrequent side effect forced me off it. Love Phillipa
Posted by blueberry on December 8, 2006, at 14:19:52
In reply to Could I possibly be Bi-Polar?, posted by Tom Twilight on December 8, 2006, at 10:15:55
You need to read the excellent website posted by tensor. Scroll up the page to tensor's thread on 12/4. The website is written by a psychiatrist with really good detailed info about bipolar stuff. It should shed some light for you. I believe you are bound to read something there that is relevant to yourself and that you will recognize it when you see it.
Posted by polarbear206 on December 8, 2006, at 15:27:10
In reply to Could I possibly be Bi-Polar?, posted by Tom Twilight on December 8, 2006, at 10:15:55
> High all
>
> I've been posting a lot lately, appologies for clogging up the board!
>
> I'm just wondering if there could be any possibility I'm Bi-polar.
>
> My depression is cronic and unremitting for the most part.
> However I don't seem to experience Manic periods, my mood seems really unstable though.
> ADs don't make me manic either, just tired, even Parnate made me tired!
>
> One minuet I think & feel one thing, and the next its something different, I long for some consistancy!
>
> I experience a lot of Anxiety & I have terrible social anxiety, but stimulats don't make me more anxious, appart from Caffeine of course.
>
> Any ideas?
> Has anyone with Unipolar depression been helped with a mood stabalizer?Here is the link
Http://www.psycheducation.org/depression/02_diagnosis.html#Anchor-Can-27505
Posted by Phillipa on December 8, 2006, at 19:23:07
In reply to Re: Could I possibly be Bi-Polar? » Tom Twilight, posted by blueberry on December 8, 2006, at 14:19:52
Blueberry I've read quite a few posts from you today. You sound so much better. And you're going the natural route now? Was it the ECT that made the difference? Love Phillipa
Posted by Mistermindmasta on December 9, 2006, at 16:42:50
In reply to Could I possibly be Bi-Polar?, posted by Tom Twilight on December 8, 2006, at 10:15:55
High to you!
Caffeine makes me bipolar-ish, and in fact so do most drugs, but when I'm not on any sort of legal or illegal drug, my moods are ok. I don't have much mental issues until I take some sort of mind altering substance into my body. Caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, adderall, etc all mess me up, but caffeine and alcohol mess me up more than anything - even more than adderall or stims. Weird huh? Some people have polymorphism in their adenosine receptors that make them react differently to caffeine. I believe I may be one of them cuz I always get high when I have caffeine - like, euphoric.
Interestingly, the only reason I got into this board (psycho-babble) is because caffeine and alchol mess me up bigtime. I never had any mood problems until I started abusing those substances, like every other 20-something year old. Unfortunately, I don't seem to react the same to them like all my buddies do. It sucks to have such bad depression and anxiety the day after drinking when my friends feel fine. I never know if they can tell that I'm feeling off. I feel bad, like I'm a bad friend, ya know?
Sometimes the benefits of caffeine are worth it though... I've gotten used to being semi-bi-polarish. During the day, I get stuff done... I'm quite motivated to get done what I need to... and at night I'm kinda depressed - it's kind of normal now. It's directly related to how much caffeine I use. I like to take guarana capsules, because then I can know how much caffeine I'm getting. I like to be aware of that kind of stuff.
If you have a lot of genuine issues in your life, substance use can make you feel one way one minute and another way the next minute. Like, you can be happy about something and then pissed off about it the next day. It's amazing how much we blame on drug use but it might actually just be that we have REAL F-ING PROBLEMS IN OUR LIVES THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO SOLVE!
Right now I'm going to school, working two jobs and have a girlfriend (my 3rd job{haha, jk}). It's tough.
But more about mind altering substances... I've noticed even SUPPLEMENTS can mess me up - in fact, L-tyrosine, after too much, just straight up makes me angry and pissed at everything. L-tyrosine! A SUPPLEMENT! Bottom line - be aware of what goes into your body and how it makes you feel, even if it seems like it should be benign. A lot of herbs and OTC supplements are stronger than the pharmaceutical industry likes to make them seem.
By the way, just cuz you never experienced full manic periods doesn't exclude bi-polar. People can, for example, feel fine and then at some later point in time be depressed, without having a manic period - yet it CAN still be bi-polar. Some people only get manic on antidepressants. For some people, their antidepressant "poops out" on them and they think it just stopped working when in reality they may need a mood stabilizer. Luckily, there are mood stabilizers that also help the depression of bi-polar so that's nice.
I wouldn't be surprised if I was mild bi-polar, too. Antidepressant substances seem to overly excite me or make me too aggressive and stimulants seem to make me kind of anxious too. I think I might be a mood stabilizer. I've only messed around with herbs at this point - my mental status isnt serious enough to see a psychiatrist, so I've limited my self medication to stuff that I can pick up at a health food store.
I've tried SJW, Valerian, L-tryp, 5-HTP... all have some nice benefits, but nothing does the trick and keeps me in the same state of mind all the time like I'd like to be. With SJW, I get manic-ish for the first week... expansive, overly talkative, and then it goes away and I just kind of feel tired after that first week. Kava actually is the one supplement that seems to stabilize me... and interestingly, I think one of it's properties is a sodium channel blocker or something which could be good for bi-polar ppl.
Sorry this post is kinda long and slightly disorganized... I took 30mg of adderall which makes me type too much and have no clue that I'm typing too much. Have a nice day.
- me -
> High all
>
> I've been posting a lot lately, appologies for clogging up the board!
>
> I'm just wondering if there could be any possibility I'm Bi-polar.
>
> My depression is cronic and unremitting for the most part.
> However I don't seem to experience Manic periods, my mood seems really unstable though.
> ADs don't make me manic either, just tired, even Parnate made me tired!
>
> One minuet I think & feel one thing, and the next its something different, I long for some consistancy!
>
> I experience a lot of Anxiety & I have terrible social anxiety, but stimulats don't make me more anxious, appart from Caffeine of course.
>
> Any ideas?
> Has anyone with Unipolar depression been helped with a mood stabalizer?
Posted by Tom Twilight on December 9, 2006, at 18:39:21
In reply to Re: Could I possibly be Bi-Polar?, posted by Mistermindmasta on December 9, 2006, at 16:42:50
Hey Mate
You certainly were speeding away when you wrote that!
You made some good points though, its true that supplements can have almost as much affect as drugs.
I also completely agree with you about the dangers of Alchohol and Coffee, the Acceptable drugs!Be really careful with the stims though man, I really made a mess of myself taking to much Dex during my finals (end of collage exams, don't know what you call them in the US!)
At first I felt great, then insomnia and anxiety set in.
I guess the message is be careful with all drugs, I wish I'd been more sensible about drug use when I was young(er) :(You seem more sensible than me anyway!
Keep posting
Posted by LlurpsieBlossom on December 10, 2006, at 1:04:04
In reply to Could I possibly be Bi-Polar?, posted by Tom Twilight on December 8, 2006, at 10:15:55
Hi Tom,
I had pretty severe unipolar depression that responded fairly well to a combination of 90mg cymbalta and 50 mg seroquel and 200mg provigil.More recently, I started experiencing flashbacks and intrusive thoughts and such, and we increased my seroquel to 300mg. This has made a big difference. I should have done this from the beginning. It took a lot of the bad thoughts and bad voices out of my head. helped a lot with my distracted attention, and suicidal ideation. Also, I was reacting strongly, and unpredictably to stupid things, like a song (uncontrolled tears) or some irony (uncontrolled laughter) I think a mood stabilizer was a wise choice. Good call, pdoc!
I have not experienced anything like a manic or even a hypomanic episode (except for when I was an intoxicated college girl going out for a party. well...). let's assume I'm a depressive type. melancholy and suiciddalish)
In contrast, my bro had a severe psychotic depression that lasted many months. (hospitalized) and he had not much response to prozac, and the only drug that helped him was Lithium. He managed to get off of the lithium, somehow, and to my knowledge has never taken drugs or been in therapy since then. He's still bipolar, though. I have to admit that his 'quirks' are a little pathological. He functions pretty well. So? I dunno. I guess if a mood stabilizer helps you (as it helped me) then go for it. who cares if you're assigned one Dx or another Dx. take the medicine and do the therapy that relieves your symptoms and improves your quality of life.
best,
-Ll
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