Mood stabilisers - am I Bipolar?!
Question: I was having real problems with my moods which I thought was because of the meds I was put on. I had been given 10mg of Citralopram for depression and it made me hyper - like 2 hours sleep, talkative, singing, spending loads etc. My psych gave me Quetiapine to help me sleep which worked but as soon as they wore off I was hyper again. I was constantly like on a roller coaster. My psych took me off anti depressents and I went really low. Suicidal. So now she has put me on a mood stabiliser- Depakote. Which has really worked or has it? Am I just back to normal and would have been without the tablets? Can I stop taking the mood stabiliser?. My Psych says I might be Bipolar. Would the mood stabilisers have worked if I wasn't Bipolar. Like if it was just the antidepressents that made my moods all over the place in the first place would mood stabilisers have worked? ...Professional help please. Thanks
Answers: I was having real problems with my moods which I thought was because of the meds I was put on. I had been given 10mg of Citralopram for depression and it made me hyper - like 2 hours sleep, talkative, singing, spending loads etc. My psych gave me Quetiapine to help me sleep which worked but as soon as they wore off I was hyper again. I was constantly like on a roller coaster. My psych took me off anti depressents and I went really low. Suicidal. So now she has put me on a mood stabiliser- Depakote. Which has really worked or has it? Am I just back to normal and would have been without the tablets? Can I stop taking the mood stabiliser?. My Psych says I might be Bipolar. Would the mood stabilisers have worked if I wasn't Bipolar. Like if it was just the antidepressents that made my moods all over the place in the first place would mood stabilisers have worked? ...Professional help please. Thanks
Hmm, well there are arguments in the psychatric community about whether or not manic episodes brought on by medication are sufficient to diagnose bipolar. If you've had other manic episodes, then yes, you are bipolar. If that was your only one, then opinions are split.
Some mood stabilisers are used for clinical depression as well as bipolar, so the fact that a mood stabiliser is working for you isn't necessarily a clear indication that you're bipolar.
If I were you, I'd just be happy to have something that's working. You ask if you've gone back to how you were without the medications - remember, you went on antidepressants for a reason, and if the Depakote is stopping you from being depressed, and your mood isn't too high, then just be thankful for that, rather than getting too caught up in what the name of the illness is.
Yes from the information i would say you are bipolar
My son is bi-polar and was helped by depakote. However if you are asking for professional help this is not the place to ask for it. Call another Psych and get a second opinion. Insurance will pay for it, and any doc worth going to should support a patient getting a second opinion -- if they don't then I personally don't feel they are a doc worth going to anyway. Good luck,
I'm not a professional.
My brother is bi-polar (manic depressant) and some antidepressants really make him off his rocker. Non bi-polar people who take them do not usually have the extreme ups or downs that you are describing.
Talk to you doc some more about it, or perhaps seek a 2nd opinion.