Hello,
I just wanted to get info on Bipolar. I have a lot of mental problems and physical problems too. I have been dx with R/A, Lupus, Sjogrens Syndrome, Von Willebrands Disease and Celiac Disease. The reason why I wont info on this disease is because my ficance and I have been fighting a lot of silly dumb things and mostly its my fault. I have had a very abusive past from my parents especially my Mom in fact when I was in my teens the doc's thought that she might of had Schorpheria or Mutiple Personaltlies. I was taken away from my Mom when I was 15 due to those problems and I ended up living on the streets for a year and half and then I went into childwelfare. Anyways I soon met a guy he was 3 and half years older then me and we moved in togethier and he turned out to be very abusive it 1st started just emtionally then started to be physical too we ened up being togethier for 9 years and in Aug 2003 I finally got enough courage to leave him. I lost everything though that I had which hurt me so much more then I ever thought it would. I thought that when I left him that I would be on the road to recovery. I started this new relatioship with this wonderful man who also was the one that was there for me when I left my abuser. We have been togethier and living togethier ever since and things wher going great for awhile but I would say for the last 6 months we have been having a lot of problems that really have nothing to do with him at all but my past and the people in my past. In a few of our fights afterwards he has asked me more then once are you Bipolar or something. I have been seeing a physicarist the same one in fact since I was 13 and he has never said that I had anything like that, the only thing that he told me I had or have had was just being in a major depression spretty much my whole life since I was about 4 years old. I really want this new relationship with this man I love more then anything in this world to work. i want tp spend the rst of my life with him. In the past he told me that he wanted to marry me, but since we have been fighting he has told me that he wants to end it. I know that he really doesnt want to end it but in fact I think he just really doesnt know how to deal with everything I have been through. he has never been abused so I dont think that he can totally understand where I'm coming from. So I guess my question is 1. what are the symtoms of Bipolar? 2. Could a pyhsicarist miss this diagnoses? I truly dont think that I have this disease I have been reading a lot about it and I truly feel that I dont have this at all but I'm just dealing with finally all the years in fact my whole life until now of repeated abuse from both of my parents and then my ex boyfriend. Can someone pls help me to figure this all out...

Thanks,
Lisa
:angel:

Here Are the Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder?

Bipolar disorder causes dramatic mood swings—from overly "high" and/or irritable to sad and hopeless, and then back again, often with periods of normal mood in between. Severe changes in energy and behavior go along with these changes in mood. The periods of highs and lows are called episodes of mania and depression.

Signs and symptoms of mania (or a manic episode) include:
Increased energy, activity, and restlessness
Excessively "high," overly good, euphoric mood
Extreme irritability
Racing thoughts and talking very fast, jumping from one idea to another
Distractibility, can't concentrate well
Little sleep needed
Unrealistic beliefs in one's abilities and powers
Poor judgment
Spending sprees
A lasting period of behavior that is different from usual
Increased sexual drive
Abuse of drugs, particularly cocaine, alcohol, and sleeping medications
Provocative, intrusive, or aggressive behavior
Denial that anything is wrong
A manic episode is diagnosed if elevated mood occurs with three or more of the other symptoms most of the day, nearly every day, for 1 week or longer. If the mood is irritable, four additional symptoms must be present.

Signs and symptoms of depression (or a depressive episode) include:
Lasting sad, anxious, or empty mood
Feelings of hopelessness or pessimism
Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, or helplessness
Loss of interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyed, including sex
Decreased energy, a feeling of fatigue or of being "slowed down"
Difficulty concentrating, remembering, making decisions
Restlessness or irritability
Sleeping too much, or can't sleep
Change in appetite and/or unintended weight loss or gain
Chronic pain or other persistent bodily symptoms that are not caused by physical illness or injury
Thoughts of death or suicide, or suicide attempts
A depressive episode is diagnosed if five or more of these symptoms last most of the day, nearly every day, for a period of 2 weeks or longer.

A mild to moderate level of mania is called hypomania. Hypomania may feel good to the person who experiences it and may even be associated with good functioning and enhanced productivity. Thus even when family and friends learn to recognize the mood swings as possible bipolar disorder, the person may deny that anything is wrong. Without proper treatment, however, hypomania can become severe mania in some people or can switch into depression.

Sometimes, severe episodes of mania or depression include symptoms of psychosis (or psychotic symptoms). Common psychotic symptoms are hallucinations (hearing, seeing, or otherwise sensing the presence of things not actually there) and delusions (false, strongly held beliefs not influenced by logical reasoning or explained by a person's usual cultural concepts). Psychotic symptoms in bipolar disorder tend to reflect the extreme mood state at the time. For example, delusions of grandiosity, such as believing one is the President or has special powers or wealth, may occur during mania; delusions of guilt or worthlessness, such as believing that one is ruined and penniless or has committed some terrible crime, may appear during depression. People with bipolar disorder who have these symptoms are sometimes incorrectly diagnosed as having schizophrenia, another severe mental illness.

It may be helpful to think of the various mood states in bipolar disorder as a spectrum or continuous range. At one end is severe depression, above which is moderate depression and then mild low mood, which many people call "the blues" when it is short-lived but is termed "dysthymia" when it is chronic. Then there is normal or balanced mood, above which comes hypomania (mild to moderate mania), and then severe mania.

Hope this helps, Rani

Thank you very much for your reply. I'm not too sure if I fall into this catergory or not. My ficance just seems to think that he see's total different moods in me. I dont know or well I do know why sometimes I get very angry, its cause I am still having a lot of problems dealing with my past and all the abuse I have been through. The only toher symtom that I can see is the depression. I have always been depressed pretty much my whole life and just never really being able to work through the terriable things that have happend to me my whole life. I will have to look into this some more. I hope we can talk some more on here...

Lisa

Hi Lisa
First there are lots people here to talk with, post anytime.
Seond I just realized when I read your post again, with your
abusive childhood, you could be experiencing PTSD Post traumic
Stress Syndrome. There is even a board here for it. It's can be
similiar to Bipolar with the exception of the Mania's. Yes
depresion and anger can be a major symptom of it. Hope
to talk with you again, Rani

Hello,
Thanks so much for your replies. It feels so good to be able to talk to someone about how I have been feeling. I really dont know what's wrong with me mentally and I would really like to start to put the it all togethier to figure out why I feel the way I do. yes I have dealt with abuse pretty much my whole life in one way or another. I am thinking about starting to keep a journal about how I have been feeling about life. I have been seeing a physicarist off and on since I was 13. He is a very good phy and he was the one that was able to help me leave my mom and then later on in life help me leave my abusive boyfriend. He heas told me that it will take a long time before I will be able to move on from that abuse. I have now been with my wonderful fiance now for a year and a half and things have been going well off anf on. We have had a few fights about how I feel about the past and how sometimes when he say's things to me it triggers feeling and rage about the past. Sometimes I feel like I am truly not mad at him but I am getting mad at him because same feeling and thoughts come up about eithier my Mom or my exboyfriend. I have been trying so hard to get over my past and to move on from it but no matter how hard I try it just seems to keep coming up here and there. Sometimes all it takes is for him to say something in a tone that is like how I was talked to from my abusers. Its really hard to explain and I hope that you might be able to understand what I mean by that. My fiance sometimes just doesnt understand how my past can still be hurting me so much since now I am in a loving realatioship. Right now I am unable to see my physcarist due to the fact that I'm a Canadian and my ficance is an American and I living down here in the States with him. I also have a lot of other health problems that can lead to have some Mental problems. I just want to be able to help with the anger that I have inside sometimes. I dont get violent or anything like that and I dont hurt myself in anyway. I just yell sometimes really loud and say things that I really dont even mean or if I do its not againist him but really my abusers but of course since he is the one that is there it comes off to him. One of my biggest problems is that I lie not because I want too but I guess because in the past if I told the truth I would get scowled by my Mom. I also kept from pretty much everyone in my life that I was being abused by my b/f. I am very good at being able to put up a front and look very happy and that nothing is wrong. I dont know why now I lie to him, I truly dont want too and its always about little things nothing really major but I just have this great fear that if I tell the thruth right off the bat that I will just get him mad or upset with me or he will be disapointed in me. I have so many things that are going on in my mind right now its so hard to get them all out even in my head or in this post. My moods sometimes can go from being really happy to sad to mad all in a matter of mins. If something is said to me, or if my mom try's to call me on the phone and I dont answer and just let the manchine get it, I just get some scared and nervous of what I am going to be getting in trouble with next from her its almost like I'm a little girl or my inner scared,sad nervour little girl comes out. I hope that this made a little sense to anyone that is reading my post. I look foward to anyones input on what this might be or why this keeps happening to me. I am taking Celixa 20mg in the morning for depression wondering if maybe I need to be on a higher dose. Yes I do know that I still need or I should be talking to someone about all of this but I am unable to know because I"m in the States and will be for quite sometime or hopefully forever when me and my fiance get married, I hope he still even wants to get married to me cause sometimes in our fights he does say that he cant handle all this stress and all the problems that I have with my mind and with my health over all. Anyone please help me is this signs of bipolar??

Lisa

A very good post about the signs of BP

Bumping my post....

Lisa