I have been going to the doctor trying to find a medicine for my anxiety for a long while.I have tried it all.Finally my doctor gave me seroquel which seems to be helping.It does knock me out and I have to take a small amount at night only.He suggested that I may be bi-polar due to the fact that I can't tolerate any of the other meds.I have been looking it up and have to wonder if I am.I do have mood swings.I wonder if anyone else had a hard time getting diagnosed and how it came about.What are some of the obvious symptoms that you have?Any help would be appreciated.I just want to understand what is going on with me.Also,is there a better med that could help me without me feeling like a zombie?Thanks.

I was diagnosed 2 years ago but it was easy for the doctors cause I was suicidal one day and really happy the next. I would do stupid stuff all the time without thinking and my moods change all the time. I have the rapid cycling bipolar. Right now I'm on lithium and respirdal consta which is a shot. Some people its obvious and others it harder to diagnosed but if its ruining your life I would get help. Especially if you go through depression.

When I first started seeing a pdoc, I was dx'ed with Depression and put on Zoloft...it made me really manic so they decided I was ultra radian (faster than rapid cycling) bipolar because I went up and down so quickly. I also have a lot of anxiety problems and I'm not sure if it's a separate dx or if it's all tied to bp....now I'm rambling. Anyway, a lot of people have trouble getting the proper dx.

Paige

Hi AS,

What medications have you tried? I also have been to p docs for many years due to anxiety. I have a very hard time with the side effects of antidepressants and recently have been wondering if I could have mild bipolar. I am on Emsam (antidepressant patch) and Xanax. I would love to increase my Xanax because I have so much anxiety but I won't do it because of the addiction associated with it. I have never in my entire life been without anxiety and I have tried everything. If I am bipolar I think it must be the BP2 or 3 because I have never been psychotic like my husband or with an uncontrollable temper like my son....just anxiety from hell and that is not good for my health and I already have a heart condition. I didn't know not being able to tolerate meds was linked to being bipolar, my doc told me it was because I have anxiety. I am very interested in this BP 2 and 3...there could be a lot of us...not sure. Please do tell me the meds you've tried and the side effects you got. I can do the same if you are interested. I've tried a lot and supposedly I have depression with anxiety but like you I am beginning to wonder.

Luckygem

never go on depakote or seroquel together I was so depressed that i almost killled myself. I've tryed almost every medicine out there. The ones that work for me the most are lithium and respirdal consta but i just got off respirdal and i have so much energy so hopes that stays and its not one of my manic moments. Also buspar helped alot with anxiety so you might want to see about that. Hope this helps a little.

never go on depakote or seroquel together I was so depressed that i almost killled myself. I've tryed almost every medicine out there. The ones that work for me the most are lithium and respirdal consta but i just got off respirdal and i have so much energy so hopes that stays and its not one of my manic moments. Also buspar helped alot with anxiety so you might want to see about that. Hope this helps a little.

Is risperdal a mood stabilizer? I have a friend that is having her GP treat her bipolar and she is on two antidepressants and risperdal but still having issues with her temper and going into rages. I told her I didn't think risperdal was a mood stabilizer....more of an antipsychotic/sleeping pill.

Risperdal is an atypical antipsychotic, similar to Seroquel or Abilify. Some pdocs use it as a monotheray for BP, but it is often used as an add-on. It is mainly used to control manic episodes, panic attacks and anxiety, although it supposedly works less well for anxiety than Seroquel and Xypexa.

Lucky, have you read Why am I still depressed? Recognizing and Managing the Ups and Downs of Bipolar II and Soft Bipolar Disorder by Jim Phelps, M.D.? I thought of this book when you were wondering about being a "lttle bipolar."

The problem with having a GP treat mental health issues is that they don't have the extensive training in psychotropic drugs that is necessary for proper management of a mental illness. People often learn they are bipolar when being treated with antidepressants. The use of antidepressants without a mood stabilizer in place will flip the patient into an episode of mania or hypermania. If your friend is having periods of rage, anger, this could be signs of hypomania. If this is the case with your friend, she may need a high dosage of Risperdal or the addition of something like lithium, depakote, tegretol or topamax.

Lucky,in answer to your question,I have tried Paxil, Lexapro, Zoloft, Prozac, Cymbalta,Effexor,and I don't remember all the rest.I have had varying side effects,but the main one is that they all just intensify my anxiety.The Effexor made me crazy.I felt like I would imagine an addict feels when he needs his next fix.I couldn't sit still,I was irritated,angry,nervous.The Cymbalta made me feel fluish and I had horrible nighttime side effects.I jerked awake all night long thinking I was having a heart attack.Some of the others made me really depressed,the Prozac was one for sure.I am trying to take 50 mg. of the seroquel at bedtime and 6.25 mg. which is actually 25 mg cut into 4 pieces 3 times a day.This is helping,but it is still making me tired.The anxious feeling is almost gone,so it is worth it.I haven't lost my temper and screamed and yelled in days.So it is helping with that too.It just takes a lot of getting used to I guess.

Risperdal is an atypical antipsychotic, similar to Seroquel or Abilify. Some pdocs use it as a monotheray for BP, but it is often used as an add-on. It is mainly used to control manic episodes, panic attacks and anxiety, although it supposedly works less well for anxiety than Seroquel and Xypexa.

Lucky, have you read Why am I still depressed? Recognizing and Managing the Ups and Downs of Bipolar II and Soft Bipolar Disorder by Jim Phelps, M.D.? I thought of this book when you were wondering about being a "lttle bipolar."

I'll check into that book. All of the antidepressants take care of my depression 100% but do nothing for my anxiety. I had zero bipolar symptoms unmedicated but I think the antidepressants bring out a mild mania. I mentioned that to my p doc and she just said "really?"...I think she wrote it down. I know for a fact Zoloft gave me mania. When I was on that one night I stayed up all night long and had sex with my husband, like 50 times, in all different parts of the house! He kept right up with me because he is bipolar (but we didn't know that at the time) and I said "How could you stay up all night with me? I could have never done that, it's this Zoloft!" I said "This stuff is making me high, it's not supposed to do this!". I went off of it because that was just too weird but from time to time my husband jokes about it and says to go back on it because it was the best night of his life, LOL!