My mom was diagnosed with bipolar about 4years ago. I have never agreed with this diagnosis. She's never had any kind of manic episode. The only thing was that she had thoughts of hurting other people (but would never go through with it-- they were just thoughts) and sometimes thoughts of her hurting herself. This is why they diagnosed her bipolar. She's been on Geodone for a few years now and I hate the way it makes her.

She used to be so much fun, chatty, friendly. Now, she's zombie-like, her hand shakes, she slurrs her words. Her friends ask me what's the matter with her. In a group setting, she will just sit there and stare at the table. This is not the same woman who raised me.

She's also gained 40 lbs and her cholesterol and BP has gone up. I begged her to ask her doc to change her meds, but the doc refuses. Finally today, I helped her to find some pdocs that are in her network. We are waitng to hear back from them.

I worried that, even if she does come off the Geodone, that it's done permanant damage. Does anyone have any similar situations?

Hello Calidante,

I respect the fact that you do not agree with the diagnosis of your mother.

More often than not, the prescribing physician would have conducted a private consultation with your mother that is subject to doctor-patient confidentiality.

By law, he can share some vague areas but is not supposed to go into specifics.

That being said, there are many psychiatric disorders that one physician will diagnose as "A" and the next one "B."

Schools of thought tend to vary within the psychiatric community, on certain levels.

A second opinion couldn't hurt.

With respect to Bipolar and Geodon, there are vast amounts of information on this site, which can be accessed by typing in the keyword in the "search" box near the upper left corner.

I hope that this provides useful.

Take care.

Phoenix