Help!! Is my husband Bipolar?? - Bipolar Disorder Message Board

agarcia1 · 05-26-2006, 01:46 PM

Hi everyone... I've been reading a lot of your posts and I have been doing a lot of research. You see my husband about a year ago started having problems concentrating. I thought that maybe it had something to do with one of his epilepsy meds. We went to the Dr and they gave him Keppra. I don't know what may have happened. After he started that med, he changed drastically. He didn't want to go anywhere with me. He wasn't helping as much with our wedding plans like he was before. He was just totally distant from myself and his family. This came as a shock. Ever since, he has not been himself. The dr has changed his meds but he is still not back to being himself. He starts getting into arguments over anything. He'll start yelling at me and belittles me. He has gotten into physical arguments with his father. He will sometimes get so mad and will begin kicking or punching walls. We don't know what to do. He says that there is nothing wrong with him, but I believe that he has BP. His neurologist had sent him to a psychiatrist and after one visit, he said that he may have a organic personality disorder or BP. He said that he needed to see him again but my husband refuses to accept that there is anything wrong with him. His neurologist recently started him on 75 mg of Lamictal. It seems to be working. He's been on it for about 3 weeks. He used to sleep at all different hours. Sometimes he wouldn't even sleep. He's beginning to get a more normal sleeping pattern. The only thing is that he is still couped up inside of our bedroom. He doesn't want to go out much anymore. He hasn't had a anger rage in awhile but he has still gotten into a couple arguments here and there. What should I do? I've gotten to the point that I can't take it anymore but I don't want to give up. We've been together for 9 years. One thing I forgot to mention is that sometimes he doesn't make a lot of sense and he just keeps saying a whole bunch of non sense.

Please help!
Annette

mudhound · 05-27-2006, 06:36 AM

Well, he very well could be. He could have something else. How old is he?

uhoh101 · 05-29-2006, 10:36 PM

I'm not a DR. but those are the same symptoms I was having when I was diagnosed with BP. I appreciate your effort on not giving up on him, If it were not for my spouse I don't know where I'd be at this moment.

The speech sounding garbled can be caused by racing thoughts (so my psych told me), you think soo fast and try to get it all out at once and it makes no sense because you're basically combining words. Like I said though, I'm not a DR, just giving you an insight on my experience .. almost the exact symptoms.

kiehn · 05-29-2006, 11:11 PM

Hi,
You may alredy know this but a person can't know too much aobut bipolar.
One of the main symptom of bipolar is denial, sometimes a person who has
developed manic or hypomanic symtoms it's euphoric and they dont want to
loose them other deny them out of fear of acknowledging something is wrong.
The rage, outburts can also be symptoms of hypomanic or depression. Same
with the withdrawing. I do that myself a lot. I also have some pychosis and
believe me when the thought first came about almost 20 years ago, it was the
most freighting things I ever experienced in my life. I was so terrified I went
into deep depression and wouldnt talkto anyone. Often medication can control
them. It seems every month I learn something new about the illness. My husband
of 40 years is still learning too, believe it's certanly a test of marriage. If you read thu the posts you'll see other long term bipolar marriages here. Others have tried to encourage their loved one to come to this board and just read. Sometimes knowing we not alone is comforting. Dont know if you've hear of **** but they can be very helpful learning about the illness. www.****.org
Best Wishes, Kiehn

agarcia1 · 06-01-2006, 03:04 PM

Thank you all forr replying. I just spoke to his Dr and he raised his Lamictal to 100 mg but my husband refuses to take them. It seems as if sometimes he acts more and more like a child. Don't get me wrong, he's always acted a bit immature but not to this extreme. He says that he wants to actually here the Dr say it to him. He didn't believe me and that's because the nurse left me a message on my cell phone. I don't know what to do. Last night he hardly got any sleep. In fact he yelled at me about the meds and he ended up staying up most of the night watching tv in the living room. He'll probably end up sleeping most of the day. To answer your question, mudhound, he is 23 years old.