Is bipolar disorder autoimmune? Form of central sensitization?

Posted by mblbirch @mblbirch, Jul 14, 2018

Hi, I'm Melissa. I have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, fibromyalgia, and autoimmune disorders. I have seen journal articles indicating that bipolar may be autoimmune, and I also understand that depression and anxiety may relate to central sensitization, like fibromyalgia. I'm a little confused on how these all relate to one another and where the bipolar fits in. Is there someone who can clarify - is bipolar autoimmune? Is it a form of central sensitization? Is it both? Neither? So confused. 🙁 Thanks!

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Justin McClanahan, Moderator | @JustinMcClanahan | Jul 15, 2018

Hello @mblbirch. You mentioned that you went through a two day fibro clinic at Mayo Clinic, so this information could possibly be repeat, but you may find the following link useful, https://www.mayoclinic.org/departments-centers/pain-rehabilitation-center/overview. Specifically, the 10 minute video on the bottom of the page that explains central sensitization a bit more. As we are not medical professioinals and cannot offer medical advice, it is difficult to answer such a complex question about bipolar disorder being linked to an autoimmune disorder, however, I did find this article, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2950824/. Here is a link to a discussion taking place specifically on fibromyalgia as well, https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/fibromyalgia-pain-28e002/.

@mblbirch, if you don't mind sharing, have you discussed your questions with your medical providers about the connection between the diagnoses?

mblbirch | @mblbirch | Jul 27, 2018

Thank you Justin! I've brought it up with a couple of doctors but not really gotten much of a response. Still working on it. I'll take a look at the articles. 🙂