Bipolar has as spectrum??

I am like that, too. My manic is short, but my depression runs deep. When it hits it can be severe, but not always. But it can last for weeks. Sometimes a few months. My psychologist has referred me to a new psychiatrist, since we moved. She thinks I need to be re-evaluated. I’m hoping to have my medication adjusted. I’ve not been in a good ‘place’ for quite a while.

There’s Bi-Polar it is light on the depression side.

Then there’s Bi-polar II,
which is strong on the depression side of things.

I have heard about sub-threshold bipolar before. How are you feeling about being on the bipolar spectrum? Just wanted to give you some recognition positive support for seeing a psychiatrist, which must mean you are working hard to get yourself to a better place. That is a great accomplishment. I am still learning how to live with Bipolar 2 and psychiatric medication is a must for me, so I consider regular visits with my psychiatrist an important part of my treatment plan. Good luck to you, I hope your meds help.

my family doc has been trying for ages to get me to take medications but i read up on it and i dont take it, being on effexor and it doesnt work anymore I cant get off it the side effects wow. but the depression is getting deeper . It doesnt bother me being on the spectrum the psychiatrist I saw ( in the hospital system ) isnt there for long but she saw me because my family doc said it was an emergency. ( he was worried about the way I was suffering he told me that). The psychiatrist initially wanted me on lithium but it doesnt mix well with plaquenil ( for arthritis ) so she is putting me on something else after blood tests results come back, because Ive had non alcoholic fatty liver a lot of these drugs dont mix will with the liver.. my manic sessions dont last two weeks or so but when they hit........................... who cleans the house within an inch of its life at 2am. but mixing that with rheumatoid and osteo arthritis is painful. both my parents were bipolar., mum refused drugs but then she had me to deal with things I dont have anyone cept my daughter who is autistic. what do u do in a manic session?? mum once wallpapered the lounge it was her own house so she could I dont have that luxury. I play my music , only during the day ( cops havent shown up yet telling me to turn it down lol) it helps I can sort of disappear into it..

@tisme: I made it to 59 and a lifetime of deep depressions and finally a hospitalization after an extremely close call before I received a bipolar 2 diagnosis. I'd been on Effexor for quite a few years prior, and as it turned out, it had been amplifying my depression to the brink of self-harm. It's an uncommon but not unknown response.

It's worth talking to your psychiatrist about this potential. Mine had never seen a case until she had me as a patient. I was the one who found a study on PubMed that detailed exactly what had been happening to me. And that was only after quitting cold turkey in another self-destructive rage (not easy and not really recommended) . Within days my depression was easing, not worsening as I both expected and had intended. That's when I went digging.

My wife picked up on it faster than I did. She came home five nights after I quit and I was singing along with some music. I hadn't told her yet, so she had no grounds for thinking something had changed.

"You're singing," she said. "You used to sing all the time. I haven't heard you sing in years."

"You're singing!"

For the first time in years, I was genuinely happy right then.

Despite horrific withdrawal symptoms, I was determined to ride it out after finding the study (I've since found another on BMJ). It became a matter of saving my life from myself, and it did. I didn't inform my psychiatrist for a week, I had to get over the anger that had motivated me to quit first (extreme rampages and serious dishonesty had also become factors; I didn't tell my wife until after I told the doctor). I arranged an appointment walked into her office yet a week later with an entirely new demeanor regarding my depression. She was skeptical about my claim when I arrived, but within half an hour couldn't deny the evidence in front of her face.

I'm still seeing her, and I told her I don't harbor any resentment over the fact that she initially kept me on the Effexor and had added a mood stabilizer. I only began seeing her after being released by the hospital, and she went with the standard treatment. She also didn't want to shock my system by withdrawing the antidepressant, which my MD had prescribed years earlier. I get why she did it. And she's the one who made the bipolar 2 diagnosis, which I believe is correct because it explains too much of my life.

She put me on Lamictal, which has made the difference between night and day. I've basically been in a good mood for two years now, nonstop, and this is after decades of deep cyclical extended depressions hitting me several times a year. For the first time in my life I feel the darkness is truly gone.

I'm still seeing a counselor. Talk therapy is essential. Especially because it terrifies me how close I came to ending it. That's one moment of fear I don't think I'll ever be able to fully come to terms with. But the gratitude that I'm still here can't be understated.

It's worth discussing this with your psychiatrist, and getting a second opinion if they don't consider it a possibility. I'm not saying it is the cause in your case, I'm not qualified to do so. But I am saying it's a potential. And since you're saying your depression is deepening, which is what happened to me, it should be looked into in my opinion. I marched right up to the brink before realizing what was going on. I don't want anyone else to go through what I did.

I tried getting off Effexor got down to the lowest dose the brain zaps are freaky, but there is only me and my autistic daughter so I have no one for support my psychiatrist said anti-depressants are totally wrong for bipolar. but I fear going on the other stuff because of non-alcoholic fatty liver. all these drugs can have an effect on the liver.

@ashleyharris728
I’ve never heard the term “spectrum”
regarding Bi-polar before.
There’s only 2 types so is that really a spectrum?

I have Narcolepsy II. aka hypersomnia.
Pharmaceuticals have helped me live as well as I have been over the last 20 years.

I suppose its like Autism , once upon a time people thought only non talkers /head bangers etc were autistic , now people are realising that there are similarities and differences in the higher functioning ones. , so there for its a spectrum,

@SusanEllen66 I’m glad that you have found a medication regimen that helps you! I’m sure narcolepsy 2 can be difficult to manage.
You are correct there is Bipolar I and II. There is also cyclothymia. And then I think there are people who are sub-threshold for that, who do not meet criteria for a diagnosis, but may still benefit from interventions that are helpful for people with bipolar.
Here is the link to the Mayo clinic page that describes cyclothymia.
I have bipolar 2 and I think it’s important to note, as the website does, that Bipolar 2 is not a milder form of Bipolar 1, but a distinct diagnosis with different management strategies.
Best to you!

@tisme I can relate to over-doing it during a (hypo)manic episode. I come up with a list of things I can do ahead of time that aren’t super intense exercise which is what I would otherwise default to. For example, I can exercise, but for no more than 3 hours a day, and no later than 7pm. If you can think of active but lower intensity things, that can be good. For example walking, yoga, bouncing on a yoga ball, dancing to music while cooking, etc.
otherwise I have found that I simply run way too much, do too much intense yard work, and I don’t stop to eat or drink. Finally it catches up with me as is tale as old as time with bipolar cycles.