Questioning Possible Bipolar 2 Diagnosis

I hope you can get answers that help you. I get how talking with family and friends about medical issues might be tricky. I don’t do it either that often. I have learned that most people have trouble keeping things in confidence.

I do find it curious that your husband refuses to accept the diagnosis. Hmmmm….I don’t get it. I have family members and others I know who have bipolar and it’s obvious. They struggle and have a lot of issues as a result. It appears most of their trouble is due to lack of treatment. I feel for them, because they obviously suffer a lot of pain. How would the treatment be different if were not bipolar II?

Thank you @celia16 . I hope I didn't confuse - my husband is very supportive of me getting treatment regardless - he just has a hard time believing it is bipolar disorder (as do I). You ask a good question about how treatment would be different. It would only be different in that I would try a mood stabilizer if bipolar 2 is the diagnosis rather than just an antidepressant. Longer-term, it would mean that I might need to be more aware of my moods and triggers. There seems to be a correlation with traumatic medical events, perhaps? There could also be a correlation with hormone fluctuations (pregnancy/birth, menopause). I guess I don't know, but I would like more answers.

I see. That support is so important.

So there seems a lot to consider. I hope your doctors and therapists can sort it out. I’m not familiar with all you describe. Is there any particular reason that you struggle to believe it’s true, since you were diagnosed with it before and this time, it seems another healthcare professional leans toward that diagnosis? Please pardon my ignorance. I’m trying to learn.

@root27 welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. After reading your first post it seems you have had a lot going on for a long time (anxiety, depression, childbirth with possible postpartum depression, your accident, PTSD symptoms, panic attacks … now possible bipolar condition). Bipolar is challenging in that it includes 2 conditions that are completely opposite from each other. The cycles are varying lengths and are often unpredictable. Medication can sometimes help particularly with the manic phase but requires close monitoring by a psychiatrist. Therapy can be helpful especially for the depression part. It is important to have a psychiatrist and therapist that you can trust who can collaborate to support what you need when you need it. It is good that you are getting your records together for your providers. This way they can review the history and not have to start from scratch so to speak. They can also see what has been helpful in the past and what hasn’t. You mentioned experiencing some visual hallucinations and having suicidal thoughts. This is serious. Are you still experiencing this? Be sure to bring this to your providers’ attention.

You appear to have gotten to a point of accepting a diagnosis no matter what it is and as your supportive spouse noted “you’re still the same person you’ve always been.” With the help of a psychiatrist for medication management and a therapist for therapy hopefully you’ll get back on track. I would suggest that after you get things straight that you not stop seeing your therapist. Having this type of stabilizing person in your life with your history might serve you better too. Good luck.

Hi, I just read thro your posts .I believe you are rite on with the hormone fluctuations..
Part of it could have been lost partum depression. Change of life etc

My advice is to be very circumspect about the BP diagnosis. I was "diagnosed" BP on the basis of the results of a short questionnaire and ended up down the rabbit hole for the past 14 years. I've been trying to get off of the horrible antipsych meds for years. Zyprexa pretty much ruined my health, both mental and physical, causing massive weight gain, my blood sugar skyrocketed from low-normal to pre-diabetes range, paranoia, intellectual inhibition, loss of coordination, heart problems, sexual dysfunction, zombieism... very bad side effects. After a very tough, year-long withdrawl, I'm cautiously optimistic that I'm done with it. Lamotrigine is next. I don't think very many people really know what bipolar means. I don't. I had the occasional manic episode and depression events over my last 30 years, but wasnt raving and yelling, "Im the king of the world!"
Who knows?
I'm 66 yo now and wanting to try a go at treating my brain holistically.

Best of luck to you.

Stay wary of the mental health industry.

At six I had a complete breakdown. Weeks of hallucinations, voices, nightmares you name it. The doctors said I was stressed from playing hockey. No that the emotional and physical abuse at home had anything to do with it. I was left to deal with it on my own.

At sixteen I was sexually abused by a number of adults. I started to drink alcholo and take drugs. At eighteen I was hospitalized for substance abuse disorders. No mention of the abuse.

At twenty-five I was suicidial and ended up in a psychiatrist office. Thankfully he was a healer. He refused to diagnose me with anything. He believed what I suffered from was unresolved trauma. Over the next nine years I would heal.

At forty five after building the American Dream with my wife and four children to love me. I went to a psychiatrist because I was feeling down. I was also obese. Didn’t sleep much. Never exercised and ate garbage. Without so much as a blood test this doctor diagnosed me with major depressive disorder. The prescribed medication and resulting mania took away everyone and everything that mattered to me. I ended up in prison.

In prison, they decided I had bipolar disorder because of the mania that put me in prison. So my meds changed, a little.

When I got out of prison and was suffering from deep depression (prison will do that) they added “melancholic features” to my diagnosis and threw the kitchen sink at me.

In July when I said I want off the meds and got visibly better they didn't know what to think. In December when the discontinuation effects landed me in the hospital they started some new meds.

The moral of my story is be careful. The emotional effects of trauma, whatever that trauma might be, are real. Trauma changes our biology and the body needs time to recover. Medication might help. But it might also make things worse. Mental Health Care is in the dark ages.

Control what you can control. Principly what you eat and how much you exercise. Mental health meds cannot make up for poor physical health. Run from anyone who thinks they can. Do your homework. Research every symptom, diagnosis or course of treatment. You will quickly learn that your providers don't really know what's going on or what to do either.

I'm sorry to write that. I wish it were not the case. I wish mental illness could be diagnosed with a blood test and that the treatments were fully understood. But they are not.

The best any of us can do for now is control what you can. Research everything and be skeptical of any one who tells you they are sure. What I look for is a provider that will listen and work with me.

I know it's hard. I'm sorry for all of us.

I hope you live in peace and good health.

Amen.
I've under the thumb of the mental health industrial complex since the early 2,000s and agree with you that it's basically a crap shoot.
I too am trying to ditch the drugs and get my mind back. It's a work in progress. Best of luck to you moving forward.

@itchyd I hope you have a support network or person to help support you while you explore the holistic approach to your illness. Yes it’s a crap shoot but the consequences can be great if left untreated for too long. Good luck on your journey and I hope you’re successful.