Posted by gregg on May 12, 2003, at 17:02:43
In reply to Diagnosis of BP II after AD-induced Mania, posted by Taylor123 on May 12, 2003, at 13:42:23
> Hey all, Hope everything is going well for you.
>
> After a long battle with depression, I was started on Effexor (now well on 225mg and 600mg Lithium)But when I started it, I became hypomanic. I believe this to be a "side-effect" of the drug, as opposed to a latent illness that was provoked by the drug.
> Does anyone have any opinion about diagnosing BP II disorder on the basis of AD-induced hypomania?
> I know that the DSM V criteria says that AD-induced mania must be EXCLUDED, so why then have I been given that diagnosis?
> Thanks all
> Take careTaylor,
Yeh, my wife had the same experience. Personally, I think that doctors just don't like to admit that their treatment is causing harm, so they blame it on the illness.
There is an "unofficial" term of Bipolar Type III that covers those with only AP-induced mania. In my wife's case, they first put her on Depakote to treat her supposed "Bipolar-II". The Depakote made her gain around 100 pounds. Later, she found that she didn't have the hypo-mania problem if she used Wellbutrin instead of an SSRI.
As you correctly note, the DSM says that drug-induced symptoms aren't supposed to count toward the diagnosis, but that doesn't seem to stop most PsyDocs.
gregg
poster:gregg
thread:226118
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030505/msgs/226151.html