Posted by judy1 on January 8, 2004, at 13:31:54
In reply to Re: Hi I'm the new bipolar here, posted by holymama on January 7, 2004, at 11:25:13
"The problem is, I'm a much more religious person now and a much more inspired person and I want to use that in a good way, but everyone seems put off by it or scared of it because it's a big change for me."
It's not a problem at all if you've become more spiritual and are no longer in a manic episode. It's common for people who have witnessed religious fervor that was part of a manic episode to think how you feel now is still somehow part of that. Have you tried posting on the faith board? Do you have a pastor now? If not, you may find comfort in joining a church and attending bible sessions, etc.
" In response to Judy's post, I'm not sure what label to put on myself, but my depressions over the last few years have become deeper and deeper, lasting longer and longer (the last was 6 months), with short bursts of 'euphoria' in between. There has been literally no break and no periods of normal mood for me for the last two years. So even though it was the SSRI that threw me into a mania (the only time I've gotten anywhere near psychotic), I'm pretty sure there was some bipolar there before the SSRI. I also feel like I can't deal with the depression without an SSRI -- I tried therapy, a naturopathic doctor, St. John's Wort, supplements, diet changes, exercise, and the depression was lasting longer and longer and I was starting to consider suicide. I also can't function well like that as a mother -- any stress (my two year old whining for example) sent me crying and weeping in the corner of the room or so angry that I was afraid I would hurt someone. What am I going to do if I keep getting manic on my SSRI?"
It's unusual to get manic on an AD while taking a mood stabilizer unless you are BP 1. And since you have only experienced hypomanic episodes except for the SSRI-induced mania (were you on a mood stabilizer at the time?), you are in all probability bp2 which does tend to have bad depressions dispersed with short hypomanic episodes. Unfortunately, people with bipolar who are given an AD without a mood stabilizer do get rapid-cycling (I think it's 20% in women with bipolar disorder), but as moods level out hopefully that will stop. I used to cycle continuously for about 4 years, but it has lessened greatly in the last year.
I hope you feel better soon- judy
poster:judy1
thread:296863
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20031229/msgs/298149.html