Mood disorder diagnosis

[BELAwesome]

Hey guys. So my psychiatrist had diagnosed me with dysthymia, which is a kind of depression which is mild but last a long time (something like that) and anxiety. I was doing better on the lower dose of antidepressant so I thought maybe I could get off of it. He had said before I might be able to stop in the summer. I also was going to a mental health day treatment.

He had said that to be diagnosed with bipolar the mood has to last as least 3 days. I’ve read there are other types of bipolar such as rapid cycling but not all doctors seem to know or recognize those kinds. I’ve heard of people getting diagnosed with it though.

I got off the antidepressant last week. The first while was mostly alright and then the last few days were pretty bad (called crisis line a few times). Then this evening my mood switched and I got kind of hyper and laughing thinking anything almost, was funny. My husband asked what was going on (something like that).

I find it very hard to believe that a diagnosis of just depression can also have parts like this so I want to see another psychiatrist even though my doctor seems so sure he knows I don’t have bipolar or BPD (he laughed when I asked).

There’s not much time to actually talk during sessions with him though. It’s about 10-15mins usually. No time for therapy. Mostly discussing medication and symptoms or side effects. Lol :/

Basically hoping I can hear from others. Either support or from your experience. I couldn’t find a group for bipolar. Anyone diagnosed with bipolar and how did that go? Did anyone start on an antidepressant and switch after or stop and what was that process like? Thank you so much if you read this. I know I wrote a lot. Hopefully it makes enough sense but you can ask any questions if it’s not clear. Take care. 😊💖✌🏼

[Angiebaby0121]

I don't know much about bipolar but sounds to me like you definitely need a 2nd opinion.

I have suffered with a very mild form of depression but have never taken the medication as my doctors said they would counter my epilepsy meds and cause me to have more fits so I just had to get on with it.

I did go through a time where I just wanted to die and thought they'd all be better off without me.

I didn't speak to anyone about this I decided that whenever I thought these bad thoughts I would think of a time when I was my happiest to cheer myself up and get out of my bad mood and dark thoughts.

Not sure if this helps but I sincerely hope you get sorted soon.

Angie x

[BELAwesome in reply to Angiebaby0121]

Okay. Thanks so much Angie! 😊💖✌🏼

[MAS_Nurse]

Hello BELAwesome, welcome to our very warm and caring community, where you have already received a very nice and helpful reply from Angiebaby 0121. I think it would be in your best interest to get a second opinion, then at least you would know if there is another diagnosis to your depression and the way you have been feeling with different mood swings. It may help to keep a diary for a while and write down your feelings/ thoughts and the changes in your mood. This way when you do go for your appointments , you can have it all there in front of you, you can always summarise it in points before you see the doctor. This way you won't forget to talk about what different moods are really troubling you, and you might find that you have a bit more quality time and time to ask questions. I hope that you find some answers and a diagnosis soon to lessen your worry, so that you can receicv treatment and also perhaps ask for some counselling. Also I wonder can any of our members help BELAwesome with her questions about her diagnosis, or their experiences with depression or bipolar illness, that would be really appreciated, thank you.? Let us know how you are getting on and keep posting on here for further support, wishing you good luck and all the very very best..........

[BELAwesome in reply to MAS_Nurse]

Thank you so much! I really appreciate that response. I can tell there is care here. I do agree about seeing another doctor and I think I need to be more clear about the experiences I’m having. I can seem calm in a meeting so it might be hard to imagine me being different I guess. I was going to go to an appointment this morning with one of the staff at the hospital where I was in day treatment for mental health so I’m hoping from there I may be able to see someone sooner. I hadn’t gone for a while cause I was supposed to sort out some stuff in my life which could be a distraction during the sort or intense day treatment program first. I can update later on how things to 😊. I have been somewhat keeping track of my moods but I probably need to be a bit more specific for them to have a better idea cause it can change a lot. Or I mean write updates more often.

[gardengnome]

Bipolar UK have a brilliant forum,

Med change can do some odd things to your body and brain, even without any psychological condition

please be aware that bipolar or similar hard-core diagnosis will have implications for your driving license, it's not a diagnosis to seek,, unless you truly believe it could lead to better long term control of chronic and distressing symptoms .

I have avoided asking to get referred to a psychiatrist because I want to avoid the stigma involved with diagnosis (esp if I don't agree with it) and don't want to have to risk the DVLA temporarily removing my licence.

[Loki1018]

Hey Belawesome

So I’m diagnosed bipolar 2 depression and anxiety. I currently take mood stabilizer (Trileptal) my psychiatrist wont put me on antidepressants because he says it would make me more manic and usually when your up high you crash harder.

Sounds like you maybe bipolar but I’m not a MD.

I would definitely look for a second opinion and your right you only get 10-15 mins with the psychiatrist but the fact that he laughed at your for bringing up your concern is unprofessional.

I had brought up to my doc that maybe I maybe have BPD and what he did was ask my why I thought that.

BPD and bipolar he said are very close it’s hard to diagnose and sometimes BPD is missed because of this.

I have days where I’m very happy and energetic which are my manic days and then I have my depression days which tend to last longer than my good days.

Right now though my meds seem to be working so I haven’t had many depressed days but it does get bad on my week before my period or supposedly when I’m supposed to get it I take birth control which doesn’t give me a period 😃 but still the hormones are there and when I’m pms’ing it’s the worst my moods swings mainly I get depressed and that’s when I figure it’s time to ask my doc if my mgs of my medication needs to be up’d because my moods aren’t stabilized yet and usually we do go up in mgs.