GAD or Bipolar??? What to make of this

[punkgod94]

Hello, looking for somebody more experienced than me to possibly help me. I went to a new psychiatrist yesterday (been to two previously, as well as my family doctor). I had previously been diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Depression, and Chronic Fatigue/Overall Malaiase (aka feeling like crap). I gave the new psychiatrist my complete history (took 40 mins to fill out the paperwork). He read my history, talked with me, asked questions, and repeated to me some things he believed that were true about myself. For the most part I told him he was correct...some things I didn't believe to be true and I questioned him about those things. He would then clear them up and it would seem to make sense (if not just slightly). I got a good impression that I finally found a doctor that understood me and could actually help me, rather than the other doctors who were just getting paid and waiting to see their next patient. In the end he diagnosed me with Bipolar Disorder. I believe he was leaning toward with Bipolar II, not Bipolar I, but I don't recall. Has this hapenned to anybody else??

I was kinda shocked when he said it but it DID seem to make sense when we were talking (before he actually diagnosed me). It's just that bipolar seems so serious compared to an anxiety disorder. I was shocked! Not like a pregnancy shock though...more of a disbelief than an "oh no, not me...how?!?" It's funny because the 1st psychiatrist I saw DID diagnose me with GAD, but upon our first meeting he said my symptoms could be several things, and he did mention the possibility of bipolar, as well as other mental issues such as ADD, etc which lead me to believe he had no clue what he was talking about. I mean, how can you go from being ADD to being depressed and anxious to being bipolar??? In any case, I'm being prescribed new medication, Lamictal, titrating my way up to 200 mg daily. No more SSRIs or benzodiapenes for me.

[Aaron]

To be sure, SSRIs are supposed to be mood stabilizers. If you have bipolar disorder, you could benefit from them in terms of emotional balance. Nevertheless, I hope the new medication works out for you.

As for being diagnosed as bipolar, my mom is bipolar/bpd, so the doctor's I've been to see have all wanted to keep that on the table. I've received no official diagnosis yet outside of GAD. There's unfortunately no clear path to many psychiatric problems...unless you're explicitly hearing voices, are having defined episodes of depression/mania, appear to have more than one "persona," etc. ADD and GAD I probably the most overdiagnosed psychiatric problems today- it doesn't mean that you don't have those quirks, but if the doctors are wrong, I wouldn't get too disturbed, eh? You seem to be on a good path now. Be sure to let us know how this new approach turns out. :)

[punkgod94]

Yea, I was on about 5 SSRIs that either didn't help my anxiety or gave me too many negative side effects that I didn't want to deal with (or physically couldn't) that I got off of them. From what I've heard those SSRIs, while mood stabilizers, can actually increase problems in people with bipolar because while it may control the mania/hypomania or the depression, it could intensify the effects of the other. I dont really care what my diagnosis is, I just want to feel better and not have unbearable side effects from whatever medication I'm prescribed...I dont care if it's Imodium that cures me lol. I'll be sure to keep everybody updated. Anybody else have any experience with this?

[Murakawa]

It sounds like your psychiatrist was very thorough and I hope that this diagnosis will see you on the right track. To be honest, it's no real surprise to me that you've been diagnosed with several different things. I think doctors are becoming more knowledgable on mental health issues but there's a way to go.

In any case, I hope that the new medication goes well for you :)

Mura

[punkgod94]

Thanks :) It's funny how we know so much about the mind that we never knew before, but how it's still so hard to differentiate between it all. It's not like a physical disease where you clearly have a set of symptoms that are either "yes" or "no". It's pretty much all mental which can be tricky because I may answer a questionnaire one way on a certain day, and completely differently on another day because I'm feeling completely different. And even if I filled it out the exact same way both times it's hard for a doctor to accurately know what to do with the information since they have to mentally make sense of it themselves. A lot of these disorders can be borderline with being normal, or they could be symptoms common of a lot of VERY different disorders. I'll be sure to let everybody know how the new meds work, but like I said before, anybody else feel free to throw your input out there, especially if you're experienced something similar.