It would be a mistake to think that all people diagnosed BP have the same experiences or respond in the same way to medication/therapy/yoga/acupuncture. If I'd been fairly stable on meds for 8 years then I'd consider myself lucky to have found the correct treatment right off. I hope you don't take your experience as a sign that you can stop your treatment! In my experience there's always something that triggers a mood change. It can be getting fired or a death in the family or working too hard or eating a poor diet or a change in our bodies like developing diabetes or a thyroid malfunction. This can result in anxiety or PTSD or agitation or any other thing that impacts our ability to make the right decisions and enjoy life as we should. We each have to work out our understanding of treatment, goals and how to meet them. So good for you.

Thank you for this tommymott-but when do valid emotions become something that should be pathologised (sp?) and medicated? Surely some emotions are appropriate to have without being diagnosed as having a mental illness? I am working on my understanding-and my doctor has agreed that I reduce the prozac by 30% in the meantime. If I am proved wrong so be it.... I want to express myself in my own way. xxx

PS or in the last 8 years, nothing of great emotional import has happened,....

For me, and just for me - whatever I have got worse while I was in times of real stress and the clearest set of symptoms where after a bereavement.

Part of me wonders if, like some people think, it was all down to that. But then even though medicated I do have periods where there is less stress but I show symptoms.

For me bipolar has never been about moods, happy or sad. It's about energy - either low with no enthusiasm or interest (depression) or a driven almost chemical push which is beyond just having good normal energy.

Long way of saying - are you having any variations in drive/ energy like that?

PS - were you only on Prozac? That would not control bipolar - actually more likely to make it worse so maybe you were being treated for depression and anxiety despite what your doctor said?

i"m sorry but the first sentence you said was slightly ridiculous...."you thought you were BiPolar so the Doc flew with it and put you on the Psych list..." Was this a Psychiatrist? Have you ever been evaluated by a Psychiatrist? A regular M.D. cannot diagnose you BiPolar just because you think you might be.

To be Diagnosed BiPolar it requires visits with a Psychiatrist, testing by the Psychiatrist, and that is the only way you can be Diagnosed. If I were you I'd definitely have that done immediately. It's slightly insane that you've not been properly Diagnose

Good Luck!

When I was first diagnosed I don't think anything untoward was going on in my life.... I'd been diagnosed with depression and anxiety for years and then I started seeing shadow people and I heard voices a few times
Since being diagnosed and medicated though pretty much every cycle has been life related...... Big hug......xo

Thanks for the replies, I will have to think all this through. The MD called the crisis team and they kind of ran with it. I am also on lithium and epilim for the bp side of things. I was going thru menopause, and living in one room with a very intense guy. plus smoking dope. Is there any point going to a psych now so long after the events? I do have energy ups and downs-but I think this is a natural rhythm of life and not necessarily an illness. xxxThanks for helping me-I find it all very slippery and hard to get a handle on xxx

I agree with some very prominent psychotherapists that people are not "bundles of pathology". I think of the DSM as a bunch of pigeon holes... if you have the symptoms then you get the label and the meds that are likely to work with your body chemistry which may take some time to find.

They can't give you helpful meds without labelling you, thats the way the scientific methodology their medical training is based on is designed to work. Many people argue it's a very flawed system. If you want a review of diagnosis and meds then you are fully entitled to them!

Hi Dinah,

I've had a similar conversation with myself for many years and here is what I have come to "denial" is a powerful force in life it sure has made me quit taking meds many times and it has caused me to slide down hill and fast. Acceptance is another matter...it might be worth while to ask yourself the place that denial and acceptance have in your life.

Honestly it's life experiences and events that trigger my mood swings. I had a traumatic breakup which triggered a serious depression of nearly three years. I have had late nights partying and decreased need for sleep that was mania. Indeed you may have lucked out with your medication. I'm on a good combo right now after almost four years of tinkering with dosages. If you are so concerned I suggest you seek a second opiniOn from another psychiatrist

Thanks again all. Denial I would say is doing the same thing over and over like in my case drinking and wishing the hangover wouldnt happen. Acceptance is yes I did some silly and dangerous things when I was drinking, but I dont now so its all well in the end. Denial may be the case, but I dont want to say Im bipolar if I never once used my hard won new thinking and emotional skills to see how far I have come. At least Ill know.....

There are a few mental illnesses that can come clistered with bp or even mimic it to a degree. Borderline Personality Disorder is more situationally triggered and often misdiagnosed as bipolar. Just a thought...def not a diagnosis.

Hi...if I were you, I'd go to a trained psydr for a clear cut dx, that way there would be no questions of 'if there is smoke there is ?" Second if you are on lithium Make Sure you drink half you're body weight in water each day as it is processed through the kidney and you can damage your kidney...Lamictal is a mood stabilizer which also works as lithium and has less side effects...from my perspective as I've been on both. As for drinking...many people with bp use alcohol as a 'mood stablizer' and life events Do kick up bp symptoms. I have rapid cycle bp and have had to reduce and sometimes come off anti-depressants due to hypo mania.

I'd get a proper diagnosis.

If you are smoking dope or any other street drugs it sort of invalidates the diagnosis unless they were told.

I really wouldn't want to take something like lithium or valproate f I didn't have to.

Thanks to everyone for these-I have an appt with a psychiatrist to hopefully evaluate what has happened to me.
As I said before-I am very slowly reducing my meds with docs supervision. If symptoms come back then Ill have a better idea of what I am dealing with- I have never come off meds so just want to try once. I want to try life as I am.