I was diagnosed with depression for years. I don't know what I said that tipped my tdoc off that it may be more than that, but she went and got my pdoc and he saw me right away. He asked me questions for quite a while, I was just honest with him, and I got the diagnosis.
It took a while to find the right meds, at the right doses for me, though.

hey babe...i left you a journal comment to help with some of the sadness....i hope it makes you feel better!! If I had to guess I would say that yes you probably are bipolar and could really benefit from getting a proper diagnos! love you Christal!!!

well, it would help if a pdoc could see you in a high state...so maybe just get a pdoc who can observe you for a period of time.

I was diagnosed with depression when I was 19yrs old. When I was 20 I had what I now know was my first manic psychotic episode. It was misdiagnosed as "drug induced psychosis" because I had smoked some pot at a welcome back to school party, the joint had pcp in it.... so it was missed. I struggled with mood swings for 10 yrs until I had a major psychotic manic episode that was very hard for the doc to miss. I finially got put on the right kinds of meds and my moods began to stabalize. sometimes I do miss my hypomanic highs.... had fun and got lots done haha. But seriously I never want to mess with my manic side, it's just too painful. Signs can be suttle as difficulty sleeping, you can have racing thoughts, spending sprees, be a bit oversexed..... I do hope you will be properly diagnosed so you can get the best treatment for you.

I'm bipolar 2 and sometimes that can be tough to differentiate from depression. But, none of the depression meds did anything for me. I was finally diagnosed with bp a few years ago and the meds are working. Good luck and stick to it!!!

Also, I think taking care of all aspects of our health, diet, exercise, etc. are is more important and helpful for us than it is for "normal" people.

Thank you all - I appreciate ur answers and support! I am searching for a new Dr and going to try and start a mood journal. I did this before and the Dr didn't even look at it. Anyway, I do have A LOT of racing thoughts and can't sleep a lot. I get overwhelmed with thoughts and emotions. I went off on the pharmasist at the drugstore the other day. I'm not a rude person but I can get into a rage type moment when I get upset with someone etc. Just a lot of stuff. It scares me bc I feel like at times I can't handle life. I can't hold down a job etc. I'm either really up or down. Just a lot of things I think I'm just not normal or something bc I can't handle life like most people. I think I'd like to think this could be why and I'd have a reason and an answer and hopefully with the right meds be able to live my life again. Thanks for sharing with me and listening to me.

I was diagonosed with depression and anxity and took pills for it at frist then about a year after that someone mention that it could be bi-polar. I deined that for a long time.even after I found out it was in my famliy.. took about 6 months for me to go see my docter and ask about bi-poler so after the 30mins of quistions & two fill out sheets he told me to come back in two weeks and ya I was bi-polar for awhile I was on a anti depressent and a mood stableizer in one that worked for about 3 yr then resonly I got swicth cuz my dpression and miain was getting wrost( about 4 months ago) then maybe about a week ago I went to a p-docter to make sure that it was bi-polar befor I got
hooked on this new pills & my mom was in big denile that I am bi-polar so I did it to shut her up LOL.
He read my history and asked me an hours worth of qustion about everything( from my eralyest so called bp monment to that ponit in my life) I asked him befor I left when dose he think he'll know that I'm bi-polar .. he said your docter was right all along and i'll get you weekly group session with a p-doc. I kinda knew all along looking back when I was little you would tell if you looked..

Thank you! I really think now it's just finding a good Dr who will take time to talk to me and ask questions, have me fill out stuff. I'm going to start keeping a chart so I can take that also. I'm going to call around and see if I can get in with a P-Dr that specializes in bipolar.

Having a journal that documents your moods could be a big help in assisting your pdoc in the right diagnosis. Some of the things that you speak of sound as though you might be leaning towards bipolar but it doesn't mean it's so. My nephew is going through some rough times diagnosed with depression but having many things that look more bipolar. I hope for him too that he will get the proper diagnosis, the right type of medications are the key in starting to feel better and getting your life back. Good luck to you!

I've been diagnosed with depression for years. But then i nothice that i snapp at little things, i get pissed off easily, the crying for days, shopping was getting in the way also. I don't go out much but when we had parties i notice that i would try to drink more i would feel very happy i would go home and i would snap at my husband, god bless him b/c i couldn't deal with it. But bottom line i new something was wrong i went to the library got a book about symtoms of bipolar and how to get help. Then i strated getting therapy and now medication and thank god it's working.