Goodmorning Tracy! I am in the exact same situation. These two conditions are very easy to mistake for one another. I would love to talk sometime.

i have Bpd and bipolar and sometimes some one will ask me a question and i will tell them one answer and another perosn will ask me the same question and i will tell them the same answer but in a different way. and know people don't believe me

Well Ihave them both too and have them under my spell now with meds. I hope I can regain some semblance of truth and peace in the coming years

Good luck !!

you sound like me, tracy. I always assumed I had bipolar (even before they called it that, back when it was still manic depression). Now I know I have bpd, and other things.
Bipolar drugs make me crazy. (haha) I can't take them.

hi dont know if u already seen tdoc or not but bipolar and bpd is commen together

Yes, it is easy to confuse the two. When I began to suspect my therapist was looking at a diagnosis of BP for me, I thought she was totally wrong. I had been diagnosed with BPD by several professionals, which I do have, but I made the mistake of thinking the lessened need for sleep was also a BPD thing when it isn't so much. So now, I have a diagnosis of both disorders, among others. BP and BPD closely mimic each other at times.

If you're on Lamictal and you think you're not BP, talk to your doc about it and get a proper diagnosis and the kind of meds you need. Best of luck!

From my own research on both topics (as I've been dx with both) there are a lot of similarities in the traits.

One thing I did learn from my psychologist is that a person can have multiple disorders but not present the traits for all of them at a given time depending on personal circumstances.

I was diagnosed with BPD & I take Lamictal to even out my moods. Never diagnosed with Bipolar though. I don't think I have the ups & downs. But the Lamictal has really really helped.

Holy crap, this same thing just happened to me! Unfortunately I have no doctor to bounce ideas off of and to get good advice from, but after stumbling upon the definition of "cyclothymic" I thought that sounded a lot like me, but then I thought bipolar was even closer, but if that were true, I was a rapid cycler, though 4 swings per year was way too few for me. I go through everything daily. Then I stumbled upon BPD...I didn't want it to fit, but it's even closer than Bipolar. I've had a LOT to think about already with accepting bipolar disorder, I don't know how to deal with being Borderline.

they told me i had both but the more and more i read i am being to think i am not bipolar but i have BPD. i think it is very easy to get the two confused even for doctors...

Found some info that might be helpful on this topic......

BPD Traits:
http://www.toddlertime.com/dx/borderline/bpd-traits.htm

Difference between BPD and BP Traits:
http://www.psycheducation.org/depression/borderline.htm

I was originally diagnosed with BP II. But later my symptoms were more inline with BPD, so it was changed. Yes, there are a lot of similarities between the two. Talk to your doc about what is going on and what you think. A good doc will listen.

Yes you can confuse the two

The meds for Bipolar can help BPD some

The two can over lap

With BPD you need to do alot of counciling as well as just drug therapy to see lots of improvement

I know I have both as the meds slowed down my rapid cycling enough to see jsut how f'ed up I m in the bpd world.....

jackmac...at my last pdoc appointment he says he thinks i have been misdiagnosed with bp. he thinks it may be bpd or both. I freaked not understanding exactly what that means for me...but 6 years of treatment for BP has done nothing for me so maybe its a good thing and i can get the right treatment...

Reena, I have been misdiaged as having BPD not BP... turns out what I thought was mania was mood swings as a result of unsteady relationship coping mechanisms. I was on Lamictal but I have developed a rash so I have to come off of it (and I was only on 25mg!). Lamictal did show me one thing though. It did help me focus on things, something I was not able to do before. Upon some further research I found that sometimes you can have ADD with this disorder, so I've been giving this some thought. I also went to amazon.com and bought The Angry Heart workbook and a Dialectal Therapy Workbook that me and the tdoc will be working through together until the group DBT course begins.
I know hearing "Borderline Personality Disorder" sounds awful, but after doing some studying, I'm thankful for this rather than the BP. It takes time and persistent counceling, but its more focused on getting well naturally instead of always having to find meds/cocktails like you would w/ BP. Best of luck to you sweetie!