Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Support Group
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I have been in a rough patch the last couple of weeks. At my last therapy session a lot of emotions and memories came out. I also admitted that I was thinking daily about suicide.
I told him I didn't think the medication I am on is working. Pdoc is only willing to add something like risperidone. I am not willing to do that because I don't think he is right about the Bipolar 2 diagnosis. I know a lot of people say not to get hung up on a diagnosis. I see where they are coming from but I also see it from a different perspective. How does one get the right treatment if the diagnosis is wrong???
My therapist asked if I would be interested in what he thought about my diagnosis. Of course I said yes. He said that he did not see me as having bipolar 2 but saw me as having Complex PTSD. He asked if maybe he had referred me to the wrong psychiatrist and maybe I needed one that was a better fit for me.
THANK YOU!!!!!!
Not there is anything wrong with Bipolar 2...or 1 for that matter but it does change the treatment options a bit.
I was diagnosed Bipolar 2 within 45 minutes of meeting the psychiatrist. I questioned it then and he shrugged his shoulders and said...oh...well it only has to have been one episode to qualify and you said you acted manically after your husband dies...."
My tdoc has seen me almost every week for over a year. I trust him more than the one I see for 15 minutes every 6 weeks.
I told him I didn't think the medication I am on is working. Pdoc is only willing to add something like risperidone. I am not willing to do that because I don't think he is right about the Bipolar 2 diagnosis. I know a lot of people say not to get hung up on a diagnosis. I see where they are coming from but I also see it from a different perspective. How does one get the right treatment if the diagnosis is wrong???
My therapist asked if I would be interested in what he thought about my diagnosis. Of course I said yes. He said that he did not see me as having bipolar 2 but saw me as having Complex PTSD. He asked if maybe he had referred me to the wrong psychiatrist and maybe I needed one that was a better fit for me.
THANK YOU!!!!!!
Not there is anything wrong with Bipolar 2...or 1 for that matter but it does change the treatment options a bit.
I was diagnosed Bipolar 2 within 45 minutes of meeting the psychiatrist. I questioned it then and he shrugged his shoulders and said...oh...well it only has to have been one episode to qualify and you said you acted manically after your husband dies...."
My tdoc has seen me almost every week for over a year. I trust him more than the one I see for 15 minutes every 6 weeks.
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I haven't written in my diary on my computer since May because I thought that my computer was dying. I got away from writing but my computer is hanging in there. I think that I will start writing in it again. It's so therapeutic.
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First, I hope everyone is doing well, and continuing to fight that good fight! Keep up the great work on yourselves; I'm rooting for all of you!So, I started doing therapy at the beginning of the year, when I was in my most depressed state, but with my therapist, I made big changes and steps in the right direction. But, over a month ago, she couldn't take my insurance anymore, and I had to stop...
Topamax is an antiseizure med that works in some people as a mood stabilizer.
It pulled me out of a really bad place...the thing is? I've never had mania, or even hypomania, just agitated depression and/or PTSD out the wazoo.
i do not know your dx, but a new pdoc and screening is probably in order, so you feel moore confident and comfy with the dx you are given. and my therapist also dxd me as GAD at first with PTSD when the memories broke out, so... whatever the dx, jist hope you get good treatment!
I'd go with the CPTSD before taking that med.
THIS is why I have been so dead set against meds!!! I do NOT trust anyone more than me to decide what to put in my body. I have to do a TON of research on me, the dx and the drug just to CONSIDER it.
Took me 6 months to decide to get the prescription filled for a steroidal nose spray to fight my tinnitus, for crying out loud.
Stick to your guns. If you have doubts, listen. You'll know the right time to take meds if it comes.
But on the other side, if you DO come to agree with the BiPolar dx and come to think meds are needed, don't bounce on and off them- so many stop taking them b/c they think they are better, not making the connection that the reason they feel better is the meds.
Whatever you do, just be smart about it. : D
Then I was re-diagnosed Complex PTSD.
My original diagnosis was no disaster, but it was good to get the rediagnosis, because it put more attention on the years in therapy that lead to the "complex" part of cPTSD.
It takes just a bit of effort on your part, if you are Excell savvy, you can make up a spreadsheet, or just take a piece of paper and do it on that.
What you want is for every hour you are awake, you want to rate how you are feeling between 1 and 10. Do this for several weeks or even months until you can see a pattern.
One thing to watch for is that 9 means really happy and 10 means so much energy that you are angry.
Notes as things going on in your life are also helpful.
Bi-Polar is when instead of hanging out within a range of three or four numbers, you bounce all the way down and all the way up. As PTSD patient, you will probably bounce down a lot, but if you don't have the corresponding up bounce you are most likely NOT Bi-Polar.
That said, if you can figure out how to actually get treated for what is wrong - PLEASE us all know so we can get properly treated too!!
hugs and hopes you have a good day
yadlim
Yadim, That suggestion isn't far out in left field at all. i was actually hoping the pdoc would ask about that because I had been keeping track (somewhat). I have mood swings from hour to hour some days. if my mind is kept busy I am generally ok. Weekends can be hell. I slip into a deep depression easily. That is my pattern. I wake up wishing I could die. I am fine after I have been at work 30 minutes. I have told pdoc about this. I get anxiety when I am triggered. I get depressed when I have intrusive thoughts about childhood abuse.
Lilly, I definitely had some sort of break going on after my husband died. it lasted almost 2 years. I actually got some of my PTSD (or added to it) from that whole ugly experience. But the was 7 years ago. I am different now.
Muji...thanks for your support. I know you also had some difficulty in getting the correct diagnosis.
I will stay on the med for now and see if I can have an open discussion with pdoc when he gets back from vacation. Oh and, BTW Lilly, no cookie crumbs and actually he is a tall hottie with a cute accent.
I'm sorry you are struggling and what you wrote does make sense. I guess my issue is that the medication he has me on it not working very well and it is for bipolar 2. My other issue is that the diagnosis does go on medical records. Once a person is labeled it is hard to remove the label.
Sending you lots of positive energy.
The proof was in the pudding for us all. I didn't end up being "cured" of all mental issues, but I didn't have manic or depressive episodes, either. In time my therapy began concentrating more on flashbacks, and not just just medicating my anxiety but interpreting where it came from. It was more of a re-direct thing in treatment from bipolar to PTSD for me that way
Good luck with what's going on for you, whichever way it goes. It sounds like you might change psychiatrists, but by the same token, your therapist sounds good for you. That's the way it was for me, so that's reassuring for you, I hope.
Support your way. Keep us posted.
Sending support, whichever way you take it.
P.S. I started therapy in 1972. I think it would be a major research project to discover how many evolutions psychology and pharmaceutics have been through in that time... I suspect most of my initial medications are illegal now. Few have ever heard of my original dx'es.
Heck, I read some of the replies on here, and now I'm wondering if I have it! I DO get these wild surges of happiness and productivity... But I chalk it up to the gloriousness of feel normal every now and then! OR, it may be my anxiety getting itself out in a positive way.
Bottom line- meds are scary. Be careful. You can't unring that bell. If taken inappropriately, they can make one suicidal.
@LP- Cookie crumbs down the shirt. I LOVE that image! Where'd you come up with that one??? Thanks for the smiles!