Posted by CindyM on May 24, 1999, at 23:34:07
In reply to mania or anxiety? Or what???, posted by Erik on November 3, 1998, at 22:08:29
> Hello! My name is Erik, and I'm having quite a bit of trouble recently. I am definitely suffering from some kind of depression, as I have no appetite, feel down all the time, and so on. This waxes and wanes in intensity. Also I have these periods of intense anxiety, like a low-grade panic attack, but it lasts for hours every night, for about a week, and I can't sleep very well! One doctor told me I was bi-polar and another thought depression (with anxiety). Since totally differnet medicines are used for mania versus depression with anxiety, I need to be sure which I have! How would I know? I have some suspicions about the bi-polar diagnosis, since I'm never happy. But during the high-anxiety times I can't rest at all. Also, well, I react horribly to most medicines. A .5 dose of Klonopin left me in the emergency room (150bpm heart rate for TWO days! I was MISERABLE -- my normal heart rate is 60). Other benzodiazapams left me not much better. (at least the effects went away quicker!) Well, I recovered, but still haven't found the medicine for me. I'm either highly depressed or VERY VERY anxious, or both, at any given time. Is there a medicine that might help me even before the doctors are 100% sure about what I have? I'm miserable all the time and need help, quickly! What would I look for if I wanted to be sure about what I have? I checked all the classic symptoms of mania, but I don't have any of them, except for sleeplessness. The doctor who thought I was bi-polar said it was some weird rapid-cycling anxiety-based bi-polar, but I have found NO information on this particular disorder, despite thoughrally searching the web and libraries. Although they say in the description that "irratability" can be there instead of a "euphoric or expansive mood" simple "irratability" just doesn't seem to describe what I'm going through!!! And classic anxiety disorder doesn't quite fit either since I only rarely have panic attacks, instead I'm highly anxious for hours and hours, having some of the symptoms of panic attacks, but not all. Help! Also, there are no phobias, social or otherwise, and no OCD.
> ErikHi, this sounds really familiar! I was having panic attacks every now and then and my regular practitioner gave me paxil, which WIRED me like i was drinking pot after pot of coffee! it GAVE me attacks cause it freaked me out so much! since it's an anti depressant my regular doc sent me to a nurse practitioner who diagnosed me as bi polar...she said that one of the main reasons that she gave that diagnosis was my reaction to my antidipressant. i've been on depakote since, and it's getting much better. i used to have a lot of trouble getting to sleep, and now i can get to sleep alot easier. and stay asleep, where before i woke up three to four times a night. now, i don't get the "i'm going to kill myself" depressions (which i am thankful i don't) but i am generally a very up and exciteable person. i'm extremely sensitive to ANY meds and my nurse tried to get me on a "regular" dose of depakote, which is actually too much for me to handle. right now, i've been on 875 mgs a day for a month, and just moved it to 1000 mg a day, so far so good. sometimes, i think, you DO have to tell the docs what reactions you're getting. also, have a physical to actually RULE OUT other stuff, for example, because i easily panic about physical stuff, i made sure my blood sugar was good, and cholesterol, and all that. so, it's all a luck of the draw, sometimes. try to find a doc who'll listen to you. Good luck!!
poster:CindyM
thread:1050
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990501/msgs/6472.html