bi polar mistaken for depression?

[mouses]

I went downhill last year after yrs of denying and suffering depression, my boyfriend took me to my gp who prescribed me fluoxetine.

when i was telling her about other symptoms im worried about i felt she just past it all off as part of depression. when i googled about my symptoms everything came back as bipolar related.

i dont even know why im typing about it. feeling alittle lost. im worried that if i go back and say i think i have bipolar she would just mistake me me as attention seeking or making it up??

any one around?

I would go back. My sis was misdiagnosed. Apparently normal antidepressants dont work with bipolar so your meds looking at I would think.

Print off what you have found and tick off all your symptoms and go back to GP.

i have made the app but the usual gp i see is off til 19th june!

dont know what im suppose to do til then

i earlier came back from a spree of £84 which i shouldnt of, i did it the other day, then took them back today and bought more.

is there any one who wants to talk, maybe im just over analysing things? any one with bi-polar who can tell me its not?

or any one really?

Shopping splurges that you can't afford occur with a lot of types of depression, not just bipolar.

To be honest, nothing you've said makes me think of bipolar. Be very careful with self-diagnosing it! Bipolar shares a lot of symptoms with lesser known conditions.

Is the fluoxetine helping at all with the depression? It may be the case that you need additional meds to help with the other side of depression and control spending etc.

I have bipolar. I grew up around 4 people with it, and I trained to help people with it. There is a clear pattern to it, which is usually quite apparent.

What makes you think its bipolar?

maybe if i put how i feel some one could understand?

theres so many my head cant think which one to write 1st!
i dont like nothing, birthdays, parties, fireworks, get togethers. dread social gatherins completely.
i got no interest in any thing normal people like - like going on holiday, away for the weekend to a caravan say?

if im on the bus and some one i know gets on i dont want them to talk to me. i find talking to people irritating sometimes - thats the best i cant describe it. i just want to sit quite on my own.

as i wrote up thread i impulse buy, spend too much on the same stuff and when i think of buying something im googling for hrs looking into it.
im absolutely rubbish at making decisions that most of the time i can be in the shop online for sand end up buying both! in fear i dont want to get the wrong one.

some nights i just aint tired and can be up til 2am (with a 7am wake up call for school) just browsing the internet looking for stuff to buy or looking at something to research. i once bought £200 of baking equiptment and groceries, bought cooking books - then just liked it in the cupboard and didnt actually want to or needed to bake?

another time i had to buy lego (for my kids) but it had to be cleaned nad sorted into containers and they couldnt play with it until i finished but i was having lego coming in the post every day.

i worry about people looking at me, if i hear some one laughing i think its me, im currently counting steps, calories and doing exercises. im about 9st and size 8/10 but hate my fat legs and my belly can never be flat enough, hate my face no matter how much make up i cover it in.

i can be feeling ok one minute then the slightest thing can anger me, i crash into a mood and i push every one away for days, then it just seems to go. and i feel guilty for being moody.
some times if some one upsets me (silliest word could) i get thoughts of hurting them, mentally or physically, althought i cant punch a fly i feel i could?

my house is cleaned every day, every thing has its place. has to be in its place. i spend so much time worrying over things, looking up stuff or cleaning that i feel i have no time for the kids.

i get intrusive thoughts, i worry that the kids might die. that i wont react as any other mother would, i worry that i wouldnt look sad enough? i dont know just feels wrong. i know i would be devistated but my head says i wouldnt?

i have a fear of change, if something breaks its bought again. the same one. when i moved, the furniture went back in the same.

i have no passion for any one or anything, find showing emotions hard, i feel tired, nauseous, hopeless, got no go. id be happy if i never had to leave the house again but i have school runs and a dog to walk.

dont blame you if you've run away from this thread, and well done if you got to this part! just feel like i dont have a life.

i was going to my gp for a year complaining of head pain, feeling sick, stomach cramps, shooting pains. i went for loads of test all came back normal. she kept telling me its in my head. then i gave up the fight and realised it was depression.

i just thought it was normal to feel how i did, not liking nothing, not having no motivation etc. just thought i was a boring person with no friends or family!

no i dont think the meds are doing any thing. still feel pretty shit, some days its hard to keep my mind together.

im not dianosing myself, because last time i thought it was normal behaviour - i typed in how i felt and symptoms of bi-polar, ocd, body dysmorphic were coming up? i just want to feel like me again.

I don't this is straight forward depression, but I don't think it's bipolar, either. It's missing a few key elements that make bipolar what it is, IYSWIM.

It isn't bog standard depression though, because you are paranoid and anxious and you fear change. You do seem to have a form of OCD, too.

I'd ask for a referral to your community mental health dept. You may be able to refer yourself. Then print this to give to them, so that they know what you are dealing with.

Until then, have you tried any anxiety meds? They couldbe rreally helpful until you've got a diagnosis.

i dont know whats wrong that why i looked into it cos i didnt think it was just depression?

i prob have those key elements but havent written them cos i feel its not a problem? iyswim? i read that pressured speech can be a bi polar sytmptom, but my boyfriend (who ive pushed away) says it could be down to lack of adult conversation. yet the person im talking to say im talking to much, too fast and that i aint shut up!

but i know some days i feel (what i think) is happy/fine then others i just want to crawl into a hole. some days i can talk for brittain going on and on and on others i cant bear someone talking to me? its so confusing? my boyfriend now lives back with his mum cos i feel he can do so much better with his life then put up with my mood swings

i dont think no one believes me and think im just looking for sympathy or attention seeking :-(

Bipolar can be quite difficult to diagnose and it's not unusual to get diagnosed with depression initially particularly with BPII. There are also other conditions which share some similarities with bipolar.

FWIW I self-diagnosed bipolar but my GP was adamant I didn't have it. One psychiatrist diagnosed it then another disagreed. I do have it and am fairly typical of BP1 (which is what my diagnosis currently stands at) but when even the experts disagree it gives some indication of how hard it can sometimes be to get the correct diagnosis.

Your best bet is to ask to be referred to a psychiatrist and go with an open mind. Do, however, write everything down so they have all the facts.

The things you describe could be depression, OCD, borderline personality disorder or a mixture. Nothing screams Bipolar at me as an initial diagnosis, but no one can diagnose anyone over the internet.

You need to ask for a referral to a psych who can take a full history and use their years of training to give you a working diganosis. They then treat you as if you had the condition and see how it pans out before making a formal diagnosis. GPs without specialist psych training and internet pixies can only guess. Don't try and diagnose yourself over the internet as if you get bogged down into thinking you have something, you won't be open to what a psych may have to say.

My sis is not keen on meds for her bipolar and until last year which was incredibly stressful for many reasons, she was managing her condition quite. She also felt a great sense of relief just knowing what was wrong.

I am not suggesting for one minute that you try to manage yourself or not take meds as everyone is different but what did help my sister and might help you until you get a diagnosis one way or the other was:

Routine - going to bed at same time every night and getting up at same time every morning
Exercise - really helped her and she hasn't been exercising for a couple of years now and knows she needs to. Walking is good. Her doc recently told her that she would need hard exercise rather than a gentle stroll.
Knowing her triggers - holidays and Xmas were huge triggers for my sister.

Letting herself get too tired

Obv none of this might help but I thought it was worth saying anyway.

psychiatrist? do i sound mad?

i was meant to go for cbt but had no child care, gp had a go about not making effort, then got taken of the a-bit or what it was called. think its changed now?

she says i need to go councelling, but she doesnt understand. i cant be with out my daughter if she's some where im not comfortable with. she goes pre-school for 3hrs and im floor pacing and clock watching! i only recently felt ok letting her go with her dad - yet still feel uncomfortable about it. fearing no one knows her like me. i take her to school and say ...make sure you pull her shoe tongues up, dont let her trousers dig in, she wont eat this she doesnt want to go outside today, just over preotective making sure they know about her. i dread that she is unhappy and im not there to help?

so you see it doesnt help when i get told to see councellor, cbt, psychiatrist? i have no close family and the only friend i have is older age and has her own issues. her dad cant afford time of work.

i have written it all down (3 pages and could do more) it will just bug me knowing that i have to wait 14 days to see gp - it will grate on me counting the days.

cider some nights i cant go to bed until i know i will go straight to sleep, even tho i got to be up at 7 for school.

i am doing exercise, the last few nights ive been doing pilates at midnight, walking for hrs (with a step/calorie counter) then writting it down.

i hate holidays, xmas, happy gatherings. to see people happy make me sad. i feel alone and isolated. although its my own fault cos i dont want no one around me?? im so confused?

i have Bipolar 1 and have taken anti ds for a short time under certain circumstances without a mood stabiliser they just dont work as Well ime. Go back and speaking to your gp but dont stop your meds.

No you don't sound mad but as with a lot of conditions, a specialist is needed for diagnosis and treatment.

You don't sound mad. If you had a broken leg you would go to an orthopedic specialist, or a skin problem you would go to a dermatologist. A psychiatrist is a mind specialist and will be much more experienced than your GP.

the gp has to refer me right?

triumph i dont drink, not a sip, not even at xmas or newyrs or my birthday. and i dont smoke, i quit 6yrs ago when i had loop cone surgery for abnormal cells.

and ive never touch an illegal substance in my life.

mrsW i dont actually remember a month that i dont feel like im either not depressed or seem abit extreem? i dont ever remember feeling normal or if normal exist.

people (neighbours) think im older because of my boring ways, they try to get me to have a drink or go out for a night out or a meal. i think they mock me? they say we'll get you drunk etc. none of the above interest me.

i feel for my kids because they never holiday or have a week end away, i try to avoid school party invites because id have to sit in a room of people. i dont take them swimming cos i dont want my body to be seen and i cant handle the thought of going barefaced or my make up washing off.

sory if im rambling,