Bipolar? Depression?

[littlemissminor]

I was just looking for some opinions/experiences if possible please.

I'll start by painting a picture so that I don't drip feed... I have 2 DC, and first started on antidepressants in 2017, after the birth of DC1. My mum has mental health issues (I'm still not sure to this day the full extent, but she has been sectioned a few times).

My symptoms seem to be getting worse and I am struggling to cope, it is becoming detrimental to my everyday life.

I am either incredibly high/happy (almost to the point it sounds fake), or so low that I cannot get out of bed. There are no events that trigger these changes, it’s literally like a flick of a switch. My mood swings are manic and I don’t even know I am doing it most of the time.

I have the shortest temper, and the smallest thing can make me rage irrationally, I take risks that I do not even realise that I am taking as I seem to have no awareness (leaving knives in reach etc.).

I have been spending ridiculous amounts of money, even taking money from the joint bills account, to buy stuff I don't need, then have no justification of it at all.

I am exhausted. I need about a week of sleep but I just can't sleep. Even when I have the opportunity to, I find a million things that have to be done 'now' instead of going to bed. I can never keep up with every day life.

I have phoned my GP and he was bloody crap, basically asked if I had a holiday booked for later this year and that I'd better just reduce my sertraline dose.

Please please, does anyone experience any of this? I'm just waiting to hear back from a private GP as I can't go on like this...

Yes this does sound like Bipolar 2, and antidepressants on their own (without a mood stabiliser) can make highs worse. I’d be asking for a psychiatrist referral if I were you.

Thanks for your reply @BuffaloCauliflower - I'll have a look into it now

Mmmm tricky. My DH has bipolar 2 and yes, it does sound like that. However i had severe PND and had huge mood swings and couldnt sleep to the point i was hallucinating. The only thing that helped me was massive doses of valium. Either way you really need a proper assessment. Can you speak to a different GP or your HV?

Health visitor said GP, and then when I call the GP they are only doing phone triage and it's one doctor, on a rolling 2 week pattern... I have a private GP booked for Monday so 🤞

Fingers crossed for you

Hi @littlemissminor I was diagnosed with bipolar late 2018. I was depressed for a very long time before that, think about 9 months, so everyone initially thought it I had depression.

If you have underlying bipolar, antidepressants are a big no no, unless coupled with a mood stabiliser or antipsychotic. I was manic for 3 months straight before they could stabilise me.

The mood switching like you say like a flip of a switch is interesting as my moods have always been gradual. Switching sounds more like eupd, although everyone is different. A lot of symptoms overlap, so I would keep an open mind

Good luck! I hope you get the support you need

It depends how long the manic highs are and also the lows. If you're quickly moving from high to low high to low it could be borderline personality disorder. If the mania is lasting a long time and the depressive episodes are lasting a long time then it well could be bipolar.

As notanotherpandemic says, it could also be borderline personality disorder (or neither). One of my good friends has this and her mood can literally just switch from being the life and soul of the party to a heap who isn’t sure if they want to live. I have bipolar 2 and I get hypo manic which sounds very similar to as you’re describing and very low lows (usually following a ‘high’ but it’s not something that changes in an instant, certainly not for me anyway.