Posted by smith562 on October 26, 2004, at 15:14:56
In reply to Re: Mitch: Dysphoric Mania vs Anxiety » smith562, posted by Ritch on October 25, 2004, at 9:58:32
Sorting that panic versus hypomania gets complicated (and I have to remember alot of my emotions are *normal* too ... not everything I feel is a *disorder*). I know I have a true panic/anxiety component to my mood disorder. The dysphoria/bp III is the more questionable diagnosis (I have had to suggest it to all of my pdocs except one young pdoc who said bp II one the first visit). I probably was hypo on nardil and maybe zoloft and my father and grandfather *are* bipolar II's (although my mother is unipolar with panic).
Do you think alittle depakote instead of lithium would be in order? (I too have a strange reaction to neurontin ... great for anxiety, but I basically feel drunk ... very disinhibited!). I also need something for motivation that won't leave me anxious ... ritalin, wellbutrin, desipramine all get me panicky.
Mitch, you are lifesaver .. (not the "candy type")
Smith
> Panic anxiety vs. dysphoric hypomania that's the question. I guess it depends on whether you have a true co-existing anxiety disorder, or if it is just bipolar presenting itself differently. I was on a TCA and lithium when I started meds, then went off the TCA because of excess sedation and I started having panic attacks later. My doc thought it was just bipolar and increased my lithium and it didn't help, so that would tend to lead one to see it as two different disorders. Now I'm taking Depakote instead of lithium and increasing the Depakote when I get panicky *does* help. In fact, it helps better than increasing a benzo (I don't feel more depressed). I think the *type* of bipolar I experience may have something to do with that.
poster:smith562
thread:406776
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041024/msgs/407522.html