I'm curious to see what the majority with BP have...so far I haven't read anything that suggests which type most BPs have. I'm guessing type II, but that is only because the few people I know with BP are type II.


I was diagnosed with type II a few days ago, and I think it is a correct diagnosis.

I'm BP I, rapid cycling. I have much more manic episodes than I do depressive. My first episode that presented itself was a six week manic/psychotic episode brought on by Celexa! Since then, I usually have about 3 to 4 manic episodes a year, as opposed to maybe one depressive episode per year. (IF that). All in all, if I stay on my meds, I'm pretty stable. It's my forgetting to take meds that throws me off balance... My own forgetfulness.

Thanks for the poll!

Cat

Severe BPI, rapid cycling, w/ psychosis. Not fun.

Bipolar 1, rapid cycling

Bipolar 11, mostly around the depressed end. Like Cat, I take my meds faithfully. While I don't like being "doped up", it is far better than the utter depths of despair, or jumping out of my skin, having racing thoughts or being unable to sit in my seat and be quiet.... :holloween:

BP I: rapid cycling, manic periods lasting 6 weekd or more and horrendous depressive episodes that can last indefinitely. With meds, I am fairly stable if I take them religiously (which sometimes I don't and then get messed up again).
Sheepwoman

I am bipolar 11 with more depressive episodes. once in awhile I get some fun hypomania but it doesn''t stay fun for long- I start becoming for angry/irritable and impulsive. If my spelling or whatever is looking bad it is b/c I'm having alot of jerking movements lately. hard to type.
~Kalley

Im BP2. More around the depressed end too. Ive just started taking Lithium, so Im hoping its goin to keep me stable and Ii might get my life back!

I answered "not otherwise specified" but I suspect I'm type II with more depression than anything else. I also have BPD traits.

BP I / rapid cycling....with psychosis....

BP II - mostly depression. My few hypomanic periods have not been good lately. I am very argumentative. I also experience auditory hallucinations once in a while.

BP 1 - rapid cycling with those horrible mixed manic states where I feel manic/depressed all at once.

i just came back from the doc and have been diagnosed w/ bp1 & rapid-cycling bipolar disorder, i'm scarred. this is so not what i wanted to hear, i could hardly deal w/ being depressed, but this...

This post has been edited by adorabelle: Nov 7 2006, 03:44 PM

Bipolar II, mostly manic at this point.

Hang in there adorabelle...I can relate...but that is all we can do...hang in there!

i'm trying... *needs more strength

BiPolar II, rapid cycling mostly depressed. I take my meds faithfully but I feel like I've lost my personality for so long I thought what I was going through was normal but now its "so what phase are you in, depression or hypomania?" I wish I didn't feel so blah and boring.

I am BD I - severe rapid cycling. So much so that my meds need to be bumped up about every 6 months now. I am just about at my wits end. I am a single mother of a 9 year-old and she has learned that when there are certain days that mommy just "cries" for no reason and then there are those days when mommy just talks so fast words can barely be understood. She is really very good about it, but I am getting so frustrated with myself. I'm not sure how much more of myself I can take!

i was diganosed with Bipolar I

BP2 with a depressive state mainly. Some rapid cycling tending towards irratibility and anger.

BP 1 Rapid cycling and phychosis.

Bipolar I w/psychosis. In the beginning of my illness, I would rapid cycle, but luckily that hasn't been the case for the past few years. I tend towards mixed episodes and depression, with few (but oh, so memorable) manias.

I am currently diagnosed with Bipolar II, but other doctors have said I have Bipolar I.

Katie

BPII; mostly recurrent depressive; hypomania is irritability.

I don't know which I am. They just said bipolar. I have psychotic features which happen rarely...less than once a year..but, it lasts weeks when it does happen and escalates. I am mostly depressed, though.

You know I have often wondered what type i am, but after reading all the posts here, I sound like bipolar 1.
My diagnosis according to VA and Social Security is paranoid schitzophrenia, bipolar disorder with other functional psychotic disorders.

How would I find out what type I am? I rapid cycle ALOT, even the lithium doesnt stop it.

If any of you know how to find out what type for sure, let me know please....I dont know if it would be appropriate to come out and ask about my diagnosis stright out. I dont want to know if she REALLY thinks my cheese has slid off my cracker.

I'm BP II, mixed states. Hypomania is mixed with more prevalent depressive symptoms. I'm irritable, angry (sometimes rage at the drop of a hat), unmotivated, impatient, crave carbohydrates, poor sleep, sad, somtimes chatty...all of which is a bit better with meds.

This post has been edited by bunkee: Nov 12 2007, 02:13 PM

BP 1

Good question. BP1 I think, but I never really asked my psych to differentiate. I figure the designations are sort of artificial anyway (I mean...where do you draw the line?). I'm rapid cycling w/ mixed states, with more severe depression than mania. No real psychosis yet...hopefully it stays that way.

BP I with Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Bipolar, pdoc is not sure yet if type I or II. I’m 100% convinced the diagnosis is accurate. My first depressive episode happened last year for about 5 months. Once I came out if it I felt wonderful, thinking it was a one time deal. I probably had more energy than normal and did spend $ quite a bit. I think there were several factors contributing to this (relationship troubles with my wife, not spending any $ during the depression, so happy to be out of the depression). This year I experienced another depressive episode for about 5 months again. Pdoc felt this was a cycle and therefore the Bipolar diagnosis. Currently I am on Lamictal 200 mg, and 20 mg Prozac – taken every other day. I feel the Lamictal is keeping me from feeling normal, the down feeling of depression has lifted. However, I’m still not interested in much, bored, and haven’t felt happy since last year.

I answered "not otherwise specified", too. I am also in the same mind set that I am probably BPII. My sister is BPI. We both suffer prolonged depression; but, with her, she becomes incapacitated. I can function a little better. When she becomes manic, it isn't hypo like me; but, hyper. She'll stay up for days and make all these handi-craft things that are really beautiful. With me, I can only sleep when I take my Klonepin and sometimes an atarax. She goes off and on her medication. I try to stick with it. It all is really a pain in the neck.
Lucinda

bpII... also gen anxiety. mostly depressed , sometimes just angry or grumpy. i usually won't admit that though.

My doc is still trying to diagnose me, he's thinking Bipolar II, and has me on the Seroquel to control my hypomania. Although I find I am very clearer at thinking now, it dosen't stop me from going through the roof and being really happy about something (however that's been forever part of my personality), or getting really irritated and mad over other things. The one thing I do notice, is that even do I still experience the irritation and happy states, I am able to reason with them, and bring myself out of it. In the beginning before the meds, I would wake up at 4 in the morning, either wondering about, or wanting to go and strangle certain people (for that split second of waken state - once i realize I'm in bed and I just woke up, I would dismiss the thought, but I would have a hell of a time falling back asleep). Now that problem is gone, and I sleep perfectly through the night. It's a rare night now when even my dreams are a bother to me.

I also take 1/2 of a 0.5mg clonazepam when I need it for anexiety, however I feel I need it less and less - however there are days where stuff just irritates me to the point where I wander in to grab the bottle of pills. I find you can litterally feel the clonazepam kicking in after 35 minutes, and you can feel the stress just "drain" from your body - a great feeling.

My doc thinks I'm bipolar, however I have a hard time relating to the depression part of it. It just dosen't make sense. I mean I can't say I haven't felt sad throughout life, but I've never been in a suicidal mode, or felt like life wasn't worth living, or spent the day in the bed becuase i didnt feel like moving, I'm generally out running around.

What I have figured out for myself is:

- I'm definitely hypomanic. I'm the classic case.

- I feel I could be obsessive compulsive. My lingering obsession with stuff I loved in childhood tells me that (TV shows..you don't want to see the website I run dedicated to it). I also do 'obsess' over people in real life - I was reading in a few threads about how some do it and its mostely to "fill a gap". Stalking isn't me - that's too much work and its too cold outside. It's more that I tend to "overvalue" the friends I have to the point that I can annoy them to heck. I also don't forget a thing - I'm like an elephant. If i have a conversation with a person - expect me to remember what you said, and don't try to change your story, becuase I'll poke it full of holes faster than you can blink. That's generally when the hypomanic pressured speech and the feeling to be "in charge" and commanding comes in as well - its a mix, but not a mix that I would think is bi-polar disorder.

- I get paranoid at times. But this is generally when I know too much of what's going on. I have a hard time with social situations - in the sense that I see "what people are doing wrong" (cheating, etc) and it all gets to me when I think that "if they're chatting about this, they're chatting about me" and then it sets in. It then leads to social anxiety, and suddenly I don't feel comfortable in the room. Other times, it's the furthest thing away from my mind.

- I have phobias of gooey food. I'm a fussy eater, however no eating disorders present (trust me on this one). For example, I can't wash the dishes bare handed, I have to use gloves because the feeling of the food will literally make me throw up. Mix the taste of mustard into stuffing, if i taste it I go off. These are just instances I can recall. On the other hand, I can go out in a garage in dip my hands in grease all day and it doesn't bother me in the bit.

My doc dosent know a lot of this, however my terapist does and she agrees with me in the OCD possibly - I will need to wait for my next appt to clarify some stuff of my past with the doctor, since I don't think he's making his diagnosis based on my past history completely - just what's apparent in the last 5 years (without the phobias and obessions).

So, right now I'm on Seroquel to keep me straight, which i find is working great. I also take Clonazepam at times for anexiety - when i get rattled up, something's really bugging me, or something ticks me off. However that's been happening less and less lately.

So tell me, by all that, should I be in this forum? or the OCD forum, or maybe in both? :) All I know is something's not right and I would like to get to the bottom of it!

I was just diagnosed today with Bi Polar II after years of *just* being depressed and anxious,

Now trying to figure out how to pay for the Symbyax.

Ok, so now I know I am bipolar, the depression and all that stuff is part of the same, but what level of bipolar is as of yet unspecified, although it has been suggested I have more lows than high, but when I am high, it is sort of hypermania, not fully manic.

All I get is possible suggestions by the medics, but as of yet no diagnosis, it would seem to me they are scared to commit a diagnosis, but that thought could be me, being suspicious of things again, I never know the truth of things and when people assure me they are not hiding things, I do not believe them and think they are only saying that to ease my mind.

Odd it is, my natal chart even says I will be prone to bipolar like mood swings, so is it really bipolar, or just me.And in that case if it is just me, how many others who are labelled bipolar are just them,their personality?

I just found out one of my long time music heroes, Adam ant is of the same star sign and has been diagnosed with bipolar after a major down in his life. I just wonder if this bipolar thing is a disorder or just who we are.

Holly 5 you sound just like me, I havent been diagnosed w I or II but only Bipolar so far. I am also on seroquel and zopiclone for sleeping but can only take this on the weekend or i sleep way too long and cant get the kids to school or me to work.

I go manic/depressed each day up and down im really sick and tired of it. By tonight i will be bouncing off the walls full of energy then i have the tabs and i go to sleep normally after bout 1 hr. I have lots of problems w hitting myself/biting and recently wanting to cut but didnt. When the mania comes in i just have to get rid of it cause it energizes my body and takes over

bp 1 with borderline personality diorder.

Diagnosed bipolar 2, mostly depressed state, rapid cycling and my mania is anger/irritability. im on a rollercoaster every day of my life. also have BPD so that doesnt help much. still trying to find the right med combo after 5 yrs of this !111

Hi Tracey. I'm exactly the same type of bipolar as you! Same symptoms. I don't know if this will help you...but for my extreme anger and irritability, my dr put me on Geodon. It has done wonders for me. Well, have a good one.