Bipolar Depression

Ok, so my husband has been on prozac for 6+ of the past 8 years we've been together. I forced him to start on something because his depression and paranoia was SO severe when we first married. Now I am confident he is BP -- but won't seek further treatment. He is a pharmacist, so knows the diseases and knows the meds and WILL NOT accept that he might be "CRAZY" like all those homeless people and drug addicts with BP. (He tried to convince me that BPs were all REALLY, REALLY SICK -- and couldn't hold down jobs or families, etc., so he MUST NOT BE BP). He admitted to me that he has been increasing his dose of prozac the past month or so "because of the stress I have created in our relationship", etc.. And, admitted that his anxiety level is through the roof. He is not sleeping, not eating, complains about how upset his stomach is. Terribly paranoid (more than normal), etc. Can anyone tell me how increased doses of prozac might be affecting him if he is BP? I know that a year or so ago our GP added wellbutrin to his regimine becuase he didn't think the "depression" was under control and he became very paranoid and agitated -- violent. He immediately discontinued it and referred him to a psychiatrist -- who my husband refused to see because "HES NOT CRAZY". I'd appreciate any thoughts on how altering a prozac dose might be influencing his moods and if what I am seeing is actually a result of the incrased dose.

Being a pharmacist, he should know that Prozac doesn't have the anxiety-relieving component to it that Paxil does. He should talk to a psychopharmacologist about it and, at least, get on the correct SSRI for his issues.

I can understand him not wanting to be dumped in the same bucket with those who are severely BP and on the streets, but if you search the web you will see that many, many famous and accomplished people throughout history have been BP to some degree. There is BPII which is a milder form and "Cyclothymia" which is milder yet. It runs on a continuum with BPI/schizophrenia being the worst. There are even some forms of BP that appear as "depression-only" with no manic times at all! These folk don't get better with an antidepressant alone, but respond to a mood stabilizer. You can research all of this online which is where I got the information. But, first he has to acknowledge that there is a problem. "You can't fix what you don't acknowledge".

Maybe your hubbie would rather compare himself to Ted Turner, Meriwether Lewis, Teddy Roosevelt, Einstein, Frank Lloyd Wright, or other luminaries who accomplished their greatest achievements when they had bouts of hypomania. Many famous writers and artists are also bipolar. Present day writer, Philip Roth, for example, and Picasso, Diego Rivera, etc. What was once looked at as "temperamental" is now being thought of as undiagnosed BP.

Instead of taking Prozac, he would take the Truehope EmpowerPlus supplement. It's made of a special combination of vitamins and minerals that has worked for many bipolar people. The Discovery Health Channel even did a one hour special on it. You can find it on YouTube.com if you type in Discovery and either Truehope or bipolar into the search engine. It's in 6 parts and starts off kind of boring, but keep watching - it's gets very good after they test it at Harvard University.