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I've just been diagnosed as bipolar, but I find myself questioning it.
I've always thought I just had PMS or "pmdd" as they call it when it presents in the more severe form.
Every month I cycle from one week of really bad depression to very excited/happy for a week, with two weeks in between where I'm "normal" feeling.
I've just spoken with a psychiatrist for the first time, and she says it is bipolar. She said PMDD/PMS doesnt include mania.
My "mania" only seems very pronounced for four days or so. During that time I talk fast, laugh a lot (at inappropriate times, even), clean/work a lot, sleep less, feel great. Sometimes it's almost embarrassing because I can't settle down.
I wrote this a long time ago, and it describes a typical "manic" day for me.
But, my question is, does this sound like mania or hypomania, or just happyness after a crappy week of depression?
According to the bulk of info I have read (and I've read quite a bit) the general diagnosing of Bipolar I is that you have to have manic symptoms that last a minimum of 4 days and cause disruption in your daily life and/or be so significant that even other's question your mood and/or behavior for a minimum of 4 days.
You don't however, have to have every single manic symptom. You do have to have a majority of them.
In that yours comes over a period of what seems 2 weeks a month and otherwise you feel "normal". I would think it may be hormone related myself but then I am not a psychiatrist or a medical doctor.
If you question the diagnosis then you may want to seek a 2nd opinion and/or see a GYN for some hormonal tests if such exist. At least get the GYN's thought about it.
I know hormones can mess up a bipolar's med effacy (not sure how that is spelled but mess up the way the med's work), blood levels, and such. You might seriously want to consider that 2nd opinion if you really question it.
What you describe does sound like bipolar symptoms, which are probably triggered by the hormone changes or pms. But it sounds like you are experiencing hypomania (less severe) rather than mania. Do you ever get these mood swings at other times than the monthly cycle?
A true test will probably be whether bipolar medication helps you or not. Has your doctor suggested anything?
I am not a physician, so I am just going by my own experience and that of others with bipolar. If you have any doubts about this psychiatrist's diagnosis, getting a second opinion couldn't hurt.
I also have had this happen just this past week prior to my cycle just starting today. I am irritable, exceptionally intellectual, energetic (almost like I'm on some type of stimulant) and flipping from happy to angry in just minutes & sometimes seconds. My obgyn just switched my bc pills to a higher estrogen, I went from Microgestin 1/20 to Microgestin 1.5/30. Also,lastweek I went to a reflexologist and had a 2 hour session. She said I would possibly experience some emotional issues due to the deep tissue massage, but I never dreamed it would be this bad. I've never had pms symptoms this bad, it appears to be PMDD, but without depression - but major hyperactivity or hypomania/mania. I need very little sleep and its now 4:20 a.m. and I am a little tired, but nothin like I would be normally. Im worrying that this could be bi-polar, but what brought it on?
I am not a doctor, nurse, or anything like that but, not everything is bipolar. Just because one experiences depression and/or anxiety or has some emotional upheaval does not mean it is bipolar. There are a lot of medical illnesses which have symptoms that mimic psychiatric symptoms and there is the hormonal side of things that also causes similar if not exact same symptoms. You had a deep tissue massage which relaxes your muscles. In the process of relaxing, it eases the stress and tension that has built up. In relaxing the stress and tension, all those emotions folks hold close to their chests and hearts tend to also be released. Holding onto stress and tension will cause muscle tension. Perhaps speaking more in depth with both your obgyn and your general practitioner about these issues would help. I just thought that since your obgyn tweaked your bc pills then that tweaks your hormonal levels, etc.. A thought would be that perhaps seeking out and ruling out something maybe more medical going on first before going to the bipolar thought side would not be a bad idea. If there is nothing appearing medically then speaking with a psychiatrist and receiving a evaluation would be solely up to you to decide. Good Luck.
