Another Diagnosis Along With PTSD?

[KatrinaSurvivor_BSL_MS]

Just talked with my wife today. Apparently, She is also been diagnosed with Bi-Polar disorder. I had wondered about the extra meds, I guess she was trying to shield me from having to deal with too much? She said the doctor had diagnosed her with both 2 years ago. I am really at a loss right now. Anyone here have the same diagnosis? PT SD and Bi-Polar? What can I expect as a carer? How can I help now?..Yes I have been reading up on Both conditions. It is bewildering. Like the last 2 things you would want to have together. Any insight would be appreciated.

[anthony]

I will tell you this.... I highly doubt she has Bi-Polar disorder unless she had it pre-trauma. Bi-Polar presents a similar spectrum of symptoms to PTSD, but it is the PTSD. Remove the trauma and no longer will any physician think she has Bi-Polar. Veterans used to be diagnosed with Bi-Polar disorder.... before they discovered what it actually was, PTSD. The doctor is likely just trying to prescribe more medications in order to obtain further pharmaceutical kickbacks for it.

Seek a second opinion from a "trauma specialist".

[KatrinaSurvivor_BSL_MS]

Thank you Anthony, I thought as much, Yet the Psychiatrist did mention that she was probably Bi-Polar long before the Hurricane Katrina Trauma. Just was not diagnosed all these years. I guess we will have to see about a Trauma specialist. Not sure if my wife will be open to the idea. Thanks again.

[anthony]

You would be the best person to know whether she was or was not bi-polar before the trauma. Did she have the behavioural aspects of bi-polar in your opinion before the trauma. If you believe she did, then it could be a valid argument, however; if you did not see it nor believe she had it based on the criteria for it, then it is typical for physicians to mix and confuse bi-polar when a diagnosis of PTSD has been made. Remove the traumatic aspects in her life, heal the trauma, and see whether bi-polar is still present.

I don't like physicians making assumptions on a persons past when PTSD is involved. They do that as an excuse in an attempt to justify their action, which is often wrong when PTSD is involved. The statistics of being Bi-Polar with PTSD are extremely slim... extremely. I hear it all the time... got diagnosed with PTSD + Bi-Polar. People never seemed to fit Bi-Polar beforehand, but do now... why? Because they are not Bi-Polar, they have PTSD which shows the same symptoms and behaviours of other disorders. If you fix the trauma, then you have to measure and gauge for other symptoms. Again, highly highly unlikely she has both... just PTSD.

[tiltmonster]

Just my opinion. I figure the Vapors and Da Costas syndrome are the same thing. One is civilian, the other military. A hundred fifty plus years later, you have TILT and Gulf War Syndrome(PTSD). Not much else has changed, aside from the cause and affect relationship being broadened; and the name game. The broader question is, what do: PTSD, Bi-Polar, Hypochondria, the Vapors, MCS, Da Costas Syndrome, Gulf War Syndrome, TILT, Post Partum Depression, Toxic shock, Post Operative depression, Mycoplasma, Lyme Disease, Cabin Fever, PMS, Agent Orange, Toxic Shock, ME, Addiction, SIDS, EI, Chronic Fatigue, Idiopathic Environmental intollerance, Chemical Aids, Dippers Flu, Yuppie Flu, Anorexia Bolemia, OCD, ADD, Twentieth century illness, etc etc, etc.....all have in common. This is only a fraction of the overlapping syndroms, disorders, and conditions floating about. All involve a break down in the brain's detoxification system. When the brains detoxification filter is not working properly mental and physical chaos prevails. What do you call it when someone gets bitten by a rattlesnake, or struck by lightning, eats the wrong berries? I will throw in StarDust and the missing Link, just to keep you interested here. Do you know anything about Scrapie Anthony? The gateway to evolution is open, so what is in a name?

[KatrinaSurvivor_BSL_MS]

Yes Anthony, I would have to agree. She did not show symptoms of Bi-Polar the whole time before the Hurricane. We have been married since 1995. She did have other traumatic incidents in her life before we meet. 2 bad marriages, Physically and mentally abusive, Possible molestation as a child, and one attempted rape in her early 20's. I am more inclined to dismiss the Bi-Polar as well. But we will see what a Trauma specialist has to say.

[anthony]

Hi tiltmonster.... no, no idea about Scrapie! What is it?

I must add... gulf war syndrome is not PTSD, as you have it marked as such in your statement. Some confuse it as that, but it is not. It is a syndrome named after the first gulf war where many soldiers are enduring effects due to the chemical agents contained in the soils during that time, oil being one of the main culprits I believe. Because soldiers slept in it, ate in it, patrolled in it, the chemicals from it toxified the body to produce other physical issues and health concerns, but it wasn't to do with mental health.

The wikipedia describes it pretty well though, being:
Symptoms attributed to this syndrome have been wide-ranging, including chronic fatigue, loss of muscle control, headaches, dizziness and loss of balance, memory problems, muscle and joint pain, indigestion, skin problems, shortness of breath, and even insulin resistance. Brain cancer deaths, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease) and fibromyalgia are now recognized by the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments as potentially connected to service during the Gulf War.

[vera]

hi... i'm... not around anymore. i'm vera. supposedly i had ptsd. now i've been diagnosed bp. i don't write here anymore because until they figure out what's really wrong with me i don't feel i have a right to be here. know it sounds dumb.

sorry bout the long intro. what i was trying to say is that i'm not sure my opinion counts as much as the ones of properly diagnosed people here.

i had a bad crisis last december and "turned myself in" sort of. they diagnosed me as bp and immediately put me on sleeping pills, which helped a lot. (i was sleeping about 8 hours or less every 50). now i'm on mood stabilizers (lamotrigine, 150 mg a day, checking if it's enough or we should rise it to 200).

these couple of months i've been talking to people who were around me my whole life and asking what they think about the diagnosis. my family said the description suits my before-trauma self quite tightly. lots of creativity but difficulty to concentrate on applying it to anything, overtalking fits sometimes, times when i'm also a lot skinnier and sleep about 4 hours a night, and then all of a sudden the opposite. you know, the rest of the bipolar-symptoms-wikipedia-shit.

but it doesn't explain the flashbacks, the fire phobia, the bed wetting. so i have a new therapist and i'm working on the trauma related stuff. we'll see.

what i mean is you should know if she's bipolar by thinking of how she was before trauma, and if you didn't know her you could always ask her family or old friends. think of spring: did it usually set her mood higher? did she have a fluctuating sex drive? did she put weight on and off a lot? etc.

mostly, you should get a second opinion.

in my case, it's pretty ****ed up. when i'm in manic mode i mostly feel great about having survived, but can't help thinking about the bad things that happened and reliving them and asking myself what if and having nightmares and being startled by anything. it's like i'm happily losing my mind. then i enter depressive mode and i don't want anybody to see me or make any noise and i start believing that i only survived out of luck and maybe i shouldn't have and i caused it and blah, but it's better in a way because my mind's speed decreases and i can rest.

this is only my experience, i can't tell you what to expect. i hope it's of any use and i hope you and your wife get better. good luck. =)

[KatrinaSurvivor_BSL_MS]

WOW!! alot of info to digest. I am 99.9% sure my wife is not Bi-Polar. She was without issues until after we survived Hurricane Katrina. I also mentioned in another post that she has had other traumas throughout her life. As a child and as an adult. I think the hurricane was the straw that broke the camel's back so to speak. Everything came bubbling to the surface.

[anthony]

I would trust those instincts then and not listen to the physician or take medication for Bipolar, because it will only make her worse the chances are.... not better. Focus on reducing her anxiety first and foremost, then review the symptoms and issues... I 99.9% agree with you that she is not Bi-polar either... not when symptoms where never present prior to trauma and PTSD diagnosis. Trust your instincts...

[KatrinaSurvivor_BSL_MS]

Thank you for sharing that with me Vera, I don't know where my wife is at with what she is experiencing. We have just started talking about her condition together, tonight for the first time. I have shared the thought with her of seeing another Trauma specialist. some one other than the Psychiatrist.
She has been on meds for both Bi-Polar and PTSD the last year or two, and I think the Combination has left her in a funk, not knowing what to do, not wanting to be more sociable. she told me she wants to just lock herself away in a dark room....it breaks my heart to see her this way.

[rob4444]

hi mate...i have been extensively diagnosed by leading experts in australia and found to have ptsd..bipolar..bpd...ocd...disthymic disorder...chronic depression and many more.....im in the too hard basket so i was pensioned off young and left to rot....i believe i was probably attacked in the first place(resulting in ptsd...bpd etc).because i was "different" as a kid...only found out at 40yo that my father also had bipolar as well as other family members...i believe you are born with it....i had xray(mri?)that took slice images of my skull...images showed without doubt i have bipolar...a small section of the brain deep within (omigdala?) can be seen in the images as not formed properly...brain waves go beserk as my body doesnt produce a chemical? that controls emotional memories etc......i take 2000mg epilim (mood stabiliser?) daily to control feelings..slow thought process and control anger....without this test it will be very hard to pick ptsd symptoms from bipolar,as they share symptoms.....ive gone from 8 dangerous drugs daily to just epilim and flor.essence(herbal cure)with far better results and quality of life....i cant tell you how to live with it...not sure how i do!