If not BP than what?

Hello everyone.

My husband has been high anxiety for the 10 years that I have known him. It has never interfered in life (relatively speaking). For the first time ever, his anxiety was so great that he abruptly quit his job - as a surgeon. We went directly to a Psychiatrist for help. He was immediately diagnosed with Depression and Generalized Anxiety, He was given his first antidepressant and benzo and told he’d feel brand new in 4-6 weeks. This confused me since I had never known my husband to be in a ‘depressed’ state. We fully explained his behaviors to the dr. He is quite the opposite. Needs little sleep often 4 hours max, gets highly focused/borderline obsessed with projects, ruminating thoughts, easily agitated, high energy, etc. The Dr was confident, so we took the meds and left.

15 months and at least 10 antidepressants later, plus alpha blockers of all varieties, sleeping aids, risperidone, suicidal thoughts, an out patient therapy program and things I’m probably forgetting... my husband has been reduced to nothing. Every pill he has tried has reduced him further from his previous self. They pretty much INDUCED depression in a man who had never experienced depression. I complained the whole way through, especially bc my husband could barely get out of bed to advocate for himself. He also has become psychologically dependent on the act of taking the medicines, along with the benzo being in his back pocket and prescribed 3x a day. Not good.

Finally last week the psychiatrist says the final option is ECT. Based on the severity of husbands depression, it’s the best shot we have. I remind dr that my husband has never been depressed before this year and before antidepressants. Dr is not impressed with my testimony.

I insist on a second opinion and we see another psychiatrist. I am mad we waited so long. If it were cancer or our kids, we would have seen every specialist in the city. The new psychiatrist is confident my husband does not suffer from depression, but more hypomania symptoms - and will have negative response to antidepressants. Which seems to be in line with our past 15 months of agony. Pure agony.

We left with a diagnosis of ‘mood disorder’ that’s it. Non specific with poss adhd to address once stabilized. We were given Abilify and Librium. The improvement In just one day has been tremendous. (Antidepressants were stopped about a week prior to seeing the new dr.). He is coming back around, even though very scared and fragile. He is AWARE and physically able to be ‘in’ the world. He’s showering, big step.

My question is, if it’s not BP then what is it? I cannot find any diagnosis of simply ‘mildly hypomanic’. And BP clealry cycles mainly in depression with episiode of degrees of mania. When I search ‘diagnosis mood disorder’ all I get are lists of types of mood disorders. I’m so confused and desperate to give this problem a name so we can treat him and move on.

Anyone have experience with this? Am I missing something?

Thank you for reading.

I would say the doc is leaving it at mood disorder for the time being, until he has spent more time with your husband so he can have a clearer picture of his symptoms.

With docs I’ve always thought if you’re not 100% happy with them and their office it’s time to go.

Again I think the doc wants more time before saying he has BP or other.

Good luck to you and your husband

Blue

I agree with Bluedragon. It is good the new doc isn’t jumping to conclusions. The first doc sounds arrogant. Stick with a doc you trust—one who listens to you and explains things.

I hope your husband receives good treatment. No one deserves to be treated the way he has.

I am currently in the process of getting a new doc myself. It is not easy, especially in rural areas. Hopefully you are in a bigger city with lots of options.

I’ve never had ECT but understand it is effective—and can be lifesaving for a depressed person. However, in some cases permanent memory loss can occur. Research this carefully before ever agreeing to this treatment. An attorney I know can no longer work because of memory loss from ECT.

My current psychiatrist, who has been doing this a long time, said that diagnoses are basically something that the insurers require. Sticking a label on it doesn't change how they deal with it. He rocks and I can't speak highly enough of him.

I've had a ton of terrible drugs prescribed to me by doctors (including HMO psychiatrists) who either didn't have the time or didn't have the knowledge to deal with me or my illness. It's all about the doctor, not the label.

All of the comments above make a lot of sense.

It's a well-known fact that people who are bipolar 1 may go into mania if given antidepressants.

I'm sorry that your husband and you have had such a difficult time.

I agree with Artista that electroshock therapy is a radical move 4 a physician, who's Maine professional asset is his memory and experience. There is a very real risk that electroshock therapy can erase long term memory.

I am an attorney and have suffered with deep depressions since I was in law school and before. But ECT is something I have never considered as an option because I have invested so much effort in obtaining the legal knowledge and experience that I used to help my friends and family.

Before you try ECT, I would suggest taking a trip to a country where you do not speak the language that the country speaks. By doing so you will get culture shock in linguistic shock, instead of electrical shock. Cultural and linguistic shock might achieve the same thing that electric shock does, for much less money and without the risk of memory loss.

Spending a week in the Caribbean is more fun for you and your husband then spending a week in a mental hospital.

Just like ECT, country shock can be repeated when necessary. The big difference is that you can get positive memories from country shock and bring them home with you, but no one says they got positive memories from ECT and brought them home.

Since the upside of a vacation (in an area with psychiatrist and medicine) are potentially great, and the risk is less, you might try taking your husband for 1/3 consultation in a foreign country where you have arranged to meet a psychiatrist who speaks English. Even if the psychiatrist can not help you, at least you will have had a nice vacation with your husband.

At least, this is what I do when my brain needs to be shocked. I change my environment, I challenge myself in a new environment where language acquisition is necessary, and I put myself in a new culture, we're just figuring out how to buy food can distract me from my troubles.

This is what I have done for the last 15 years and I have not needed to go to a psychiatric hospital in that time. If I think I am about to freak out and can see no further reason for living, then I go to Google and look for a country that I have not been to and where I might enjoy myself more.

In every country I have visited I have had both excellent and miserable experiences. I went on a great Safari in Kenya that was so absorbing that I could not even begin to think or worry about depression. Eventually I felt depressed again and I left Kenya and went to Jamaica, Haiti and now the Dominican Republic.

Before I try ECT, I hope I might rather go to China, Cameroon...

Give country shock a try. What have you got to lose except ECT?

I was misdiagnosed as Bi Polar Type I when what I really had was Adult Onset ADHD. I don't blame the psychiatrist & in fact I'm now kinda grateful for it. I found a Book "The BiPolar Disorder Survival Guide" - what you and your family need to know by David J. Miklowitz, PhD. The medication part is so difficult bc in order to really now if the combo your taking works or not ~ I needed to stay on it for 6 months. I would finally have emotional stability for a while & then think I could stop taking them; big mistake bc THAT combo would no longer work & I'd have to wait 6 months to find out if another worked. My untreated ADHD, made me present as if I were in an extended manic episode. And was causing me to look like I was getting more and more Schizo (as in schizo-affective).

I have learned the hardest way possible that medical intervention (I mean medications) is a useless and often expensive, time delay IF NOT accompanied by therapeutic intervention. That being said, I must admit the very first few days I took an Amphetamine medication( Adderall, Vyvanse, etc) I knew that was what I needed. Partly bc I hated it; taking my mojo away is what I told my psych. Turns out what I thought was my "mojo" wasn't very conducive to me 'getting along' or functioning 'normally' in this world. This recent heart problem I've had, no longer allows me to take amphetamine medications AND I'm now grateful for that too bc it forces me to use 'real life' coping skills ~ & that of course is the ultimate solution to ALL my mental health, mood spectrum, behavioral disorder problems. A very LONG process in which it was essential that I be on medications while learning and being trained through therapy how to do these things without medication assistance. I know if I have to I can always go back on medications; I won't suffer needlessly. And I certainly DO NOT recommend stopping a medicine regimen prescribed by a professional w/out first having a serious consultation process. I can only share my experience and what has worked for me.

I think trying to cure a problem that requires a complete lifestyle change plus a psychological 180 degree shift in thinking and attitude by simply taking medications would be exactly like taping sandwiches all over my body when starving to death. The hardest part has been learning to find and surround myself w/people who i know care & want to see me do well in life THEN trusting them: full disclosure on the process I am going through SO that they CAN actually help me. Especially at my work, where I have been blessed, mostly bc I work in a therapeutic community. I trust my co-workers (a select few) to call me out on my s*^t, when I'm 'acting out'. There is is something they'll say to me where I KNOW I need to stop & listen completely to what they're trying to communicate to me. Pause for a minute, relax, think about the bigger picture, and really consider the feedback I'm getting on how I was or am behaving & what I'm doing. To develop those kind of relationships and have those kind of people in my life is what I consider to be a priceless gift. I have made miraculous steps forward in my recovery as a result.

I used to do my darnedest to avoid looking at or taking action on ANY of these issues and they got much worse (duh!), now I'm no longer afraid to "lean into the Discomfort" (a mental & spiritual idol of mine likes to say) in order to heal, learn, adapt and have a richer, higher quality of life.

Please do not forget that if you are a spouse, brother,sister, parent or another type of significant other to a person w/MI issues, more often than not, YOU will need to get help for yourself to learn how to best help aide in your loved one's recovery AND take the best care of your'growth as a person' in the process.

I hope I'm not sounding too preachy - again this is my experience I'm sharing and I've had to do all of these things: including the latter.

-kby-