Where to begin? Well, my name is Meg, and as shown in my blog title, I have bipolar disorder type II. I was diagnosed about three weeks ago, but the symptoms have been present for quite a long time.
If you're not familiar with bipolar disorder, let me give you a brief walkthough:
See, our brain is comprised of billions of neurons, which send signals to other parts of our brain and body. Neurons are what tell our bodies to do things such as thinking and moving our muscles. Information is sent and received to the neurons through neurotransmitters. The brain has over 100 different types of neurotransmitters, but the three most associated with mood disorders such as bipolar disorder are serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine. Serotonin is what is mainly responsible for mood stability. If someone has a deficiency or overabundance of these serotonin neurotransmitters, it can cause a person's mood to change. Dopamine and norepinephrine are responsible for things like sleeping patterns, hunger, sex drive, motivation and concentration. Over abundance or lack of these neurotransmitters can also cause emotional and mental distress.
Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder in which someone suffering from it goes through extreme highs (mania) and lows (depression). This is caused by an imbalance in the neurotransmitters described above. Mania results in people feeling "on top of the world" - they may lose their inhibitions, become more sexually promiscuous, spend or gamble all their money away, become impulsive, have high levels of energy and cause a person to sleep very little or not at all. It can also cause extreme irritability and anger. The more commonly known side of bipolar is depression. Depression makes people feel extremely tired, worthless, have feelings of hopelessness and may not enjoy activities that they usually enjoy.
Bipolar disorder is known a spectrum disease, that means that every person with bipolar doesn't have the same exact symptoms, severity or even length in their "cycles". I fall under the category of having type II, or soft bipolar disorder. With this type of bipolar disorder, I suffer from less severe forms of mania, called hypomania, which means that I get irritable and angry, but I don't have major impulses or hallucinations or psychosis. But I mainly suffer from a lot of depression.
Believe me, coming to a diagnosis like this isn't easy. In fact, there is no "test" for bipolar disorder. It's all based on what a psychiatric professional perceives. Actually, a lot of people who are bipolar are actually initially diagnosed as being just depressed or as having anxiety, since for a lot of people, being manic feels good and they don't realize it's an issue. Being diagnosed correctly is crucial because being on an anti-depressant alone if you are bipolar can actually be detrimental. Anti-depressants can switch someone in a bipolar depression into a hypomania or manic phase, which can make the person suicidal. Typically mood stabilizers or a combination of mood-stabilizers and anti-depressants are used to balance out the chemicals in the brain of the bipolar.
So far, my treatment has been to take 25mg of Lamictal, which is actually an anti-seizure medication used as a mood stabilizer for those who are bipolar. It mostly helps with the bipolar depression, but also helps with the hypomania as well. I will be gradually step increased to higher doses until my doctor and I find a dose that's right for me.
Hopefully this was an informative and helpful introduction. From here on out, I plan on blogging about how I came to figuring out I was bipolar, the steps I took to get treated, and my troubles and triumphs along the way. It will be a long road to becoming the person I always wanted to be, but I'm hoping my blog will be helpful to those who are bipolar, dealing with people who are bipolar, or believe they may be bipolar themselves. So please come back often!!
References:
http://bipolar.about.com/od/brainchemistry/ss/messengers-of-the-brain_2.htm
http://www.powersupplements.com/craniyums-neuro.html
http://www.psycheducation.org/bipolar/controversy.htm
