I could really use advice, Freaking out! | ADHD Information
I think you might try seeing another doctor.
I too have never heard of being "too old" to be bi-polar. I don't think it's something you 'grow out of'. I know several people with bi-polar,and they are all much older than you are! And they're doing pretty good with proper medication and informed doctors.
Some doctors don't keep up with current research as they should. Many examples of that right here on this board. Like the thinking kids 'grow out of' ADHD.
Barb
In case you find it helpful, here is a comprehensive list of symptoms of schizophrenia:
http://www.schizophrenia.com/earlysigns.htm
Not everyone experiences all the symptoms. Hearing voices is actually the main "stereotype" symptom - not everyone experiences it. Not trying to tell you that you have it , just trying to provide you with as much info as possible.
You are right, bipolar typically does not turn off and on like a switch - the phases of mania and depression each usually last for days or even months at a time.
I'm only 29 so I thought the same thing about the bipolar. My therapist just doesn't have all the details yet and from our brief conversation that was what she said. I will go in Friday and explain it more to her.
I agree with you guys about the medications, not to take anything away from your advice Floof I do appriciate all feedback, but I don't think if I stop cold turkey without asking my doctor first, it would help.
I read a bit about bipolar and as I go down the symptoms I can honestly say that I have had them all at times in my life. They just seem more prominant. BCgirl, it could be that the Ritalin is bring it out more as I've only been on that for a little over a month.
I'm not exactly hearing voices, but more like sensing them. I've mainly heard my name called when no one is around. I've also had a very active imagination to the point of daydreaming quite a bit, or hearing music or seeing daydreams in my head while still aware of my current surroundings. Weird huh!
I like the dreaming stuff though, because I love to write and in the past few weeks I've written over 300 pages of material for different screenplays I thought up-so I think my active dreaming is contributing to that creativity that I have always had, but couldn't harness well.
I do not think its a brian tumor(I hope) because most of these symptoms I can remember expeirienceing at times throughout my past, but not as often. My moods seem to be cycaling on an almost daily basis. I don't know much about bipolar, but I always thought your mania was like for a few days and then gone for awile, not off and on like a light.
I don't know? I will speak with my Dr and will post what has been discovered.
Thank you all for the advice, it helps to get this out and hear other peoples advice.
Thanks,
jake77738476.4246296296Well, if you're wondering wether your meds are causing certain
problems, stopping them is a very safe way to find out. People can live
just fine with unmedicated ADD, but not necessarily with meds that they
react badly to. The symptoms that are the most worrysome are not ADD
symptoms. If jake does stop his meds, I think he should call his doc and ask about the best way to stop them, because (i know from experience) that if you just quit them suddenly (even ones for ad/hd), then you could really crash. If you need to stop them, it is best to ask the doctor the right way to go about quitting, because some meds if you just stop cold, then you could have very bad mood swings, and even become suicidal (speaking from personal experience). Jake even mentioned that he thought about dying a lot....so I would be concerned about that.
Every med is a little different, so I think it is safer to ask the doctor FIRST before stopping the meds, and he will tell you whether or not it is safe to just stop cold, or if you need to wean off. Just about all of the psychiatric medications will have a pamphlet, or a statement written on the bottle cautioning you to talk to a doc before stopping the med cold, and not to stop until you have had further directions for the him/her.
It just requires a simple phone call, in most cases. Just call your doc.
just my little $.02
sonya_h38476.376400463Jake, if you don't mind me asking, how old are you? As far as I knew, you are never "too old" to have Bipolar.
I actually read the other day that Ritalin and other stimulants can aggravate Bipolar.
If you are hearing voices, and experiencing a multiple-personality type situation, there are a numbr of possibilities, brain tumour being possible but HIGHLY unlikely, especially if you've been experiencing this for a couple of years now. Schizophrenia is another possibility. Don't worry, schizophrenia does NOT label you as "crazy" or weird, it is a genuine mental disorder as normal, common, and treatable as any other disorder. My sister once had a roommate with it and he was completely fine while on his meds.
I would get to a doctor pronto. Don't go back to that same quack who dismissed the possibility of bipolar.
[QUOTE=sonya_h]If jake does stop his meds, I think he should call his doc and ask about the best way to stop them, [/QUOTE]
I agree completely. This is too dangerous to do alone. A doctor needs to be involved.
Hello,If anyone can help me out I would be very grateful. I was diagnosed with ADHD in October of 04. I am currently taking Lexipro-for GAD, Rittalin and Strattera. I've been posteing and reading on here for awhile and everyone is always so helpful.
Here is the sitch..
Although, these(my meds) have helped me in some ways I have noticed a progressivly increasing number of things that seem to be worse or just more often. I don't know. I have always had a number of issues in my life, but just never really cared or thought they were real issues till last year. Needless to say, I'm almost sure that these are not all related to ADHD and I did talk to my wife. She thought I might have Bipolar(which has been mentioned to me before) But my therapist said that I'm too old. I have not told her everything here yet, but go in on Friday.
All the symptoms(bipolar) apply to me at times. My main questions are:
1) If I do have BP and was never dx'd could the symptoms start to get worse?
2) Could the meds I'm on bring out the BP or other issues?
3) Does anyone here have any of the following happen to them.
A) Hearing someone calling your name or whispering your name when you are alone
B) Talking and sometimes even writing things, but in a dream like state not fully aware of what you wrote or said till someone tells you or you read the stuff?
C) Hearing a buzzing or humming noise which makes you agrivated and you can't sleep.
D) Being afraid to sleep cause your dreams have been really scary or you get worried about death or something.
E) Getting really hyper and not knowing how to use the energy so you might turn the radio super loud and scream and sing or yelling out the car windows and feeling so happy you just laugh to yourself and then its gone.
F) Sometimes feeling that you are two different people or more. I know this is weird, but sometimes I act say and do things very unlike what I normally would-but in recent weeks I don't always remember doing or saying them
Last thing, do you lie for no reason, just make up a story or start telling someone something and then exagerating it, after this you feel guilty for the lies but you don't feel like you can control yourself. Or you find ways to lie, like I called a creditor last night and made up all my information
SSn. Birth day.
These are some of the things that have happened to me quite a bit, but have been very noticable over the last couple years and seem to be getting worse. Could someone please tell me if this is anything like BP and/or if you have had these type of symptoms with ADHD or medication.
I don't thinks its the meds cause as I look at myself more I realize I've always had these things happen just a lot less frequently.
This is hard to say , but I'm afraid to die and love life in general-but for some reason I keep thinking about dying(don't worry I have no intentions of making it a reality-but I can't explain this sudden invasion of my thoughts.
The sooner the better cause its freaking me out and I really want to get help soon as I can't hardly think of anything else. Sorry this is so long, but I really need advice.
Thank you all,
Here's my thinking. You very well might have ADD, but that's not your big priority right now. I would stop the meds for a while, and see what happens. Get a diagnosis from a psychiatrist regarding your non-ADD symptoms, they are more serious and should be given a priority. God forbid, If these symptoms of semi-consciousness are getting rapidly worse, make sure it's not a brain tumor. I think you need to figure this out right now, and a professional is the only one who can help you there.
whoa there floof for a minute. I don't know if you should be telling everyone first and foremost to always stop their meds to see what happens. It might be ok for some, but not for everyone.
jake, with your symptoms, i would not be stopping the meds until i imformed the doctor of what is going on. Those are some pretty intense symptoms you described. My suggestion would be to talk to a doc as soon as possible, and get some advice from him/her before you do anything else...
a lot of things come to my mind when i read your post, but I don't know much about any of them, so i might be wrong: schitzphrenia? bipolar? anxiety? all of these symptoms ring a bell, but I dunno, you really need to ask your doc.
I hope everything turns out for the best for you jake!!
Jake, do you keep a mood chart or daily logs on how you are feeling? I know that can be a huge help in figuring out a diagnosis since it shows patterns we sometimes don't see or forget about. (But keeping the logs can be a pain, too!) None of us are Dr's, but everything you listed sounded very similar to mania.
A person is never "too old" to find out they are bipolar. Many people never have symptoms until later in life. There may or may not be signs leading up to the diagnosis of BP later in life. It is possible for a person to be BP, and it never reach a point where it is noticed or needs medical attention...it stays "hidden" in a way, although the potential is there. (I hope that made sense?)
Also, people with BP can have symptoms like hearing and seeing things (auditory and visual hallucinations). That is not uncommon (but I believe it primarily happens in manic episodes). And stimulants, like ADD med's, can trigger manic episodes....as can many other meds, like Wellbutrin. Also, it is typical that a person doesn't have much, if any, memory of what happened during a manic episode.
(I think that most people can read symptoms and see a lot of those in themselves at various times. That's why it's important to be diagnosed by a psych (MD) that you trust, and a PhD psych isn't a bad idea either if you are diagnosed. And many of these disorders have very similar symptoms, the differences are sometimes hard to see.)
Your symptoms sound a lot like the manic phase of bipolar. Get to a doctor as soon as possible !
[QUOTE=bcgirl1978]In case you find it helpful, here is a comprehensive list of symptoms of schizophrenia:
http://www.schizophrenia.com/earlysigns.htm
Not everyone experiences all the symptoms. Hearing voices is actually the main "stereotype" symptom - not everyone experiences it. Not trying to tell you that you have it 
, just trying to provide you with as much info as possible.
You are right, bipolar typically does not turn off and on like a switch - the phases of mania and depression each usually last for days or even months at a time.
[/QUOTE]
It was interesting to see that there are several symptoms of add that are also found on the schizophrenia list. Namely, the overlap with depression, the inner dialogue type of thing, the lack of ability to interpret social cues, etc.
Jake,
I think you should talk to your doctor first of all and then ask about changing meds. ADD meds won't help if you are BP and will make things worse. So talk to the doctor as the others have said, and maybe even consider switching doctors. I've never heard anything about anybody being too old to be bipolar etc. I have also heard my name being called before either when i was alone or with people and was like "what?" and people were like "we didnt say anything" lol. That has only happened rarely though!! It used to happen more when I was younger! The other symptoms though i can not relate to! anyway good luck! let us know what happens with the doctor!!
-Princess-