My dad recently passed away and I went to a psychiatrist who said I had bipolar depression. I had been on Paxil but couldn’t sleep when I was on it and I still had anxiety…. So I went into this terrible cycle of not taking it-so I could sleep and then slowly plummeting into deep depression, so I would start taking Paxil again–then I would get sick of not being able to sleep-so I would go back off of it.
I don’t have any mania at all, but I do get anxiety (it hasn’t been a life-long thing–just since my dad got sick and died).. Anyhow, my doctor said I was bipolar depressed… which is odd b/c I do not have any manic days.
She put me on depakote and it is working okay but I still miss my Paxil… Anyhow, when I was upset and said, “I dont think I am bipolar..” she said that I had it all wrong– i wasn’t bipolar manic, …I am bipolar depressed. Anyone else have thoughts about this? All the info I seem to come up w/online is that bipolar depressed is the same thing as bipolar manic/bipolar disorder. But she was adamant that they aren’t the same…
I do feel better taking depakote, I can sleep better but I do still get anxiety. She said that the SSRIs were causing me to get too much seratonin and that is what keeps me up & gives me anxiety .
okay, baba.. I guess I should have backed up a bit. I had been on Paxil for awhile for just basic depression for about 8 yrs and I could take it or leave it, before my dad got real sick (he was real sick like 3 yrs ago and died 1 yr ago)… Anyhow, I always HAD done fine on Paxil until 3 yrs ago (2 yrs before his death) –when he was really sick, I was so worried and anxious… That is when I started the VERY bad roller coaster of going on and off of paxil–waiting until I got so depressed I couldnt get out of bed before taking it and taking it a few wks until I felt better but couldn’t sleep..
I forgot to also tell you guys she put me on lunesta too–to sleep. she put me on another medication–(mirtazapine)–it made me a zombie and have horrible nightmares…and i got off of that.
Also, Clover.. I think you are right. I think I understand it all from what you typed. Any more thoughts, I would love to hear from any of you guys… Clover, I think you really made sense of it to me though– the anxiety and insomnia are the mania??
So that psychiatrist did NOT put me on paxil..i had already been on it. She put me on Depakote, lunesta, and remeron (mirtazapine)—and I discontinued using remeron…
