Q. I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder and co morbid panic disorder 2 years ago and was treated with paxil CR, clonazepam and trazadone. This was a perfect medication combination. I found out that I was pregnant and had to stop these medications for the first trimester. I was fine for those 3 months. At the start of the second trimester I was having horrible anxiety which led to depression and was sent to a different psychologist who re evaluated me and diagnosed me with Bipolar 2. I was on zoloft at the time of diagnosis and the zoloft made me agitataed and amplified my panic which led to more depression. I was taken off of the zoloft and put on seroquel and have ...  
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Q. My son has bipolar and was on zyprexa. he makes too much money for free clinic or drug programs but cannot afford zyprexa. plus there are too many side effects. he was having blood sugar trouble and 60-70 pound weight gain. has been off medication for 6 months but recently had a couple of anger outbursts that are similar to what he had before medication. Does he need medication or any suggestions? A. I cannot know for sure if he needs medication but if he is having anger outbursts then he should at least be addressing these symptoms with his doctor or clinician. He should strive to maintain a close connection with the professionals who are treating his condition. With regard to medication, ...  
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Q. I believe my bipolar step daughter is projecting her illness onto her children. We recently, mutually ended our guardianship of two grandchildren ages 8 and 9 . Thier mother is bipolar and I believe has other mental issues as well. We felt she was doing a better job of controling her illness. The children have been with her less than 2 months and we are seeing signs of real trouble. The 8 year old was taken, by mom to the local mental health facility and admitted for evaluation. Mom says she is having symptoms that the child never exhibited in our home. Now, less than 24 hours later the child has been put on Respidol(sp). I believe that the mother is trying to ...  
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Q. My family and I suspect that our mother is bipolar and has been for quite some time. She is a very combative person and very unstable at the moment. She excessively spends money that they don't have. They had to declare bankruptcy in the past. Currently they are living in a small mobile home that my brothers and I bought for them and they are living off of my stepdads SS checks. They do not have medical insurance which also proposes a problem. She is on many medications, but goes off and on them all the time. They can't afford many of the medications she needs for other issues such as, gout, blood pressure, cholesterol, Polymyositis and more. She is about to drive ...  
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Q. Could I be Borderline? I had an 'episode' about 2 years ago, a few weeks after I started on anti-depressants for the first time in my life. I was very impulsive, spending a lot of money, binging a lot on food, making risky decisions, and worst of all...sexual indiscretions. Since this all happened right after I started on anti-depressants, the first thought is that I am Bipolar. But I really don't fit the bill for Bipolar. Even in that incident that was medication-induced...I was not moving any faster. I have never had racing thoughts, or inflated self-esteem (my self-esteem is constantly very low!). I have never had any issues with sleep — either too little or too much, ...  
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First, thank you for being here. I'm 64. I was diagnosed BiPolar/Obsessive in 1996 after too many years of just being given tranquilizers and shock therapy for "nervous breakdown". And being totally mis-understood by myself, family and friends. After 4 years of therapy and meds adjustments things finally levelled off. I'm currently taking Depakote, Paxil, Betapace, Lescol, L-dopa, Aspirin and Oxycodone for Sacroiliitis and Fibromyalgia. I've been doing pretty well and I now know which situations to avoid. I still have periodic periods of, what I call, "Alien Abduction" that last for a few days where I want no contact with the outside world. Some of this is due to financial difficulties with SS being my only income but not ...  
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Q. My daughter was recently diagnosed with bipolar disease and her husband (I live with them in order to cost-share rent and utilities) allows her to get her own way with everything. He says yes dear and whatever you want dear to her with everything. The rest of the family, including myself, wants her to be accountable to herself and her marriage with him, but we feel that by him being such an enabler is keeping her from having any self-worth or self-esteem because she is not expected to do anything around the house, none of the chores, not go to work, and if she does mention any sort of a goal, he does it for her. He waits on her hand and foot, and ...  
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I am dealing with my son who is 13 and i believe he is bipolar. He has over the past 6 months been really angry depressed, saying he wished he was dead and gets in a rage over nothing alot. His father has been diagnosed with bp and personality disorder, depression and has been hospitalized several times. I was married to him for 13 years and we got divorced last Feburary. He was very abusive to me and my son but not our 2 girls. I felt like i finally got away from the anger and mood swings, and abuse. Now all of a sudden I feel like it is starting all over again now with my son.

My

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I have been married for 3 months and my husband don't touch , talk, or sleep in the same room as I do. Recently he has been texting and call his ex. when I tell him that I think he should stop he say's that she is his friend but he forgot that he told me that she cheated on him when they were together and that she is no good, so why would he want to keep in contact with someone like that?

My husband has a lot of issues and I believe that he suffers from depression or may even be bipolar. He drinks everyday, has up's and down mood swings, never wants to have sex or even touch me, talks

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Q. My 20 year old son is rapid cycling and has quick rages and punches things. He is in the State Hospital and I have two questions. Are rages a symptom of bipolar and how much can I expect from medication? He is on depakote and risperdal and he is terribly depressed, worse than I have ever seen him. I met with his doctor today and we have discussed lamictal and klonipin. But the staff wants to see improvement in his behavior. They have taken almost every privilege he could have away in order to coherse him to take part in groups. I feel that a good medication change might help him to get unstuck, but I don't know what I can expect and I'm ...  
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Q. I have severe Bipolar Disorder and am applying for disabality: I have sever bi polar disorder and it is not ideal for me to work and be around people in fear i may be so upset i will hurt them. i have been to my doctor may times for this and i have an appointment with a phycologist soon to help with my treat ment. i am taking 400mgs of Seroquel currently and it doesnt seem to be working...I applied for disability because bi polar is a disability and i need the help while im trying to be treated and focus on only that...do i have a chance of getting it? will i be okay

A. It can be difficult to get disability

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Q. I am a writer and was diagnosed with Bipolar II about two years ago. I was placed on Cymbalta (duloxetine) at that time. Variously between then and now my medication was interrupted because of insurance problems. I noticed that during these periods of abrupt discontinuation my writing quality and quantity increased. I feel more creative and productive, and regardless of what state(hypomanic or depressed) I am in at the time, my writing improves far more than it ever had on Cymbalta. When I resume Cymbalta I lose the motivation to write and will go months at a time without producing anything.

Is this really a choice between my passion and my mental health, or are there other alternatives? Without my medication, I frequently delve

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