Has anyone been diagnosed BiPolar?

Just wondering if others suffering from addiction have been diagnosed with this.

[dfr3]

YES, my sister has the disease.  she was born with it.  But they never knew back then what it was.
finally my family has been given some relief with this diagnosis.  she has suffered her whole life with it she is now44 yrs old

[SoberGirlsMOM]

I am just trying to figure out if my daughter really is bipolar or if it was all the pills she was on.  I just find it hard to believe that a psychiatrist can diagnose a person as bipolar whenever they are on so many mood altering chemicals at the time of diagnosis.

[wickedwanderer]

Yes, I have been diagnosed with this.  

[dfr3]

the perfect diagnoses for the disorder was when I heard a doctor say

'it is an overreaction to the simplest things'
also the highs and lows are manic.

I would not put much faith in the diagnoses untill the fog lifts from addiction!

[SoberGirlsMOM]

I hope this question isn't being too personal, but what meds do you take for this?  My daughter was given Depakote and seroquel when she left rehab.  Her drugs of choice were xanex, klonipin (klonopin) and OC's.  From what I understand it is common for persons with Bipolar to self medicate.

[wickedwanderer]

I just started taking Lamictal...still working on the dosing (haven't worked up to the theraputic dose yet).  I was diagnosed very recently.  Was on all sorts of antidepressants, and then the dr finally gave me this.  I do feel better, of course not 100% and I'm still having crazy mood swings (and at times, I really DO feel absolutely crazy).  The last week has been a challenge...Things aren't right; I've been taking trazodone too to help with sleep and lately I've just felt like a zombie, when before, this med helped me sleep really well.

[SoberGirlsMOM]

Thank you.  I bought the book "BiPolar for dummies" and still could not get a grasp on what BiPolar really means.  That drs statement says more than the whole book said!

That statement actually describes my daughter, hmmmmm.

[wickedwanderer]

I think it's hard for people to understand the disease.  I have a hard time describing how I feel when I'm having an episode.

[SoberGirlsMOM]

Lamictal was the first drug they gave her, but she had an allergic reaction to it, which from what I understand is very common with that drug.  After 6 days she started itching and developed a rash.  Then they put her on Zyprexia, those things made her a complete zombie, she really couldn't function on those.  She seems to tolerate the Depakote so far, but this is also the only drug she has taken where she wasn't also snorting zanexs, klonipins and OC's.