Connection bipolar & lupus

Is there a conection between bipolar disorder and lupus

[shortcircuited]

None known.

[guidos1]

Not true.  My phsychiatrist tells me that my Bipolar disorder and my ADHD are a direct result of my Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.  At this moment my VA  disability rating is being raised (hopefully) because my SLE is a service connected disability and the Bipolar disorder and ADHD are secondary conditions resulting from the lupus and require further review and a higher disability rating.

[bernie40]

I find this very interesting, do you know if there is any published research regarding the link only a family member has been diagnosed lupus and is showing very definite signs of BP.

[guidos1]

I don't have it but there is published evidence.  My psych. has it and is using it to write a report for me so I can get my VA disability rating raised from 60% up to 100%.  The next time I go see her I will ask for a copy and come back and post where it can be found for you.  Cool?

[irishwriter]

same curiosity here, a family member with undiagnoses psychiatric issues also has lupus.

[bernie40]

Thanks so much for that :-)

[monkeyc]

My mother had SLE as well as MS and she was diangosed as Bipolar as well so this interests me because Ive asked my doctors the same question and got a very different answer..

However I deeply doubt that SLE causes Bipolar as there is no literature I can find on a proven linkage or empirical support - If you do some reading its becomes clear that research has shown that the main confusion comes from the neurological symptoms of Lupus and Bipolar overlapping.  That SLE occurs in Bipolar patients at a higher rate might be supported but as they are both illnesses with genetic factors there may be a strong linkage to a genetic abnormality causing both in effect and because the neurological symptoms mirror bipolar symptoms it clouds things.

Lupus has neurological symptoms which include anxiety, mood disorders, cognitive disfunction and psychosis in some cases.  Im sure we can see the reason in those symptoms why there might be a diagnosis of bipolar attached to an SLE patient

Personally I disagree heavily with any statement that says "Such and such gave me bipolar" - the one thing pretty much all research seems to point to is that bipolar is not acquired it is something you are born with.  If you have symptoms that are like bipolar but were not in evidence before the SLE then I'd be guessing its a pretty good bet they're SLE symptoms and not bipolar proper.  Not that the VA needs to know that....

Some information here : bipolar.about.com/od/generalhealth/a/lupus.htm

[monkeyc]

Ive read some research on immune system disorders and they look interesting but a complicating problem is that so many bipolars also suffer from other illnesses which can make a linkage hard to find - I would not be surprised if bipolar has an effect on the immune system to be honest but you would first have to eliminate the drugs from the study as many AD, AP and MS drugs effect the immune system - Mirtazapine for instance lowers immunity as a side effect and in some patients can cause the immune system to be severely compromised.