Is paranoia common w/bipolar?

[BeeKeeper]

I'm not sure if this would be classified as anxiety or paranoia, but it seems I've been having more and more problems with feeling like people are following me...I can "feel" them.  nights at home i "hear" doors open and footsteps and I lay perfectly still hoping no one see's me until I get the courage to get up to find all doors are locked and all is well.  on the worst of this round I felt somone sit down beside me while I slept and I sat up screaming.

I'm tired of talking to a therapist and doc about such things and having one more change in meds just to suffice me.  i'm just wondering if others deal with this too.

[Amy4891]

I am having alot of paranoia right now. I think it may be caused or made worse by the Risperdal I am on.

[Chaoticmindfk]

i looked this up because i feel paranoid when i am off meds. i hate my meds. trying to cope without them but then get paranoid. my paranoia is only that people are talking about me or trying to sabatage my job. no ghosts or people not there. just wanted to see if it is common. thanx.

[Chuffy]

i'm bipolar and suffer from paranoia.  i can't remember which of the meds i take treats it.  it seems to work though.  it's either epitol or invega.  if your doc doesn't seem to know anything about this, find another doc!

[Xila31]

When I am manic I feel like my bones are trying to claw their way out of my skin. I am so restless and pace all around dwelling on my racing thoughts. I hate that feeling. I just feel like I want to tear myself apart. It's terrible. It also feels like my brain is going to explode it is moving so fast. :(

[BeeKeeper]

I get that sensation too - crawling out of my skin.  actually was trying to deal with it last night...could not sleep...just didn't feel right...anxious...wired...something.  The result is that I'm exhausted today which will lead to other problems including the feeling of not feeling safe in my bedroom.  will probabaly end up sleeping on the couch tonight...and the dark shadows will be there too.  i hate night time.  think tonight will be an ambien/wine night.

[vickie5989]

When I was working I was paranoid all the time. Every time someone would close their door I assumed they were talking about me. I'm all the time thinking people are out to get me.  I've had hallucinations  like dark shadows, someone touching me. I lose things a lot and I'm accusing a ghost or my guardian angel of moving it. Am I just crazy? Lately my moods have been getting worse.  I'm undergoing stress - my hep C is getting to me - between the two I'm going bonkers.  Yesterday, I felt like I was crawling out of my skin as well as yesterday afternoon.  What kind of medications are you on.  Could these be causing some of the hallucinations?  They had put me on a bipolar med before lithium and it had me running into walls, seeing things - it was horrible.  

[wineandroses]

I am paranoid at times and think people are talking about me, laughing at me and are out to get me...fired; destroy my life, etc.  When I was younger I beleived my Mother was trying to posion me and I was afraid to eat anything she cooked.  When I was at home by myself with my Dad I was afraid he would rape me and I was scared to death.

[run4you]

I have paranoia.

It got really bad during my mixed episode, but it's there every day, just not as bad.

I like Xila's description... they are like the dementors. I also see (well, almost see?) a person/really effed up face at my windows. I could draw a pic, but thinking about the details scares the heck out of me!

Whenever I try to explain this, I feel like such a looney. But it is so terrifying.

[BeeKeeper]

I can understand seeing a figure watching you...happens to me all the time too.  just someone there out of the corner of my eye but when I turn...there is no one there.  Or catching someone passing that isn't there.  Only once has there been a person I could see standing in front of me...actually beside me.  I woke to see a little boy standinig beside me in bed - scared the crap out of me even after I realized he wasn't real.  I also have the dark shadows...mostly at night.  The best I can describe them is that they look like the dementors from the Harry Potter movies.

It is a very odd...and often scary...world we live in with the minds we have.

[Xila31]

Oh yeah, I have problems like that too. I get this sneaky suspicion that people are spying on me and watching me. Or when I'm having conversations sometimes I'm thinking about how that person doesn't like me and they are trying to hurt me in some way (like get me in trouble or talk about me behind my back, or pretending to be nice but are actually mean.)

If it is night and I go down into the basement or walk through the house in the dark I feel like someone is sneaking up behind me. It gives me goose bumps and scares me. My heart will start racing. In the basement especially the wall is broken open to the crawl space, and I always feel like someone is under there watching me. :(

I also have been seeing things a little. Like I keep seeing a figure watching me, but when I turn no one is there. I keep thinking it is my husband just wanting to ask a question, so I turne to look at him but he's not there. It is unsettling. I've been having a lot more of that within the last 4 months or so than before.

Also another time I was cooking dinner and I saw a dark shadow pass over me from behind my head. I actually ducked! I thought a giant bird had flown over my head. :( But I was inside.

[ILADVOCATE]

Before my current recovery I had symptoms exactly like that but then again I am diagnosed with schizoaffective. However it can happen in bipolar with psychotic features as well. It would depend on your diagnosis and its best to let your psychiatrist know when any symptoms like this return. I do have some potentially psychotic symptoms when any mood stabilizer I am taking runs out (my main mood stabilizer is Catapres and it has been less effective over the years so its on a 4 day titration and by the last day of it symptoms return) so on the last day I have feelings where my relationship to society and to people in general feels overstated as well as my ability to do things and my importance to people as well as over reacting to events and there are aspects of grandiosity that can be delusional. As well I can believe a random or annoying remark stated to me on the street is a threat, means that that behavior will continue or refers to me when it doesn't. I do keep track of all this and report it to my psychiatrist. What I personally find helpful is that my psychiatrist also functions as a talk therapist as before my therapist and psychiatrist had to keep exchanging phone calls when I had specific concerns or medication issues as each has their own specialty. Some people prefer it otherwise but for me this is best.