Is this Bipolar? Getting desperate!!

My sister was just diagnosed with bipolar. I don't know a lot about it, but from what I have read it doesn't seem to fit. She has spent many years very depressed. Then a few months ago she really started going down hill. She has these "goofy" times. The best way I can explain it is, she acts like a little child that is drunk. She talks and thinks like a little kid. And she also "see's" things that are not there. For instance, she thought there was a gorilla outside, so she called our father in the middle of the night to bring a shot gun to kill it. She has seen pink spotted tranchulas coming after her, she thinks she is in the circus and will try and balance things on her nose, she will think she is magic and loose her powers and cry uncontrolably untill somebody can convince her that she got her powers back. I could go on and on, there are so many different stories. And she doens't remember any of these episodes. They range from 30 min to days at a time. She doesn't have the classic highs that I have read about with bipolar. Her Dr. believes this is bipolar anyway. And she won't get into therapy because at times when she is having one of her episodes she can't walk or even move at times. And she claims to be in excruciating pain. This is really hurting our family and I don't recognise her anymore. Her and my younger sister are roomates and she is worried that she will come into her room and do something, or hurt herself. Two days ago she thought her dog was a monster so she tried to light him on fire. Thankfully my other sister was home and stopped it. If this is bipolar, what treatment is there? We are really worried for her and others safety.
And is there any way to tell if she is faking? She has done some pretty drastic things. 4 years ago she took her phone and beat herself up really bad. She drove to my parents house and told them that she was attacked. She filled a police report and evreything. So she moved back to town and then stabbed herself on the side and said there was another attack. Which she came clean to us about a year later. After that she would litteraly end up in the ER from hurting herself every week...breaking her hand in the car door, jamming a nail ALL the way through her hand, wrecking her car, etc etc. She spent about a year and a half doing this. Then last spring she tried to kill herself with pills and antifreeze, and gluing her eyes shut. She is also addicted to pain meds. She has seen the same Dr. for years and all he says is she needs to up her antidepresants again. She tells him she needs more pills, he will give it to her. She is very much in control of her medical care. I'm not sure why, but her Dr. gives in to her everytime she starts to cry. Either way I know she is very sick. Does anybody have any advice? Everyday she gets worse and we are just waiting for her to do something that will end up killing her.

[enpassant]

This does not sound like a typical bipolar, although it is possible that she has bipolar in addition to something else.  It sounds more like she has some form of schizophrenia with possible personality disorder?  

What "antidepressants" is she taking? Has this been getting worse over the years? How often and how long do the "goofy" episodes last? How old is your sister?

whatever it is, the treatment should be pretty much the same (antipsychotics, something like seroquel etc).  She should not be taking SSRIs, although if she is currently on them, she should not discontinue them without dr. supervision.  It really sounds like she needs to be evaluated on inpatient basis to find the right combination of drugs for her condition.

[shawn47]

What do you mean by "faking"?  Faking bipolar?  Faking psychosis?  If she were faking, that would be a serious illness, too.

Perhaps a structured, stable place like a hospital is a good place for her.  She can be more closely and accurately evaluated.

Someone can have SZ symptoms plus bipolar, called schizoaffective.  I have a tendency for that and take an antipsychotic along with typical BP drugs.

[nalla]

Well to answer some of the questions, yes, she has been getting worse over the past few years, but this past few months she went downhill really fast. That is when she started seeing things that were not there. Her goofy episodes will last from a half hour to a day or even longer. The longest was almost 3 days. She is 27 years old.  And the meds she is taking are cymbalta (sp?), hydrocodone, oxcodone, and and something for her stomach.  
A few months after she faked the attack in her appartment, she started seeing a therapist and she went into a hospital for 2 days volentarely. But ended up calling our dad to come get her out. She said she would kill herself if she had to stay another day. So my dad drove down and picked her up. Ever since then he had convinced himself that he can fix her. He even goes to most of her Dr. appointments for her cause she can't get out of bed.  He feels that it is his fault that she has ended up this way. He is carring a lot of guilt that he refused to let go of.  I have talked with our mom about getting her into a hospital, but she said it's not possible to put her into a hospital against her wishes, and that putting her into a hospital would end up breaking them finacially since she doens't have insurance. I can't argue because I just don't know enough about it.
About her faking, I really don't know. Over the years she has either faked some incident or hurt herself on purpouse and made up some excuse why it happend. She is a very very good actress and is very convincing. But I know either way she needs help.
It's so hard to see her going downhill so fast. And I'm afraid that she will never recover from this. She has so many things against her right now, and incompitent Dr. and our father. I know his heart is in the right place, but there is no talking to him about her. He doesn't even belive that she needs a therapist. And he doesn't think these episodes are that serious, he finds them comical. Yes, they are kinda funny, but it's not so funny that she is so sick and there isn't anybody willing to help her.

Ok, I need some honest opinions about this one..... Our other sister CH is living with her (RH the sick sister). Well at times CH is afraid of her when she is in these episodes. Ever since RH almost set the dog on fire, she is worried that the house will catch on fire or worse. She asked me what I think of her calling 911 when she is having one of these episodes, to get her taken to the hospital, so another Dr. can see her this way, and possibly be put on a 72 hour hold. (or however long it is).
I really don't know if this is a good idea or not.  I know if she/I did this, our father would never speak to us again, and our mother would probably do the same. But would it be worth it to get her the help she needs?  I have been going over the sinario over and over in my head and I just don't know what to do.  Or should I just drop this and focus on my family?  (husband and kids) And just pray that she doesn't hurt herself or somebody else?
What do you think, I'm just torn about this.

[enpassant]

As far as meds: Cymbalta is an antidepressant, and will not do much for her "odd" behavior. At least it's not an SSRI.  In general it sounds like she needs to be on an antipsychotic as i mentioned above.  You are right that the dr treating her is not doing his/her job.

It's really a decision you will have to make by yourself, or with the help of your sister, whether to try to get her inpatient.  It is definitely a good idea as far as her medical condition is concerned.  As for your parents, one option would be is for a psychiatrist at the hospital to talk with them.  Often when the seriousness of the situation is explained by a medical professional, the parents/family can view it differently and possibly accept the situation.  Again, it's impossible to tell from your post whether that would be the case.

As far as the cost, I'm not entirely sure about this, but i think since your sister is an adult, she will be mostly responsible for the payment of medical bill.  It might be a good idea to buy her insurance before going through with all of this. Make sure it has a good inpatient and outpatient psych coverage.  You mentioned she's been to ER many times, and if she keeps getting those bills, which are quite expensive, she can pay for inpt

[Rozanna]

To be very honest I think you need to talk her in to going to the hospital, and getting her help she seems to be very sick. No matter how old she is as long as she can’t think rationally she can’t check her self out of the hospital. I have a child with BP. She doesn’t sound like a person suffering from BP.  If you are really serious about the doctor giving her drugs that she doesn’t really need I would let him know your feelings on that as well. The medications that she is on my be making her act the way she is. ..    

[Chestercopperpot5]

I am so sorry to hear about the problems that your sister is having.  If it is scary for you and your family, imagine how terrifying it must be to be her when all of this is going on.  I have a friend who is bipolar.  She has done some pretty crazy stuff when she is not feeling well.  She also has seen things that are not there.  The important thing to remember is that it is a disease, and it can be controlled.  You may want to do some research on places that she can go to get help and even be properly diagnosed.  There are a lot of really wonderful inpatient psychiatric facilities out there that she can go to when she is having  an "episode."  If you are worried that she could hurt herself or someone else it would be a safe place for her to recover and get her symptoms under control.  You should be aware that some psychiatric wards in conventional hospitals will only medicate her until they believe that she is stable.  Try to find a place that specializes in treating only mental/mood disorders.  

[ladyjane51]

Woa!  That child is a mess.  Whatever is going on, it is rapidly turning into a family disease.  Your father and sister are being sucked into her sickness too.  I believe that they need to get some help themselves in order to stay sane.  I am sure she is very sick, and like previous writers, believe she should be in a long term care facility.  The staff would be able to observe her more closely.  Just an aside, sometimes bipolar patients  and others become addicted to the attention they get from acting out.  I also know that  psych medications DO NOT usually work well when combined with pain medications and alcohol.  If your sister was in a long term care facility,  staff  would beable to find out what else is going on.  Good luck.