What is wrong with me?

[Vanishedwish]

Hi
I am on Prozac(20mg) right now, started it a week ago. I have not seen a shrink, not planning to see one. I am really anxious after I read some of the post here. Especially those of Bipolar. My GP prescribed it after my suicide attempt. In fact I am not depressed all the time, sometimes I'll be very happy, joyful & just enjoy life to the extreme ( somehow carelessly).
Is it a good thing taking this med? Should I stop it? it also caz me hand shaking (If it wasn't the med what could be the reason?)
Please help

[adel_ezz]

you do nothing except to answer his questions, your answers will enlighten his road. of course you will start talking about your depression, the racing thoughts you have, and automatically the discussion will go forward and forward. it isn't a needle in the ocean he will fetch. there exist only 5 main psych illness: major depression, OCD, anxiety disorders, BP, schizoph. and each has branches like BP overlaps with BPD, ADHD, etc... anxiety there is GAD, PD, agoraphobia, etc...so by differential diagnosis he can skip some until he locates yours. for example if you stay long hours in your room do you have depression or agoraphobia there is a difference,, the mood etc.. moreover you said i had periods very enjoyable so you have mood swings. it isn't hard to decide.

I hope he is good because since you didn't become manic yet like us then your case is controllable. My advice never accept AD's without an antipsychotic like risperidone or seroquel to go with. Avoid the anticonvulsants right now. don't take a combination of drugs only one or two. in my view i hope he writes  0.25mg of xanax and 25mg of seroquel is enough for the moment until you see him again. if he writes an AD make it an SSRI not a tricyclic and add an AP like i said. try the least amount of drugs.

i wonder if you have talk therapy in oman we don't and it makes a hell of a difference. some religious people do them, if you can find one .

all of your symptoms are damn classical and written in books, and it's his duty to have read them before. it's easy. just go and don't hesitate

[Vanishedwish]

I am really confused. How can I describe something I am not aware of! How did any of you get a diagnosis then?

[Vanishedwish]

Will see one this Saturday propably. I just wanted to share my concerns & doubts with you & see if someone went through  the same thing.

Tahnk you Ezz & moonpanda.

[adel_ezz]

look you are wasting your time. bipolarity is not just depression and mania, i.e. not periods od depression and elation but overlapping with many other symptoms, personality disorder, racing thoughts, poor concentration, procrastination, distractability and lots of comorbidity with other disorders like OCD, anxiety, etc...etc...

so you need a specialist.

psych illness is not one thing, like you have flu say, it comes in dozens of symptoms, sometimes delusions, hallucinations, paranoia..

i remember in the onset of illness, i sent a description to a prof. of psych in new york and he replied that he can't even make a diagnosis unless he sees me i.e. from the ethical and clinical point of view. So even if we were pdocs it won't help that you write to us for diagnosis. And worse you said you said not looking for diagnosis but for help. Support yes but help in what way.

No way unless you consult a specialist

if you decide not to seeing a specialist, then it won't make you good to post here, unless for venting and the nice social atmosphere

[Vanishedwish]

I hate the fact that I don't know what I am going through. I am not talking about right diagnosis but I don't know how to describe what I am going through! Four years now & I am stuck in the same vicious cycle. Do I really have periods of highs & downs? Or I just can snap out of depression? Or just felt so relieved to leave my family & so there is no need to hide between my books, poor academic performance, low self confidence, I remember my achievements which gives me confident, another high & optimism, crash with reality, another down? it is true I was somehow depressed(not clinically diagnosed) in the last 2 years of high school- just losing interest in things I used to love, careless about most thing, but it didn't affect my study much.

I really appreciate your help, but I can't help myself, I just don't know what to do! There is no way a shrink can give me real diagnose, I will describe what I think I have, just like what I did here.

Do I make any sense to any of you?

[adel_ezz]

Hi

Perhaps i am by default the best one who can understand you, as i live in an Arab country and practice the same religion and traditions. Here shrinks are acceptable not like in the past. But again if what we think you have you have it then it's evident that you will have to face it and take meds unfortunately to be able to function properly. had there been a way out, everybody here would have deserted the site.

I have an idea, but i need the consent of smart and knowledgeable people like ILADVOCATE and moonpanda. If they agree with me that you take seroquel generic called quetiapine 50mg at night only then perhaps you can make it. Prozac is forbidden and you can cut it now right away. Strong mood stabilizers need a smart psychiatrist because it's complicated. With the seroquel 50mg, you will be able to sleep well. 2nd it won't bring depression because it's what they call new anti-psychotic so it can stabilize you even though it's not the proper dose.

the problem of this forum we can't advise meds for many reasons, but since your story sounds familiar and considering its many aspects, I would try seroquel provided that the other folks agree with me. I don't think you will fall back into depression there is a lot of factors in that many are psychological not only the chemistry

but about your college, grades, this is typically me when it started. I don't like to make you frightened but you look you have bipolarity if i am not mistaken. good believers fall ill as well, there is nothing you can do here except that it helps the psych side of it only. Our prophet Mohamed peace be upon him fell ill before he died. Everybody falls ill whether a religious person or not. It ha nothing to do with being not religious enough. But these sort of ideas encircled me when i fell ill until here we realized the real facts of life.

The reason we try to support you is because you took the same road which we took except that we are in the middle of the road while you are at the very beginning and we don't like you to face the same pitfalls we went through

good luck

[moonpanda]

I'm a university student too, and I know how hard depression and other mood disturbances can be on grades and academics. For me, it was really just a matter of figuring out what was going on with my health, and then it was a matter of finding the help and support network I needed to become successful again after my circumstances had changed.

You can certainly stop taking Prozac now if you do want to do that. Prozac has what is called a long half-life, which means that it takes a long time for the body to process and eliminate the drug. In fact, Prozac has such an incredibly long half-life that it can take many, many weeks to leave the system. Because of this, you can stop taking it without tapering down the dose; the long half-life means that the drug is going to naturally taper itself out of your body, and you shouldn't experience too many withdrawal effects, if you experience any at all.

I think we were just suggesting getting advice from a specialist because mood disorders can be really complicated, and a lot of GPs are not always as experienced with picking apart the specifics and with knowing about the best treatment options for psychiatric disturbances. If there is any way to speak with someone who knows more about psychology and psychiatry, even a counselor/ psychologist (versus an MD psychiatrist), then I think you could get the best advice on how to go on from here. You are right, most psychiatrists these days are going to pursue using medication as a first line treatment, but you don't have to take medication if you don't want to. Maybe they can provide therapy to help you cope with your difficulties? A counselor could help you with your problems with school and with other aspects of life, for example if you sometimes clash with your family over your different beliefs. Does your university have a counseling service, a mental health office, a disabilities office, or an academic advising office? All of these places could give you some help and advice. Good luck!

[Vanishedwish]

What could happen if I didn't get specialized help?  I am a college student & it is affecting my study. My grades is either up or really low( the latter is the case most of the time). I was an A student till I joined university. Is there another way to get my mood stable without med? one reason I don't  want to see shrink because they insist on using med- I was totally against that idea. Another most shocking, being in a very religious country they want me to return to the so called the path of God. I belong to a religious family & I highly respect our tradition, I even follow them when possible-I respect my heritage but not to the degree of adapting things that don't make sense to me. I have my own believe system that makes sense to me (I am sorry to all religious people here, but I agree with those who think religion is a way to celebrate life). It is really frustrating. Right now I can't afford to go abroad. Maybe after 3 years( part of our training program, yes it has to be 3 years from now ).
Another thing it is day 6 on the drug, Can I stop it now? I am planning- after what I read here- to not take it tomorrow.
Thank you very much

[moonpanda]

I went on Prozac a few months ago (20mg and then 40mg) to treat bipolar depression, but it caused a problem for me because I started to rapid cycle between depression and hypomania. After speaking with a psychiatrist, I was taken off of it, and the cycling did stop (although the depression was still there).

If you have attempted suicide and you've been diagnosed with bipolar disorder (or you suspect that you may have it), then I would strongly urge you to meet with a psychiatrist. GPs are not specialized in dealing with psychiatric problems, and you might need to talk to someone more specialized who can help you figure out what meds you should consider and which meds you should avoid depending on your particular illness and symptoms. Good luck!

[adel_ezz]

can't tell you where to start exactly. but what i am sure about is that you should consult a psychiatrist and not a GP to start with.

Then if you are dx with bipolar disorder because BP II starts "always" with depression then in that situation your prozac isn't the right solution.

So planning in not seeing a pdoc is not right. I know in Arabic countries like where i live pdocs have a bad reputation and seeing one of them is admitting we are insane and of course this is the last thing one would want to get associated with. But again a GP can send you very easily over the edge. Because if ARE TRULY BIPOLAR and he will not know that, then an antidepressant is worse than seeing a pdoc.

you have to seek a right diagnosis first. Another idea your parents can take you abroad to Lndon say a clinic there and it won't cost more than the fare plus an appointment but at least you will be sure of what you have