Bipolar 2 and Fibromyalgia

[Sue031]

Having both of these chronic ailments I am obviously being treated with conventional medication. I am in South Africa and I have read about a lot of alternative therapy for the Fibromyalgia but I don't know how this will mix with my Bipolar Treatment.  Can you help me understand this?

[Paxiled]

There might not actually be anything called Bipolar 2.   Many believe it was invented by pharmaceutical companies to add medication when an antidepressant caused increased anxiety or mania, which is a common side effect.  Better to ignore these labels and deal with whatever the real underlying problem is.  Fibromyalgia is a collection of symptoms without a known cause, though there are a lot of theories, and I have mine, but it usually comes with emotional difficulty of one kind or another, usually anxiety and depression.  If it's hard to treat, a hack psychiatrist will call it bipolar 2 when his treatments fail, as of course they very well might if the underlying cause is fibromyalgia.  So tread carefully here, do your homework, and follow your instincts.  As to your question, since you haven't mentioned what medications you're taking it's too little information to know if there will be contraindications, and it's often difficult to answer this question definitively at any rate since most contraindications from natural medications are theoretical, given the lack of money for that thorough of research on remedies that can't be patented.  

[Sue031]

Hi there,
I would so love to agree with you on the "label" thing but unfortunately for me I have had Bipolar for 11 year prior to the Fibromyalgia. The Doctors here in South Africa also hate it when you label yourself. I find this amusing because and illness is described by its label so when you go to your Gp must you now sit there and describe a whole set of symptoms to something that has already been diagnose and is being treated or label it???? Sorry if I sound angry about it but it is not as if I choose to label myself which I don't but it is easier than wasting 10 lines on complaining of all your aches, pains and issues is it not! My question was simple, I am afraid that the treatment for one may affect the other as at the moment there is a concesus that some of the blaim goes to the neurotransmitters which is then treated with another anti-convulsant. I already take one as a mood stabiliser and I have ensured that the 2 do not clash but as it stands now Fibromyalgia causes depression and sleep problems which kicks my Bipolar into high gear and causes Anxiety which  in turn agravates the Fibromyalgia. Vicious Circle.  Thank you for your reply but it was definately in the wrong direction.

Sue.

[Paxiled]

If you have bipolar you have bipolar, no argument here.  But in your heading you state you have bipolar 2, which isn't the same as bipolar.  It is thought by many not to exist.  If you're just suffering from anxiety, that's not bipolar.  If you're just depressed, that's not bipolar.  If you're being treated for the wrong diagnosis, no many how many years it's been, then you're still in danger of not getting enough relief because the wrong medications and the wrong therapy is being used.  But if it's bipolar 1, of course what I said doesn't apply at all, that's real bipolar and It's a bear to treat.  As to the neurotransmitters, remember that there is no scientific evidence anyone as any less or more serotonin or norepinephrine than anyone else.  That you can promote some relief in some people by soaking these neurotransmitters longer isn't the same as saying the cause has anything to do with the amount of any neurotransmitter.  Medications only treats symptoms, not causes.  Current research on bipolar and depression has moved completely away from serotonin to glutamate, and for anxiety they are trying to crack open the secrets of the amygdala.  So again, diagnosis is important, but psychiatrists are largely hacks working from a book that describes symptoms and lines them up with medication, and the labels are mostly for getting reimbursement from insurance companies.  But again, that's only if in fact you're diagnosed with bipolar 2, not true bipolar.  Good luck, but none of us can answer your question without knowing which medications you're on and which natural remedies you're considering.  So to get away from us non-experts here, I recommend a book called Natural Highs from Hyla Cass, a psychiatrist at UCLA.  It's a fairly exhaustive list of the natural remedies used for anxiety and depression and how to dose them, and if you can afford it, she'll consult with you as well.  Best of luck.