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Mental Health (Expert Forum)
bipolar vs hypothyroid
Questions posted in the Mental Health forum are being answered by Dr. Roger L. Gould, author of the Mastering Stress and Depression program and affiliated with the UCLA. Department of Psychiatry. Topics covered include anger, attention deficit disorder (ADD) , bipolar disorder , dementia , electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) , learning disabilities, memory, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) , panic , personality disorders, phobias , post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) , schizophrenia , stress , transitions, and work problems.
bipolar vs hypothyroid
by barbara__0__0, Mar 21, 1999 12:00AM
are they a test to be sure a person is bipolar and not hypothyroid and do they treat the chemicals in your body with the same medication can a hypothyroid test be sure thank you
Doctor's Answer
by HFHS MD-JM, Mar 21, 1999 12:00AM
_
Barbara,
This is in response to both of your questions regarding bipolar disorder
and hypothyroidism. Bipolar disorder is a mood that excludes substance
(medication) and medical conditions (hypothyroidism) as a causative factor.
From what I can tell, you believe that you were diagnosed with bipolar
disorder a few days after being initiated on Levoxyl(a thyroid horomone)
for hypothyroidism. You are concerned that this caused your manic episode
however, this would be unlikely on a therapeutic dose of Levoxyl. There is no
specific test for bipolar disorder which is a clinical diagnosis. Hypothyroidism
can be easily diagnosed with blood tests such as TSH and T4 that reveal
the level of thyroid horomone in your body. Keep in mind that these
conditions can co-exist and respond to different. Depakote is helpful
for bipolar disorder. Levoxyl is helpful for hypothyroidism. I recommend
that you discuss these matters further with your physician/psychiatrist
for further clarification.
Sincerely,
HFHS MD-JM
Keywords: Hypothyroidism, Bipolar
