HELP!

[lindab54]

My brother-in-law is bouncing off the walls.  He takes Zoloft regularly, is diabetic and (my opinion) bi-polar.  His mood swings are off the charts.  One minute he's on top of the world and the next minute he's going to sell everything, never come back, etc.  He's a large man and uses his size to intimidate the family.  My sister is down to 100 lbs., loosing her hair and has stomach problems.  When confronted, he goes ballistic and hears nothing but his own voice.  We are concerned for our sister and also about bro-in-law going postal.  

He sees a doctor for his diabetes.  My sister is too afraid to say anything about his moods and abuse so the cycle continues.  Any help out there???

[rmevans]

The diabetes actually sounds quite plausible.   I didn't know that blood sugar could cause those kinds of reactions.  Someone needs to say something to his doctor.  If he isn't taking care of his diabetes, that is s a serious problem too.  

[lindab54]

Thanks for your responses.  My bro-in-law does not see a psychiatrist just a doctor from the State of California.  He's a retired Highway Patrol officer and retired on medical, although it was for a physical ailment and not emotional/mental.  His diabetes is 'controlled' by diet and he takes glucophage.  He has several melt downs a day and doesn't take care of himself.  He leaves that to my sister, who has to babysit him all day and night.  Right now I'm feeling a little mean myself!  A few weeks ago while he was yelling at my sister and telling me to be quiet, I had a meltdown and yelled at him to knock it off. I couldn't believe he was so angry over something so stupid.  He says 'everyone is out to get him', if anything is missing, 'someone' has stolen it, and everything is my sisters fault.  I've had about enough.  

[Xila31]

Well, it does sound like it could be bipolar but also here is a question: how controled is his diabetes? I work in a diabetes education center so I'm around people with diabetes all the time. I also grew up with a father who did not control his blood glucose and saw him bounce around just like that. Having high blood glucose and low blood glucose can really effect your mood. People who are having blood glucose levels over 300 can really be the meanest individuals. The higher the number, the worse the mood swings can be. The patients who are the "meanest" I've spoken to them at times when their blood glucose was 500, 800 and they are really mean, but it isn't them it is their blood glucose. Once they get down into lower ranges they are always the sweatest people. It is amazing how much they change. (And those levels are dangerous, too.) People having low blood glucose start to lose their ability to understand. The lower it goes the more out of it they seem. Some people even seem to be drunk, but it is they are too low (Under 60 usually.) That is also dangerous.

Now, it might be both, if he ends up with bipolar plus the mood swings associated with uncontroled diabetes, that can be like a double dose right there. Just because he sees a doctor for diabetes does not mean anything. Does he see a diabetes educator? Is he on insulin? Also, stress raises blood glucose levels, not just diet.

[rmevans]

Definitely sounds like Bipolar to me.  Doesn't sound to me like he has a psychiatrist.  Does he?  Maybe you could say something to his doctor about his moods.  Or if he has any male friends, talk to them and try to get them to say something to him about the Zoloft probably causing him mood swings.  Things are only going to get worse if he stays on the Zoloft without a mood stabilizer.  Don't know your insurance or money situation, but he definitely needs to get help.  Wish I could help more.

[ILADVOCATE]

They need to inform his psychiatrist if he has moodswings of any kind. Zoloft is specifically an anti-depressent and if a person has bipolar generally what is needed is a full mood stabilizer and an anti-depressent alone can actually worsen mania but only a psychiatrist can make this kind of decision but the psychiatrist needs to know so they could potentially update his diagnosis and treatment if warranted.