Too many issues, clouding the issue...Am I really Bipolar?

[6FT2]

Most physicians and psychiatrists seem to run away from this question for some reason...and I can never seem to get a straight answer...

I am supposedly Bipolar with rapid cycling.  I can remember always being depressed with a mood that could change in an instant never having enough energy with very little concentrating stamina...

The issue that I have with this, is that Bipolar is not the only thing going on in my body...  I was diagnosed as having a connective tissue disorder called "Marfan's", about two years ago, which has surprisingly many similar issues, such as fatigue, concentration problems etc. and I wonder wether these issue could lead to Bipolar "Like" symptoms but not actually be Bipolar Disorder.  I am tired because my heart-valves doesn't work right.  Isn't it possible that that fact alone could give rise to irretability, temper, lack of concentration etc

I might sound stubborn, but I have asked psychiatrists about the possible link and everyone immediately rejects the possibilities.

What is eary to me, is that it seems like the majority of people I come across with Marfan's, has Bipolar of some form.

I am not trying to reason that Marfan's CAUSES Bipolar or causes some brain malfunction...   I am simply wondering wether people with Marfan's aren't maybe getting misdiagnosed as having Bipolar because of the symptoms the portray due to the Marfan's?

[6FT2]

Thanks for the responses guys.

Corlenbelspar,

heh...that's exactly what is happening with the Marfan's too...  Every problem I go to the doctor with, he shrugs, mumbles something about "Most probably the Marfan's" and suggests anti Inflametories.

Bastet56,

That's the thing...  Although we don't know precisely what went on in Lincoln's head, the 'melancholy' might just as well have been due to the constant pains/problems he had to deal with.  The same can be said for most other bipolar symptoms.  If you are fatigued and in pain, which Marfan's causes, you are most certainly going to feel less than chipper, your mood is going to swing due to your current physical condition, your thaughts are going to be irrational and/or impulsive because you don't have enough energy and are not thinking clearly.  We don't even know enough of the brain to be able to say what precisely causes Bipolar, let alone what the impact on the brain would be from bad blood oxygen supply/ bad circulation combined with dural-membrane problems in most cases and chronic pain.

I know about as much as it is possible to know about Marfan's.  The problem however, is that because it affects such a major building block of the body, the effects ripple through the whole body and has a cascading affect and this makes me even more suspicious, seeing as doctors and psychiatrists are often very quick to dismiss any possibilities.  

But I guess, I would have to settle for a 2nd opinion seeing as I am not qualified to determine that sort of thing ;D.  It just eats at me at times how doctors are happy with treating the "major" issues of the disorder but not looking at the further reaching issues.  But yet again, you can't blame them as the condition is too rare to expend countless dollars on research and they have done a lot already in terms of prolonging the life of a Marfan's patient.

Each "mutation" is unique and not one patient will display the exact same symptoms, except of course for the major indicators, being the cardio-vascular, visual and skeletal ... which if you think about it, covers about 80% of the human bodies biological system?

The best way to describe Marfan's is like the last chip in the packet.  While all the other people got just the right amount of aches and pains and problems, the last person in the packet got a whole dollap of flavouring on it...  Meaning that the problems a Marfan's patient experience is not at all unique...it is the fact that he/she has so many all at once that makes it life-threatening and painfull.

Hmm...okay, scary...  It feels like I just had a debate with my self, lol.

At any rate, maybe I am just venting...  I seem to do a lot of that...  Hope I didn't annoy any of you with that.

[bastet56]

Well, Lincoln supposed suffered from Marfans and I know he also suffered from 'melancholy',and back then they had no inkling of BP. Have you done any indepth research on Marfan's? Not knowing you personally it would be hard to tell if it's the illness or if you have BP. I'd definitely do more research on both subjects and if you feel really strongly about the BP diagnosis I'd get a 2nd opinion.

[paranoid_cataclysm]

Well I can't tell you one way or another but there was another topic in this forum specifically about how once you're diagnosed with a mental illness that doctors tend to blame everything you're suffering from on that mental illness.

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Bipolar-Disorder/bipolar-vs-doc-appts/show/934771

So for all we know they could of misdiagnosed you and because of the issue in the topic, they might be rejecting the possibility because of how the doctor may be blaming everything on the mental illness.