Li Ming Wong asked:


Bipolar disorder, or manic depression, is a mental illness that manifests itself as mood swings or mood cycling between depressed, manic, or normal moods. There are two types of bipolar disorder. The first type, sometimes called raging bipolar, manifests itself as almost constant mild mania, with periods of sever mania alternating with depression. Mixed episodes where the patient displays both manic and depressive symptoms at the same time can also occur with this type of bipolar disorder.

The second type, sometimes called rapid cycling bipolar, manifests itself as almost constant depression, with alternating periods of mania and severe depression that can often last a few hours or a few days before cycling to the next episode.

Depression symptoms include oversleeping, extreme sadness, feelings of worthlessness or despair, irritability, anger, and withdrawl. Manic symptoms include sleeplessness, increased energy levels, distractibility, racing thoughts, obsessive behaviors, and extreme happiness.

There are many treatment options for bipolar disorder. Most patients with bipolar disorder require a combination of medication and therapy or counseling for successful treatment of symptoms. However, minor cases of bipolar disorder may not require medication, but may require instead cognitive behavioral therapy. There are some cases, such as in patients with a history of drug abuse, where medication may be recommended but is not a viable treatment option. These cases typically also use cognitive behavioral therapy to assist patients in coping with their illness.

Celexa is an anti-depressant, commonly used with bipolar patients. Celexa, or citalopram, is a serotonin reuptake inhibitor, or SSRI. This family of medications has the effect of balancing serotonin levels in the brain, which are thought to be responsible for mood stabilization.

Celexa is most successful as a treatment for unipolar depression and bipolar disorder type two patients. This is because it is an anti-depressant. Serotonin, the chemical in the brain that balances moods and particularly controls strong emotions, often presents imbalances in the form of depression. Celexa corrects these imbalances, giving the patient relief from depression.

Celexa is most successful as a treatment for bipolar disorder type one patients when used in combination with a mood stabilizer. As an anti-depressant, Celexa alone causes bipolar disorder type one patients to swing into a manic episode. Used in combination with a mood stabilizer or anti-psychotic, however, can allow for a balance of moods to take place, ending rapid or raging mood cycling.

Celexa has several possible minor side effects when used for treatment of bipolar disorder. Common side effects include drowsiness, cotton mouth, nausea, and trouble sleeping. Less common side effects include abdominal pain, anxiety, gas, headache, heartburn, increased sweating, pain in muscles or joints, increases or decreases in weight, weakness, and vomiting. If these side effects persist or become unbearable, you should contact your doctor.

Celexa can also have several possible major side effects when used for treatment of bipolar disorder. Common major side effects include a decrease in sexual desire or ability. Less common major side effects include agitation, confusion, blurred vision, fever, increase in urinal frequency, lack of emotion, decreased memory, skin rashes, and trouble breathing. If you experience any of these side effects you should contact your doctor immediately.

Friends, family and patients with bipolar disorder should keep in mind that even when using anti-depressants such as Celexa, suicide, ******* threats, and ******* attempts can still occur. Always be aware of the signs that can lead to ******* so that medical treatment can be found before an attempt is made.

Bipolar disorder should, in all cases, be treated with a combination of Celexa, or other medications, in conjunction with therapy or counseling. Bipolar disorder patients are encouraged to take active part in their treatment plans. Additionally bipolar patients should not attempt to self medicate or treat symptoms with medication alone. If you show symptoms of bipolar disorder, you should contact your doctor about Celexa and other treatment options.



Sue

Matt asked:


I was watching a program on tv discussing how much this disorder gets misdiagnosed and was curious about it. How hard is it for someone to tell the difference between “normal” depression and bipolar? Also, how can someone identify a person as being bipolar and not just going through the typical highs and lows of adult life? How often does this get confused with a mid-life crisis or typical teen/young adult problems?
bobblehead, it wasn’t a question about me, but i appreciate your concern. i was just wondering in general how hard it is to identify since the symptoms seem so vague.

Jason

Clive Harman asked:


It is important for people to function daily in the society in order to work, and whatever their daily activities are. In order to function properly, your health should also be in good condition especially your brain. You have to consider that your brain is what controls most part of your body and as well as your decision and other psychological factors. Emotions and your mood is also controlled by a certain part of the brain.

However, what if you have or someone you know has brain disorder? With a brain disorder, you have to consider that it can definitely affect your daily task. Even controlling your emotions and your mood can be difficult. One kind of disorder of the brain is called bipolar disorder. This kind of disorder can affect ones ability to function properly in their daily lives. It can affect several aspects, such as the emotion, mood, and also your body’s energy.

Bipolar disorder is also known as manic depressive illness. This particular illness causes unusual shifts in the person’s brain. Normally, people experience ups and downs in life. However, with a bipolar disorder, the person affected will experience severe mood change. As you can see, bipolar disorder can affect everything about a person’s lives. With this disorder, it can result in relationship problems, poor job and school performance, and in some cases, it can even lead to *******.

However, if you know someone affected with this kind of disorder, it doesn’t mean that you should lose hope in getting their lives back on track. Bipolar disorder can be treated. It is a known fact that people who went through treatment for bipolar disorder have been able to get their lives back on track and lead a normal and productive life.

Bipolar disorder usually develops during the late adolescent years or early adulthood. However, there are some people who show early symptoms of bipolar disorder during childhood. There are also some people who develop this disorder later in life. Bipolar disorder is commonly not recognized as an illness, and it is a fact that people may suffer from bipolar disorder until it becomes severe and diagnosed properly. You have to consider that bipolar disorder is a long term illness which also requires long term treatment. This particular brain disorder should be carefully managed throughout their life.

There are some signs and symptoms that you may notice associated with bipolar disorder. It will include dramatic mood swings from being excessively happy to being irritable to being hopeless or sad. This happens in intervals and mood changes are quite noticeable. Here are some specific signs and symptoms that a person with bipolar disorder shows:

•           Excessively happy or euphoric mood

•           Increased energy, and restlessness

•           Quickly distracted

•           Racing thoughts, talks unusually fast, and jumps from one idea to another

•           Little sleep needed

•           Spending sprees

•           Poor judgment

•           Unrealistic beliefs in their abilities

•           Increased sexual drive

•           Drug abuse, such as cocaine, sleeping medications, and alcohol abuse

•           Aggressive behaviour

•           Denial that anything is wrong

In severe cases, a person who has bipolar disorder thinks and attempts *******. People who have this brain disorder feel that they are useless and it’s better to end their lives.

As you can see, bipolar disorder is a very serious illness that you should be aware of. It is important that if you see any irregularities in a person’s behaviour, they should get treated immediately and not wait for it to become any worse.

It is important if the person is feeling suicidal you should immediately call a doctor and seek emergency assistance immediately. It is also important that the person should not be allowed, and make sure that they don’t have any access to large amount of medication where they can overdose on it, weapons such as knife and gun, and other items that they can use to inflict harm to themselves.

Bipolar can be treated with medication and psychiatric therapy. With patience, the person with this disorder can lead a normal and productive life.

You have to consider that this particular disorder has no cure and requires a lifetime of medication and psychotherapy. So, if you suspect that a member of your family or one of your friends has this disorder, you can help them by taking them to a psychiatrist where they can be treated.



Connie

Abhishek Agarwal asked:


as a mood stabilizer. Topomax is quite a common mood stabilizer given to the patients.

Some other well known medications for bipolar disorder include the following:

1. Lithium

2. Valproate or Depakote

3. Carbamazepine or Tegretol

4. Olanzapine or Zyprexa

5. Ziprasidone or Geodon

Lithium for years together, is termed as the miracle drug for bipolar disorder. This sodium based medication helps the patient in balancing the chemical imbalance of the brain. This chemical disorder is the key to the manic episodes among bipolar patients.

Valproate or Depakote, originally developed in the form of a seizure medication, effects the bipolar patients to help the rapid cycling bipolar moods cycling every few hours and/or days rather than the weeks or months. It has been miraculously effective among many cases of this aliment.

Carbamazepine or Tegretol, another anti-seizure medicine, appears to have all similar effects on the bipolar disorder patients as Depakote. Though it is yet not approved by the Food & Drug Administration to be prescribed for the bipolar disorder patients.

Among the bipolar disorder patients suffering with the manic state anti-psychotic drugs like Zyprexa or Olanzapine, and Geodon or Ziprasidone have been quite effective t control the severe psychotic symptoms.

In the depressive state of the patient, anti-depressants are given. The common anti-depressants given in cases of bipolar disorder are Citalopram or Celexa, Escitalopram or Lexapro, Fluoxetine or Prozac, Paroxetine or Paxil, and Sertraline or Zoloft. While Celexa and Prozac are the most commonly used medications among them, all the above medications have proved to be very successful in treating depression.

2. CBT

Not all patients can be put to medications. The cases that involve a history of drug abuses, cannot be put to medication, else it could land up in a great risk. Also, it is hard to find that mood swings occurred due to bipolar disorder or drugs and say if the extent o bipolar disorder was not too much in the body, the medications would end up harming the patient quite severely. Also as a basic fact the patients move to medication only when no other resort is found.

In such special cases where medications are not the right choice, CBT comes in to being. The Cognitive Behavioral Therapy popularly known as or CBT is a sort of a therapy that is used to assist the patients in recognizing the exact triggers & causes of their depressive & manic states. Then the patients are made to learn the techniques so as to avoid the triggers & henceforth and cope up with the symptoms during the episodes. 70% of bipolar I disorder patients are made to undergo the CBT experience, especially those when one or a few episodes have taken place with in 4 years of initiating the CBT treatment.

CBT treatment to cope with bipolar disorder is used to accomplish two major goals. These are:

i. To recognize the manic episodes prior to their becoming uncontrollable & making a conscious change in how one reacts to these episodes.

ii. To learn the techniques, thoughts, reactions & behaviors that would help them offset the depression.

With the various activities & techniques prescribed by the expert therapists, these goals are achieved quite effectively.

Under CBT, the effectiveness of the treatment of the bipolar disorder mainly rests in the hands of the patient, as he/she is allotted homework like – performing some exercises, reading, etc. These are focused on helping the patient understand his/her condition and to help them learn the methods to cope with the situation.

The steps to conduct CBT are as follows:

1. Making a Contract with the Patient

Initializing CBT, you need to make a treatment contract with your patient. In this treatment you draw a definite plan of treatment for the patient and he/she agrees to follow the same. This also includes the patient’s promise to do all his homework complete taking all assignments seriously. The patient in this contract also ensures that he/she would take any & all the prescribed medication just as directed. This is a crucial step towards CBT as this process largely depends on the patient’s desire to cope with the bipolar disorder and his/her sense of responsibility towards the same.

2. Recording the Mood Swings

In the second step, CBT involves monitoring and grading the moods of the patient. For this the doctor gives the patients several worksheets that the patient fills in regularly. In these sheets the patient records his/her moods for the day. They also file the other important details like for how many hours did they sleep, the level of anxiety, & the level of irritability they felt. Especially the patients of Bipolar II Disorder must record all these details daily as in that case the mood cycles very frequently.

3. Patient does the Homework

Once the therapist is able to understand the mood cycles of the patient of bipolar disorder, the next step in CBT is for the patient. Here the therapist gives some reading material to the patient for him/her to understand exactly how our thoughts effect our emotions. This is done by the patient filling in the worksheets and once he/she understands the drill, they would be able to practice through altering their thoughts in far more rational way. Their emotions then become very rational, thereby decreasing the number & severity of the depressive & manic episodes.

4. Recognizing the Triggers

Further, you must be able to know the triggers in the case you are curing. Triggers are the basically any emotional or physical clicks that arouse a depressive or a manic episode like emotions, thoughts, times of the year, situations, environments, events, etc. Once the patient starts understanding and recognizing their triggers, he/she would then be able to learn to avoid them entirely, henceforth decreasing the severity & number of the depressive & manic episodes.

However, as the medical experts advice, in case you are not satisfied with the treatment being given to you, you must discuss it with your doctor and make sure to change the method of treatment as per the medical advisors. Ultimately the effectiveness and success of the treatment of bipolar disorder lays in the hands of patients suffering with the ailment.



Ricky

… asked:


k so if a person doesn’t know they’re bipolar but could be, but at the same time they think they are depressed. How do you tell which one it is?

Jimmy

* asked:


Has anyone heard the Bipolar Advantage? What the author? Name any books similar to that.Thanks

Tamara

Russell H asked:


You know short but intense moods or episodes, that come and go. I think I’ve got this, my dad has bipolar disorder, by I’ve realised this really fast form of cycling isn’t in the DSM-IV or any other diagnostic book.
They say they won’t treat me until I’ve got a diagnosis.

Jeffery

Low Jeremy asked:


It is important for people to function daily in the society in order to work, and whatever their daily activities are. In order to function properly, your health should also be in good condition especially your brain. You have to consider that your brain is what controls most part of your body and as well as your decision and other psychological factors. Emotions and your mood is also controlled by a certain part of the brain.

However, what if you have or someone you know has brain disorder? With a brain disorder, you have to consider that it can definitely affect your daily task. Even controlling your emotions and your mood can be difficult. One kind of disorder of the brain is called bipolar disorder. This kind of disorder can affect ones ability to function properly in their daily lives. It can affect several aspects, such as the emotion, mood, and also your body’s energy.

Bipolar disorder is also known as manic depressive illness. This particular illness causes unusual shifts in the person’s brain. Normally, people experience ups and downs in life. However, with a bipolar disorder, the person affected will experience severe mood change. As you can see, bipolar disorder can affect everything about a person’s lives. With this disorder, it can result in relationship problems, poor job and school performance, and in some cases, it can even lead to *******.

However, if you know someone affected with this kind of disorder, it doesn’t mean that you should lose hope in getting their lives back on track. Bipolar disorder can be treated. It is a known fact that people who went through treatment for bipolar disorder have been able to get their lives back on track and lead a normal and productive life.

Bipolar disorder usually develops during the late adolescent years or early adulthood. However, there are some people who show early symptoms of bipolar disorder during childhood. There are also some people who develop this disorder later in life. Bipolar disorder is commonly not recognized as an illness, and it is a fact that people may suffer from bipolar disorder until it becomes severe and diagnosed properly. You have to consider that bipolar disorder is a long term illness which also requires long term treatment. This particular brain disorder should be carefully managed throughout their life.

There are some signs and symptoms that you may notice associated with bipolar disorder. It will include dramatic mood swings from being excessively happy to being irritable to being hopeless or sad. This happens in intervals and mood changes are quite noticeable. Here are some specific signs and symptoms that a person with bipolar disorder shows:

- Excessively happy or euphoric mood

- Increased energy, and restlessness

- Quickly distracted

- Racing thoughts, talks unusually fast, and jumps from one idea to another

- Little sleep needed

- Spending sprees

- Poor judgment

- Unrealistic beliefs in their abilities

- Increased sexual drive

- Drug abuse, such as cocaine, sleeping medications, and alcohol abuse

- Aggressive behavior

- Denial that anything is wrong

In severe cases, a person who has bipolar disorder thinks and attempts *******. People who have this brain disorder feel that they are useless and it’s better to end their lives.

As you can see, bipolar disorder is a very serious illness that you should be aware of. It is important that if you see any irregularities in a person’s behavior, they should get treated immediately and not wait for it to become any worse.

It is important if the person is feeling suicidal you should immediately call a doctor and seek emergency assistance immediately. It is also important that the person should not be allowed, and make sure that they don’t have any access to large amount of medication where they can overdose on it, weapons such as knife and gun, and other items that they can use to inflict harm to themselves.

Bipolar can be treated with medication and psychiatric therapy. With patience, the person with this disorder can lead a normal and productive life.

You have to consider that this particular disorder has no cure and requires a lifetime of medication and psychotherapy. So, if you suspect that a member of your family or one of your friends has this disorder, you can help them by taking them to a psychiatrist where they can be treated.



Troy

KetamineHouse asked:


Does it really exist one?
I mean, I know that the bipolar disorder have mood changes very often and that clinical depression is more like staying like that most of the time, but isn’t kind of the same after the clinical depressed has gotten trough it?
Thanks

Cody

Julie Frey asked:


Lithium, Valproate, and Carbamazepine are three of the most common drugs prescribed for those with bipolar disease. What are the differences between them and which is best for you?

Lithium

Lithium is commonly known as the first mood stabilizer. Although it was discovered in 1817, it was not until much later in the century that it was found to have mood stabilizing properties, specifically anti-manic capabilities. By 1969 it was the preferred method of treating manic depression.

It is not known exactly how lithium works with the brain to stabilize moods. It’s theorized that those afflicted with bipolar disease have a chemical imbalance in the part of the brain that controls emotions and that lithium helps to restore the correct balance.

Today, lithium is usually the first drug treatment attempted when treating bipolar disorder. It is especially effective if there is a family history of bipolar disorder. If a family history does not exist, Lithium tends to be less effective and other treatments may be attempted instead.

Recently, because of its toxicity and other negative effects, some medical professionals have begun to shy away from prescribing lithium.

Valproate

In the United States, valproate is the second most popular drug used to fight bipolar disorder. This seems to be mainly a direct result of the many lithium side effects and concerns. Even among doctors that prefer lithium as a first choice, valproate is usually a strong second choice. Also, as mentioned above, lithium is not always effective for treating bipolar disorder. In these cases, valproate is often considered a good alternative treatment.

Although lithium and valproate appear to have similar efficacy in treating bipolar disorder, there have been no head to head clinical trials between the two so a definitive conclusion cannot be reached. However, because valproate is less stressful to the human body, this may be a natural drug preference for some.

A second concern with using valproate is that while it has been proven to be effective against bipolar mania, it has been less effective against bipolar depression.

Carbamazepine

In Europe, carbamazepine, introduced in the early 1960s, is the second most popular drug used for treating bipolar disorder. Although, studies have proven it to be effective for bipolar disorder, it has not been approved worldwide.

And as with the drug valproate, carbamazepine while effective for treating bipolar mania, has also been less effective at treating bipolar depression.

Conclusion

Of the top three drugs used to fight bipolar disease, they all seem to be relatively equal in treating bipolar mania. However, when it comes to treating bipolar depression and in reducing feelings of suicide, lithium appears to have the clear edge.

Unfortunately, many of the studies that current bipolar treatment is based on are 15 or more years old and are very much out of date.

Fortunately, the scientific community, recognizing this, is becoming more interested in studying new treatments for bipolar mania. There are many medical trials underway that will test the potential for a new class of bipolar drugs and hopefully lead to much needed help for families dealing with this emotional wrenching disease.



Anna