Social Phobia or Bi-Polar?

[Unregistered]

When I was in High School I was diagnosed with social anxiety disorder, I have taken quite a few of the meds prescribed and they only made my symptoms worse. I now think I was mis diagnosed and in fact may be bi-polar. Tell me what you think.

Symptoms:
Bouts of Depression
Feeling of hoplessness
anxiety about every little thing (worry about everything)
Shut myself off from family and friends (in my own little world)
Snap at everyone
Bouts of energy
Can't sit still
Want to be the center of attention
agitation
can't seem to shut my mind off
get very creative (draw, write, paint)
I can never concentrate and have had times when I have done or said things I don't remember saying or doing.
I am sure I am leaving something out but that's all I can think of right now.

[fauve]

How long do your bouts of depression last? How long between bouts?

[Unregistered]

generally about a week, on occasion they last longer and they seem to happen every 2-3 weeks.

[melby1980]

I am the original poster of this. I posted a message while I was unregistered and it hasn't shown up yet.

But if it helps there is a family history of bipolar and anxiety disorder. The anxiety is under control as long as I avoid stressful situations (currently not working because I get severe panic attacks) but it is more than anxiety. I noticed the ups and downs a few years ago (one week depressed, sleeping all the time, can't get out of bed and the next week on top of the world, can't sleep, very active and creative mind that I can't seem to shut off) The ups and downs are fewer and more far between now, but they are still there (at least one of each a month). I want to go back to work so badly but have quit so many jobs (some would last a day while the longest lasted 6 months) Sometimes I can go a while and deal with the anxiety at work, but then I hit either a low or a high and everything in my life crashes.

[fauve]

It doesnt sound like bipolar illness becoz the depression episodes would be lasting a month or longer rather than a week. In cyclothymia, the cycling is faster than what you're experiencing - more like one or 2 days up and then crashing. Do the incidents of depression correlate to your period?

On a more productive note, I'd suggest you get back to a psych and try a different medication for your anxiety. Personally, I have had great results from Neurontin. The first few weeks it made me very tired, but once I got through that, it has been very successful with no other side effects. A really good multi-vitamin helps too. A lack of B vitamins can cause all of these symptoms. It took me years of denial before I believed this. Seemed like too simple a solution for what I was experiencing...but now, when I stop taking the vitamins, my moods go off the rails again.

[melby1980]

I am on a daily multi-vitamin as well as a super b complex it helps slightly with the anxiety, but again the anxiety hasn't been an issue (havn't had a panic attack 8 months)

I also suffer paranoia during these highs I think everyones is talking about me, and when I was in high school I thought vampires were following me and also that there was a pick up truck following me whenever drove on a certain road.

I also have moments where everything seems surreal (this mostly happens when I am driving) It's like I know where I am but everything seems so unfamiliar. I have a history of sleepwalking when I was younger and it only happens now when I am under extreme stress and I talk in my sleep.

Here's an example:
In the last week I have gone from having to go to sleep at 9 or 10pm to staying up until midnight and last night I couldn't sleep. My mind doesn't want to shut off, I get ideas left and right and when I am like this I become obsessed with numbers, writing, drawing, painting etc. this time it's writing. If I do sleep it's generally an hour or two and during this time I have incredibly vivid dreams that are sometimes difficult to tell from reality. My legs and hands shake sometimes uncontolably, I become extremely "chatty" and talk my family and friends ears off. When I am writing or drawing (or writing down numbers) if someone inturrupts me I bite their head off and then feel guilty afterward. I have an increased sex drive (which my boyfriend doesn't complain about lol) I get angry at my dog for unexplainable reasons and yell at him. I can't sit still and feel like I am going to jump out of my skin. My skin crawls and I itch all over, I get tics (mostly it's blinking, but sometimes it's rubbing my eyes, face or nose).

A typical down for me:
Want to sleep all the time (in bed by 7 or 8pm) I don't want to get out of bed in the morning. I feel like I can't do anything right, (thoughts like I am a "*****" a "failure" a "******" etc) I just feel like I want to crawl off somewhere and die and have attempted suicide in the past (although the though still jumps into my mind on occasion I don't think of it too often anymore) I don't want to be around anyone, see anyone, do anything I just sit there and cry. Anything anyone says I take as it's "My fault".

The worse thing is that while this is happening I am conciously aware that this is not my normal behaviour and that I should make myself snap out of it somehow or that it's all in my head (which usually results in me slapping the side of my head a few times) It is all greatly discouraging.

Sometimes it coincides with my menses but most of the time it doesn't. Sometimes I am on an incredible high during my menses sometimes I just get typical PMS type mood swings though. Sometimes I am completely normal during menses. So I know it's not associated with that.

See I am having a "high" right now and my thoughts are coming faster than I can type and I appoligize if I am not making any sense.

I can feel a high or a low coming on and will appologize in advance for anything I do or say in the coming days.

It is all just so confusing right now.

[Eatafruit78]

Do you always feel like you are getting a flu?
How often do you get flu shots?

Any allergies? food intolerances? strange episodes in which foods go bad in your stomach? how much sugar do you eat?

Do you know how panic attacks relate to the immune system?

The only way that I know that you can resolve your problems is by the use of NAET.
naet.com

Investigate what's on your body and enveironment right before and during the panic attacks. Things like food, excitotoxins, and synthetics are behind most panic attacks.

Best.
Frui.

[Eatafruit78]

It doesnt sound like bipolar illness becoz the depression episodes would be lasting a month or longer rather than a week. In cyclothymia, the cycling is faster than what you're experiencing - more like one or 2 days up and then crashing. Do the incidents of depression correlate to your period?

On a more productive note, I'd suggest you get back to a psych and try a different medication for your anxiety. Personally, I have had great results from Neurontin. The first few weeks it made me very tired, but once I got through that, it has been very successful with no other side effects. A really good multi-vitamin helps too. A lack of B vitamins can cause all of these symptoms. It took me years of denial before I believed this. Seemed like too simple a solution for what I was experiencing...but now, when I stop taking the vitamins, my moods go off the rails again.

Hello,
Did you try NAET, how about for your daughter? did you try NAET?
I hope you are doing well Fauve. I found out that Reiki was not good (too bad I even recommended to you),there was something wrong with me while I was practicing it.
But as far as NAET, it helped me to recover completely.
There isn't depression or cyclothimia without an underlying cause such as an infection. Maybe you had a mycoplasma infection or Lyme.
Take care, best/

Frui.

[melby1980]

I eat very healthy. I was diagnosed with an ulcer at 12 so I watch my diet carefully, I avoid caffeine, sugars, I don't add salt to any of my food and during the summer months I LIVE on vegtables out of my garden. I don't like bread AT ALL I never have, I do eat pasta on occasion, my panic attack never conincided with eating an I mostly wear cotton no synthetics. I am allergic to bee stings and slightly lactose intolerant (only bothers me if I drink straight mild or eat too much cheese)

I am not going to say I don't indulge in a piece of chocolate or a scoop of ice cream on occasion, but generally it's not a part of my diet. I try to avoid processed foods and mostly eat fresh foods from the local farms when it is available.

[fauve]

Hey - actually she's doing great. It was determined that her holocord has been present since birth and there is nothing causing pressure like a tethered cord or a chiari malformation that would work to increase the size of her syrinx. Her back pain has been determined to have been caused by a combination of scoliosis and newly diagnosed Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, and so she is in physical therapy to strengthen the muscles back there. The EDS explains the remittant joint pains in her knees and ankles. Since her issues are structural, and not allergen induced, no need for NAET... Instead we're looking for a house with a pool so she can exercise more...life is good.