A relative of mine has bipolar disorder. Medication supported by counseling can help a lot.

They thought my DH was bipolar. Turned out after more than 10 years of misdiagnosis that he had schizo affective disorder. It was a living hell. He would relapse every fall, even on meds. I couldn't stay any longer. That was over 5 years ago that I left, after 26 years of marriage

I work in the Mental Health field as a Nurse, we have several Residents in our care home w/bipolar. I notice a lot of mood swings. Of course at 16 it would be hard to tell if its really bipolar or just being a teenager. Getting to the Dr and having a Therapist are a good start. My advice is to take care of yourself also :) - I have a son with a mental illness and it is emotinally drainging.

My 17 year old son was diagnosed in Sept after much testing. we spent most of the summer with a physcologist and he finally sent us to a Dr cause he couldn't prescribe meds...he's also ADD...the meds have worked wonders...the Dr visits are helping immensely!!...I have mucho empathy for you cause I know my life has been a living HE** for the last few years...Keep us posted!! I can certainly relate of not being able to tell if it was just being a teenager or an actual illness...It's a terrible stigma to be diagnosed with and I really don't know what the future will bring...but for now...things are sure better around here...

Good friend of mine developed it with post partum depression being the initial diagnosis. Neice, several friends/acquaintences' kids have had it. It seems to be an illness of young adults.

In friend's case, lithium turned out to be the miracle drug. Lots of famous people have struggled with this illness too--Tony Orlando comes to mind right away (Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree). I assume Brittany has it too, or something close to it.

DH is bipolar. He wasn't diagnosed until late middle age. Had he been diagnosed years ago his life could have been so much better.

Bipolar seems to run n families. Once you learn about it you start to recognize it in others.

If your DD is diagnosed as BP I highly recommend Anne Sheffield's books. Although the site and books are titled depression they are mostly about bipolar disorder. I've posted a link below.

Also if you Google NAMI you will be taken to it's website. It's the National Alliance for Mental Illness.There are several resources for both those suffering from mental illnesses and their family and friends. NAMI has support groups in almost every major town or city. They are the strongest advocates for removing the stigma of mental illness.

There are many many ways to treat bipolar before resorting to Lithium. My DH takes Lexapro and Zyprexa for example. He is doing quite well on that combination.

The absolute worst thing you can do when one is bipolar is to put them on antidepressants alone. That is what can send them in to mania or a psychotic episode.

My heart goes out to you and your DD. Hopefully the right diagnosis,combination of meds and therapy will allow her a happy stable life. It won't be perfect but nothing really ever is.

Here is a link that might be useful: Depression Fallout

My DD (16 now) has never formally given that diagnosis but we have gone thru hell and back as I am sure everyone here and I totally sympathize..I am probably going to ramble alot here at my story/research was long (as everyone else here) and I hope I can help. DD was always difficult, began to do more and more reckless things, kept taking her to therapist, one insisted she was depressed, I really didn't think that was the case, put her on antidepressent (she had tried those before and never worked anyways) but after 2 weeks on this one basically had a manic episode (left the house in the middle of the night twice during one week to find her bed empty in the a.m.) 2 years ago were truly the darkest time in my life, I had no idea what I was going to do with her. I was desperate to figure this out, I took her to a Naturalpath Dr, at the time time she went on Lamictal that another very kind/patient NP prescriped. The Naturalpath ran blood work (insurance paid for) DD cortisol was thru the roof, cholesterol was high...some of this is irrelevant, I know.. But we then moved forward with Urine Testing, it was called Organix, Urine Organic Acid testing. It cost me about $300.00 but the best decision ever. It showed many things were off, no serotonin, no gluthione in her system... so she uses alot of supplements. Fish oil is also a huge addition to the mix. The current dr that my daughter sees says that he recommends 2 fish oil a day to every single patient (must be molecularly distilled).. I am really passionate about this as I feel that often times it's just not a medication and I hate the label of bipolar as so often there are many deficiencies in the body that need to be recognized. I have to run out now but I would be more than happy to give you more information or email me... Good luck..

I know two people who have been diagnosed with it. One is a woman about my age or a little older, who takes lithium. She does absolutely fine, very stable and happy home life. She began having some other health issues in her life and the doctors adjusted her dosage and she had an episode, but other than that time she is fine.

Another person I know is a young woman who doesn't take her medicine and she doesn't do well at all.

I hope all goes well with your daughter.

As a member of the health care field i can tell you the BP diagnosis is one of the most popular diagnosis today. Pay special attention to janemarie 5's reply.

There is a web site I look at occationally, healthboards.com. It has bi-polar as one of their many discussions boards. It is how ever for people with the disorder but it may give you in sight about the disorder and how they are dealing with it.

Try the book "Manic" by Terri Cheney (think that's the spelling).

She has bi-polar disorder, & she wrote about her own experiences & feelings & perceptions.

It's breathtaking.

Just popped back in...wanted to finish some thoughts. Not sure if you are going to see her pediatrician or psychiatrist based on your "dr" reference but I would call her regular doctor to start and request a full blood work up including B12, Vitamin D, Cortisol in addition to all the other things that they run at an annual exam and I would not start medication until you know all of that is OK. I would find a local dr that participates in the Metametrix and I think you can use the site to find a dr..and I would pursue this also. http://www.metametrix.com/content/Home.

I am not opposed to medications at all BUT I have found drs to be extremely careless at dispensing medication before they know that a patients body is completely balanced in other areas. And you as her advocate have to push for these other areas or find a dr that thinks the same way. I have had lots of therapist/drs give her antidepressants, and not alot of people in the mental health field viewed it like I did. I actually had an appt with a psychiatrist and while talking she said she had never heard of fish oil for people with mood disorder. I was shocked. If you google "fish oil bipolar" you will find thousands of great articles.. obviously that dr was not a good fit for us.

My daughter maintains with a very small dosage of Lamictal and we follow up with this dr (He is a DO) every 2 months (he is the one that tells everyone of his patients to take fish oil) She hasn't followed up with her Naturpath dr in awhile but we continue to take all the supplements that my daughter was deemed deficient (5HPT for her serotonin). My daughter takes glutathione every day also which alot of bipolar patients are deficient in.... along with many other supplements. You can find alot of information on the web before you take her.

My daughter still is difficult but her life has turned around immensely and I honestly do not know what she would be doing right now at 16 without intervention. Last year she wrote a nice paper for a class in school, and she wrote that she was thankful that I never gave up on her and wouldn't stop until we found out what was wrong with her. It is something I will keep forever. She still struggles and i will always worry about her but I can at least sleep at night...

Actress Patty Duke wrote two books about her own life and struggle with Bipolar Disorder. I can't recall the exact names, but my library had both. Fascinating woman.

My SS is ADD/ODD (oppositional defiance disorder) Living with him has certainly been a challenge (understatement). There is a board www.conductdisorders.com that supports parents. There is alot of information there- Recommend you should pop in and check it out.

Also some of the symphtons connected with bipolar/depression is connected where a person lives. I never had anything like that until I moved to ND. In the Northern tier area and this includes parts of Canada, where it gets dark so early and even with the sun out many people feel this in the fall, winter and early spring. I especially noticed it last winter when we had to stay all winter here--not bad but it was annoying. It has something to do with sunlight/rays of the sun/ amount of light and even the pressure connected with weather.
Good luck

I am bi-polar. It is well controlled with medicine.
I also have Asperger's Syndrom and an anxiety disorder.
The AS doesn't bother me. The anxiety can be a problem.
But my meds for bi-polar HAVE to be taken regularly.
The 'brain vitamins' I take are Zoloft and Xanax.

Pooh Bear

(((Moonie and daughter)))

My DS (14y) and spouse are both BiPolar.

DS has had an extremely long and rough road with it, as I've shared here before, but I think we're finally starting to see a turn-around. He's finally on the right medication and dose, and has "graduated" from therapy (for now...)and I've actually seen, with my own eyes, him use some of the various tools he's been taught in those many years of therapy.

I will say with absolute certainty that in my battle-worn opinion therapy with a good psychologist/therapist is a Must, followed closely by a good psychiatrist for when/if meds need to be involved.

I will be the first to say that medications have truly saved my son's life, but they also have taken precious years away from us when he was over-medicated.

A lot of other medical and psychiatric conditions can mimic BP Disorder, so I also echo what everyone else has said about a thorough medical check-up to rule out anything and everything else first.

"The BiPolar Child" and "BiPolar for Dummies" are my 2 favorite general info books, and as others have suggested, your local NAMI chapter is another great resource for info and support.

Moonie, I'm sending you and your daughter healing and supportive thoughts, please keep us posted, and please feel free (you or anyone else) to email me thru my page if you'd like. I don't have many answers, but we can commiserate and support each other when need be :-)

april

Just wanted to let you guys know that I have read each and every response and will be back with more questions. Right now we are heading to the airport to pick up my sister. Haven't seen her in 2 years! But, I'm sure I'll spend the day pondering over your responses in my mind.

Thanks!

BiPolar is the "cool" disorder right now, so please be careful before you let them put her on any medication. They put my son on meds for bipolar (which he isn't), and it made him totally psychotic for awhile. He got better when he got off the meds.

There are way too many kids being diagnosed with bipolar, when it's actually a pretty rare disorder. Teenagers are difficult. Their hormones are running amok, causing wild mood swings. Teachers want them medicated to make THEIR jobs easier, not necessarily to help the child.

I had four doctors saying my son did not need meds for ADHD or bipolar, but he school refused to accept him back if I didn't medicate him. He hates me for that to this day. As soon as he turned 18, he stopped taking the meds, and still doesn't take them. Not that he's a totally normal young man, but we don't know what the long term side effects will be for him taking all those meds from the time he was 8, because the school system forced him to.

Just want to add that if I had it to do over, I wouldn't have medicated my son. I would have taken him out of school and taught him at home.