Expert: Ivan Goldberg, M.D. - 10/23/2006

Question
I was diagnosed with Bipolar II.  I have had depression off and on for years.  Prozac helped, but after several years, pooped out.  About a 1 and 1/2 ago I was diagnosed with Bipolar II.  I was put on Lamictal, which cured my depression, but sent my anxiety way up.  (I have a general "fear of life" type anxiety.)  When my doctor added other mood stabalizers to the Lamictal they made me very depressed, except for Lithium, which did had no effect on me at all.  Neurontin helped, but made me very OCD and ADD.  I tried adding Zoloft and cutting the Lamictal in half (100 mg), became very depressed.  I am at a loss as to what to do now.  I also question the Bipolar diagnosis.  What do you suggest?  Where do I go from here?

Answer
Hi, Ruth . . .

It is impossible for me to make a diagnosis or suggest treatment based on the sort of info that can be transmitted by email.

The Bipolar-II diagnosis suggests that one of your psychiatrists felt that in addition to your depression and anxiety that you have had brief periods of hypomania, You might try the screening scale found at:
http://www.psycom.net/depression.central.bipolar-screening.html
most people with bipolar -II score 24 or more on it.

It is not unusual for people with all forms of bipolar disorder to have anxiety along with their depressive symptoms.

I think it would be a good idea if you were to have a consultation with a psychiatrist with more than average experience diagnosing and treating people with mood disorders. A list of such psychiatrists may be found at:
http://www.psycom.net/depression.central.psychiatrists.html

Best regards . . .

Ivan
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