Borderline Bipolar

[silivrentoliel]

Those symptoms sound a lot like mine... I have never heard of borderline ADD either...

[blgw99]

As for the spectrum, I think it is about how the mania/hypomania presents itself, but the person still has to have some core symptoms, mainly recurrent atypical depression.

[eeilyk]

Aside from the not getting into debt (hello $60,000 in loans, credit cards and fines) and being unhappy, i can relate to it all, my doctor suspected i might have bipolar but he eliminated that early on.

[shamrock]

Yes. I was diagnosed with bipolar,then the next psychiatrist said I was "bipolar-ish but didnt think I was fully bipolar, then the next one said I was so I know all about borderline bipolar. You might be interested in this article http://www.psycheducation.org/depres...osis.html#soft

However what finally worked for me is this. Someone finally stopped ***** footing around and stuck me on Lamictal and wow.

If I had to turn the clock back I wouldnt give two hoots what it was called. I would just work my way through the meds. Treat the symptoms and worry about the title later is my advice.

Now for something odd. Because I had such a wow response to Lamictal it was finally decided that I had bipolar. Before xmas I weaned myself off it. No bipolar symptoms have recurred. Needless to say my personal jury is out again. We will see.

Dr Amen mentioned something about the ring of fire Add people doing well on an anticonvulsant which Lamictal is, but he says it is still Add you are looking at.

I thought that was very very interesting.

The whole ADD versus bipolar/bipolarish/borderline bipolar thing is a nightmare. There are a lot of us swimming in that pond. To make matters worse up to very recently I was battling an alcohol addiction which can also mimic bipolar symptoms in some people. Trying to pull it all apart had me pulling my hair out with frustration.

You can waste years of your life worrying about it. Thats why I firmly believe that a trial on pills is way more important than a diagnoses. I really wish someone had told me that.

I am sitting waiting to see if these bipolar symptoms ever come back. They have never been absent for this length of time. Ever. I have a post somewhere in this section showing how I go in and out of hypomania and its really weird that I am over 4 months now without any symptoms. Good weird needless to say.
If they dont come back this year then I am going to abandon the whole bp thing and go with the fact that I had some major depression related to years of undiagnosed Add that was successfully treated by an anticonvulsant ie Lamictal.
I am very interested in the idea that some types of Add related depression respond better to anticonvulsants than anti depressants. If anyone knows of any articles on this I would love to read them. I might post in the depression section asking did this happen to anyone else.

[misterfelix]

I was treated for adult ADHD and clinical depression for three years. I wasn't responding to treatment with depression and anti-anxiety meds (all gave me BRUTAL diarrhea). Adderall XR came close but the depression was terrible.

First, my psychiatrist lost her license, which didn't shock me at all! The new one was brilliant.

After a set of diagnostic tests, my therapist apologized profusely and said that the problem appeared to be bipolar II and what he described as some lighter shades of ADHD (noted from the scoring alone).

I was placed on lamictal and a lower dosage of adderall (10 mg x 2) down from 30 mg x 2 plus (name your depression/anti-anxiety med here). It seems to work though I do have my depressive periods, anxious times, and "get off yer ***" times, but it's much better. When I do my work to counter these issues -- meeting the meds halfway -- things are much, much better.

Point is, this "Bipolar Lite" can present as ADHD and depression. It's worth asking about with therapist or doc.

[blgw99]

While I still do not think there is "borderline bipolar" - as it is a chemical disorder, not situational like some types of depression, it seems that some manifestations of ADHD and/or bipolar do not really fit under the existing diagnostic criteria. Aside from the symptom overlap, which makes it even more confusing. The theory about the 'ring of fire' ADHD makes a lot of sense actually in this light...

I guess I'm also one of those weirdos floating between the diagnosis of BPII/ADHD. Anything dopaminergic (?? is it an actual word) seems to mess me up in a few weeks, but I'm doing OK on the combination of AAP/SSRI plus doing my best to manage ADHD-like symptoms (executive function, distractability, social awkwardness etc) with non-med approaches.

[fracturedstory]

Originally Posted by sybil

I don't know. I just explained the things that I often feel and do, as are listed in my post.

All I know is that no one I know seems to understand my intolerance for boredom or why it happens so often and easily.

When I get bored I just stop. I don't know what to do, so I'll sit there until I think of something to do. I've been almost falling asleep a lot.

But I think it's because I pre-plan what tasks I do in a day. I sort of rely on this always active ADHD brain of mine to come up with something to do in those times.

[sybil]

I think all things lie on a continuum, however. Have you ever read "Shadow Syndromes"? It is a great book that is easy to find. It talks about just that; how some people can have symptoms that don't totally fit the DSM criteria.

[keliza]

There is no diagnosis of "borderline bipolar", but there are four different types of bipolar disorder in the current DSM-IV-TR that you can be diagnosed with. They are as follows:

Bipolar I disorder - Cycles between mania and major depressive episodes. May also have mixed or psychotic features. Typical cited as the most severe type of bipolar disorder, due to the presence of mixed episodes and psychosis.

Bipolar II disorder - Cycles between hypomanic (mild mania) and major depressive episodes. Does not have features of mixed or psychotic episodes.

Cyclothymia - A form of bipolar disorder that cycles between hypomania and mild depressive episodes, known as dysthymic episodes. There are no manias, no full-blown depressive episodes, no mixed episodes, and no psychosis involved.

Bipolar disorder, NOS - NOS stands for "Not Otherwise Specified." It is a diagnosis used when a person has clear mood abnormalities that seem to cycle in some way, but does not fit neatly into any of the aforementioned diagnostic categories.

There is also a diagnosis of "Mood disorder, NOS" when it is not clear if a person is having bipolar or "unipolar" depressive episodes.

You really don't sound like you have any form of bipolar disorder to me, at least not from the symptoms you've described. I would encourage you to get a second opinion from another psychiatrist and see what they say. You don't want to be labeled as bipolar if you're not - it is an unfortunate fact that some medical "professionals" will still stigmatize a patient with bipolar disorder as being difficult, non-compliant, or "crazy." You should definitely seek a second opinion and see what someone else has to say about the situation.