Not diagnosed - help?

Hi there missfable

I'm so sorry to hear of your low modd and your doctor's attitude towards how you are feeling.

Is there another doctor that you can see?

Depression can take on many, many different forms and affect people in so many different ways.

Could it be the amount of stress you are under at college? Peer pressure? Parental pressure?

It could also be down to hormones!

Have you mentioned all of this to your parents - do they support you with your low moods?

Did the doctor prescribe any tablets for you?

Sorry for asking so many different questions but I'm just trying to get a clearer picture.

Do keep posting here, there are lots of people here that will and can support you as they, like myself suffer from depression.

Good luck

Melbi x

Hi there,

Sounds like you aint having the help you need.

Things started going bad for me at about 18. I saw a few docs but they missed my diagnosis. I stuggled for a few years until the docs nailed my condition down and i got the correct treatment. The few years when i had no diagnosis were very difficult.

You may or may not have a bipolar condition, there are many different types and a few coditions which are simlar. Sometimes a GP can miss the thing, specialists too, they maye not notice that you mood goes up and down to the degree you know it does. You state a previous breakdown and also symptoms of spending, eratic behavior so your range of mood does seem to be quite wide.

Options for you i feel are a second opinion with another GP or ask for a referal to a specialist. Also, if you're going to college then hook up with one of their counsellors when you start, they'll give you some back up you might need, they'll help you if you getting worried about stuff. GPs sometimes offer certain meds for depression which can make some people worse so important to take good advice and see a specialist if i was you. Psychiatrist/ CPN is what they offered me eventually.

I probably know much of how you feel, and what u might be going through, so be an active patient and look out for yourself. Get expert advice, you deserve nothing but this, your life is important and its important to seek the best help available.

Take care ok

Hi to Melbi + JB10

To answer Melbi I must admit I not good with stress, when I get stressed I seem to just \"stop\" if that makes sense? Last term at college I got very stressed with working and doing full-time college work + a after hours maths course and learning to drive, what made the stress worse is i stopped doing my coursework and nearly failed the course.

As with my parents my mum's suffred from OCD (as do I) but she didnt know anything about my problem until I was in hospital and I'm very close to my dad, after I came out of hospital he took me away for a short break and to talk as my dad seems to understand more than my mum - my mum doesn't like me being on medication as I'm on Mirtazapine 30mg at night and its turning me into a zombie but not affecting my mood (used to be Fluroxetine but had a severe reation and was hospitalised).

Now that it's been over 8 months since my suicide attempt and my parents seem to just not mention it all as I think it's very difficult for them to understand my problem.

Hope that helps get a clear picture.

x

I guess your folks just wont really understand why you would feel so down so as to try to take your own life. Its very hard for folks to understand the way you might be feeling. They will not know what they could do to help much of the time, its not easy for them.

I think what's really important is for you find someone if you can to talk about this with, its not too easy for you to deal with that stuff and what happened either, it kinda chases after you, not easy on your own. I dont know what support you have been offered but if you can talk about things it helps as much as the meds sometimes.

Re your meds, sounds like prozac was pretty bad for you, and the stuff you're on at the mo aint so great, so i think its a case of talking through more of the options of what else might help. Some GPs in my experience will just got to the book, try something else, some specialists do pretty much the same. The best advice and guidance i've had has been from CPNs ( community psychiatric nurse) who can talk through your med options and monitor you if you change.

I hope things get better for you, but if you feel you are sliding then go back to doc, ask for more help, ask re what options you have. I feel there are many who dont get the help they deserve, you deserve to feel better and not go through any more stuff so seek all the help you can get. The right answer in my experience is finding medication which works, and support from someone who does understand what you may have been through. If you find those two then thats the best way to manage how you are feeling. Good luck to you!

The above post sounds like very sound advice whether you are bi-polar or not.

just go see a psychiatrist. Im 40 and have just got diagnosed. i know ive had it since 18. I had been through the NHS whan i was your age and GPs. they but fell through the loop and did not get diagnosed early. I went private recently,Iwas seen in two day. a wee tip, write down all your experiences and feeling and email them in advance so they have time to see your history. A proper diagnosis is the only way to go, it means that you get the right treatment and save years of torment . Ask your family for the cash if you have too. Find a good psychiatrist who is able to do a diagnosis. Keep notes and you will have more to tell them. Dont keep this to yourself. Get someone to help you pusue this, and pray and ask for help and to guide your way.

I had very similar experiences to you eg shoplifting, my moods swinging like a pendulmn, shouting at people, being obsessive about things. It lead me to being cautioned (my views on the police and mental illness are another story) Anyway, it took me a long time to being correctly diagnosed. When I saw the GP or Psychiatrist I was showing more depressive symptoms. One Psychiatrist was of the opinion it was a behavioural disorder. I finally took matters more into my own hands and realised,if not I may end up in more trouble. I actually paid to see a Psychiatrist privately who is a specialist in mood disorders. He recognised straight away I was bi-polar. I was prescibed Depakote with Prozac and I have never regretted spending the money to see him, it was the best thing I could have done. Don't just accept one opinion.Best of luck.