bp3/"soft" bp?

[amishparadise]

Does anyone here have either bipolar III (set off by antidepressants), or "soft bipolar"/cyclothymia?

Would you be willing to tell me a little about your experiences with these disorders?

 

[wonderwaleye]

Does anyone here have either bipolar III (set off by antidepressants), or "soft bipolar"/cyclothymia?

Would you be willing to tell me a little about your experiences with these disorders?

Dear Amishparadise


To be honest I had never heard of bipolar 3 before your post. I thought is had done a lot of research on bipolar. I think this is a fairly new classification. I am bipolar 1.

Here is what I was abel to find:

" If someone has a soft bipolar subtype, they could have minimal symptoms, or severe symptoms. In other words, it's not the diagnosis that determines severity -- there are mild and severe versions of bipolar II, as well as mild/severe versions of BP I.


So, if a person has quite mild symptoms, it may indeed not be worth the risk of medications. A regular personal schedule, especially sleep (regular bedtime and rise time); and a good exercise program; and a social environment that insulates from too much stress, and provides good support for those stresses that do occur -- that could be enough.


For people whose symptoms are more severe, or don't respond to that kind of approach, at some point -- as the severity of the symptoms increases -- are basically forced into considering medications which do indeed carry risks. Each person will approach this risks vs. symptoms trade-off in her/his own way, and some will wait until their symptoms are really severe before being willing to try a medication approach. Others will judge the medication risks not so scary versus continued symptoms and start earlier. "

Hope this helps.

ALWAYS REMEMBER:

“ Believe “ in Greek is a verb and has three components which are: hearing, accepting, and then acting ( COMMITING ) upon that which you have accepted.
X Even though you can't see him, GOD is there!!! O ( click on the x and drag to the O ) ( then see who is with you ) steven

 

[Darrell2006]

Is this your diagnosis ? and are you taking meds ?
I have never heard of biolar 3, I have had several diagnoses, bipolar 2, Major epression, anxiety disorder, all by different docs, I wil have to look into bipolar 3 sounds like it may be more similiar to my symptoms

Daryl

 

[Alive again]

I have never heard of bp 3. Pretty sure it is not a approved diagnosis by dmsv code. AlthoughI found a interesting hit under computer coding

I had depression on an doff for years and was depressed for about 12 years under treatment before my first hypomanic epispode. I am diagnosed with bp2 and once treated for that am doing well and the depression disappeared. My doc said due to my faimliy history that I had the genes to make me susectible but the meds prob kicked the switch into full blown bp 2.

Nopt usre if she is correct and we certainly will never know and for me it has come to make no difference as the bp med I am on works and that is wjat is important to me.

I have heard of and do know people with bp nos (not other specified) that just do not fit well into either the bp1 or bp2 category. And I agree with wonderwaleye, the everity of bp can vary greatly from person to person and even during different periods of your life.

Hope this helps and welcome to cf! Hope to see more of you!!!

 

[lemonflavor]

Here are some links:
http://www.bipolarworld.net/Phelps/ph_2001/ph190.htm
http://www.biopsychiatry.com/bipolar3.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...ve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10550853&dopt=Abstract

 

[John Spong is wrong]

Yep - I am BP-2. I just got out of hospital today actually. My understanding is that since DSM only currently recognises BP-2, BP-3 & BP-4, etc. are lumped together with BP-2. Hope that makes sense!

Wonderwaleye posted an outstanding post which I have excerpted below:

"" If someone has a soft bipolar subtype, they could have minimal symptoms, or severe symptoms. In other words, it's not the diagnosis that determines severity -- there are mild and severe versions of bipolar II, as well as mild/severe versions of BP I.


So, if a person has quite mild symptoms, it may indeed not be worth the risk of medications. A regular personal schedule, especially sleep (regular bedtime and rise time); and a good exercise program; and a social environment that insulates from too much stress, and provides good support for those stresses that do occur -- that could be enough."

 

[Alive again]

Here are some links:
http://www.bipolarworld.net/Phelps/ph_2001/ph190.htm
http://www.biopsychiatry.com/bipolar3.htm
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...ve&db=PubMed&list_uids=10550853&dopt=Abstract

Thank you lemonflavor for the info!!! I learned a lot!!!

 

[nateboy]

Not officially in the DSM-IV but it looks like they may be considering it for the next revision.

 

[amishparadise]

Is this your diagnosis ? and are you taking meds ?
I have never heard of biolar 3, I have had several diagnoses, bipolar 2, Major epression, anxiety disorder, all by different docs, I wil have to look into bipolar 3 sounds like it may be more similiar to my symptoms

Daryl

I am diagnosed with OCD and depression. Sometimes, though, I wonder if the "soft bipolar" thing fits me better, though. My obsessions, compulsions and depressive episodes really do seem to cycle around a lot, and I have a few other symptoms commonly associated with these "soft" newly-minted mood disorders. One of the most suspicious is my problem with SSRIs.

Truthfully, I don't know whether I have a legitimate concern, or if it's just the OCD convincing me that I have yet another imaginary illness (a common problem with me).

I don't have access to a shrink for a couple months. This is not a problem, as I am not in any sort of crisis.