Bipolar Disorder

[Buddha Bubbas]

I have looked on the Beyond Blue website and just wanting some more info. Do you know anyone with Bipolar Disorder or do you have it yourself? Can you recommened a good Doctor in Sydney to see regarding diagnosis? You can PM me if you do not wish to post here. Thanks

[MummyCharmzy]

My mum has bipolar disorder, she was diagnosed aged 24 when pregnant with me, it got out of control when she was about 36 and now at 46 shes still not really under control with it but shes on a few different meds including Lithium which is helping her a lot.

I don't know any sydney doctors tho sorry, only a great melbourne one she sees.

Feel free to PM me if you would like to know more about her and our experience with BP.

[reAllytee]

My friends father has it & was only diagnosed with it in his 40's after a nervous breakdown.
I dont know of any doctors hun sorry but this is really hard to diagnose & you have to tread lightly with it as often Schizophrenia is diagnosed or vice versa.

The best advice i can give you is to ring the Mental Health Clinic at your local hospy & see what they advise.
Good luck :hugs:

[Buddha Bubbas]

Thank you both for you replys :thumbsup:

And Allyooo Mental Health Clinic sound like to right place to start

:hugs:

[Tam-I-Am]

Actually, there has been some misinformation on this thread that I felt the need to correct.

There are actually technically 4 types of bipolar disorder.Bipolar I and Bipolar II are the most common.

Basically, and over-simply, Bipolar disorder has 2 componants - Mania and Depression (thus why its old name used to be manic-depression).

Mania is characterised by a set of symptoms that include really good mood without any good cause, irritability, increased energy, decreased need for sleep, lack of concentration, distractability, and a whole host of other worrying behaviours, like promiscuity and increased spending, ideas of their own grandieur etc. BTW, not all of the symptoms have to appear for a diagnosis of Mania to be made

Depression on the other hand is pretty much the opposite - characterised by low mood, poor energy, lack of motivation, lack of pleasure in usually pleasurable activities, sleeping and eating disturbances etc

The other type of mania is Hypomania, which is basically the same as mania but last for a shorter duration, or has less symptoms of mania - its basically the precursor to mania.

The difference between Bipolar I and Bipolar II is that you don't need to have had a depressive episode to be diagnosed with Bipolar I where you do to be diagnosed with Bipolar II. Additionally, Bipolar II need only have had hypomanic episodes (not full blown manic episodes) and at least one depressive episode.

As for where to find help - I don't know of any doctors in Sydney as I don't live there, but I do know that the Beyond Blue (http://beyondblue.org.au) website has a GP referral service. I also agree with Allyoo's suggestion of calling the local hospital and asking to speak to the psychiatric services. They will be able to help you themselves.

Good luck!

[Mikeswifey]

A friend of mines brother was very unwell with Bipolar about 7yrs ago. I saw him the other day and he looks well and happy. He is still not 100% ok, but he is doing alot lot better than what he was when he was very sick.

[MummyCharmzy]

I have never heard of bp1 or bp2 just plain bp, will have to ask my mum about that. I'd say if there is a difference she would be bp2. Going to google now and see what I can find!

Beyond blue is a great website as was already suggested.. they can help friends and family of sufferers too.

[Shanaynay]

Hi Buddha Bubbas,
I have Bipolar and are open to chat if you need :hugs:
Your best place to start is your GP. If you don't feel they are addressing your concerns then push for a referral.
Let me know if you need to chat
xx

[natasha]

Hey you...:hugs:

As Ally said, you have to be very careful as they tend to wrongly diagnose bipolar as schitzophrenia and vice versa.

My mum has schitzophrenia but was only properly diagnosed after 4 years of people telling her she had bipolar.....:rolleyes: (not that im implying anything about you:p ...but you know what i mean). It is always worth getting a second opinion just to make sure.....


I know there is a really good Doctor in Sydney Called doctor Allman on Miller Street Medical practise.....and also a fantastic phscologist called Rebecca Dunn who comes to the Miller Street practise from Lane Cove twice a week.

I'll look into getting there numbers and PM them to you if you want.

Big hugs to ya :hugs:

[polony]

I have bipolar also and it can be managed. I also have depression so I am just a real mixed bag! Makes it more fun I spose :)

I am sorry, but I am in Perth so have no one to refer for you but just wanted to let you know that you are not alone and I wanted to give you a :hugs:

Take care and just know that there is hope and support available and it can be "fixed"

[Will]

With the whole misdiagnoses thing, as far as i know they have a great big list and just tick the boxes and which ever condition has the most ticks, that is what you get 'branded'. Mental illnesses are just so hard to diagnose because there is just so much we dont know!

Someone i know has bipolar and they were told that they would end up in hospital aroundonce a year. This year they have been in twice to about a total of 7 weeks.

Stress is supposed to be a big trigger.

We were also told that recovery is 40% medication, 30% family and 30% the person taking responsibilty for the condition.

The person i know with the condition has held a job for around 6 years although has been hospitalised 4 times. So that is a good sign.

I think that it affects each person differently and while there can be many similarities each case is different.

Your best bet would be contacting someone with experience in bipolar and similar conditions. Unfortunately i am not in Sydney so i cant offer any dr's.

I hope i have helped a little bit and hope you sort everything out soon!!! Goodluck!

If you want to know anything else please feel free to PM me... the more info you get the better i suppose!