Question:

Welcome Rachael At the risk of being considered pedantic, most of you points are requests rather the questions <g> Having said that,  …  I’ll give ‘em a go. 1)  a good start for rapid cycling (or ultra rapid cycling) is to search the www.dejanews.com in the alt.support.depression.manic (ASDM) and soc.support.depression.manic (SSDM) for those key words and you will get quite a few descriptions and comments from people over the last few years.   Childhood on set is also discussed.  Well worth looking through the archives to see what has gone before. Another great site to start with is http://www.psycom.net/depression.central.bipolar.html  this will answer a lot of questions. 2)  well, I think you’ve coined a new phrase never before used here. " (the depression continually gets worse and reaches its  peak)" thank you for this – I love it    as for the relationship between BP and hormones well, there’s lots of stuff there for the looking here’s one – http://www.onhealth.com/ch1/columnist/item,46699.asp but if you do a search with the keywords bipolar and hormones you will find lots. Currently I’m using http://www.redesearch.com/ as a search engine – it seems to be a very good mega-search anyone for anyone interested in these things and it found heaps of hits – it’s just a matter of refining it to what you want. 3)  Dunno – but then, I am in Australia so I suppose I am not the best around to know. and you last bit —  I could not agree more.  18 months ago I came here looking for information about manic depression as my wife had just been diagnosed and we didnt know how it affected people in the real world rather then the clinical book world.  To be told that something that is happening to you is rare or uncommon, or that the symptom you are describing isn’t one they have heard of is disheartening – but then you come here and read someone posting EXACTLY the same thing from the other side of the world.  The heart un-dis’s itself a little and you then look a little more into it, ask people questions (no matter how silly – I sometimes corner the market on silly questions) and then go back to the doctor much more informed then before – allowing you to ask the questions you want answers to rather then vague questions that the doctor doesnt understand.   So, now after 18 months I’ve decided for all its arguements and stuff this is a place that is great for people who want to understand something as complicated as bi-polar.  It’s also a nice place to meet nice people (well some are nice some of the time …) but it’s really important to remember a lot of people who post here are bi-polar so there might be some variety in thier views and attitudes.  It comes with the territory.  The only advice I can give is try not to burn your bridges if you are upset by something or someone.  There are a lot of nice people, many who just send e-mails as they’ve been hurt by things in the past and don’t want to bob up too high in public and there will always be help in some form or another. Tony ynoT from the land of vegemite and lamingtons oh and platypuses – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – >Hi >My name is Rachael I am 17 and I have been reading this newsgroup for a >while. For the last couple of months I have been being assessed by a pdoc >who has suggested that I show the signs of childhood onset bipolar disorder >combined with an anxiety disorder. I am coming off the antidepressant, >Citalopram, that I was previously taking and I am starting on Carbamazapine >(Tegretol). I have had a fairly colorful medical history including a brain >tumor of the pituitary gland which was removed just over a year ago. >I have a couple of questions which I would be really grateful if anyone >could answer: >1) I am interested in ANY articles on childhood onset or rapid cycling >bipolar disorder >2) My bipolar takes the form of 2 weeks of mania or hypomania followed by 2 >weeks of depression (the depression continually gets worse and reaches its >peak just before the mania starts). I don’t seem to have any ‘normal’ time. >The mood swings tie in with my cycle as the depression always ends 5 days >after my period had started. I know that the mood swings are not just a form >of bad PMT as I suffered from the same severe mood swings before my periods >started. I have also tried the Contraceptive pill which seemed to have no >effect and even possibly made things worse. My pituitary tumor also >manifested itself by raising my levels of the hormone prolactin and at the >moment all my hormone levels are borderline normal. Because of all of this I >feel that there may be some connection between my bipolar and hormones. If >anyone knows of anything about connections between bipolar and hormones I >would be VERY interested. >3) I live in the UK and I would be very interested if anyone knows of any >places that specialize in bipolar in the UK or any hospitals that are >particularly experienced in treating it. >Finally I just wanted to say thank you to anyone who has recently posted on >this newsgroup. When I was diagnosed with bipolar the first thing I did was >to I read all the criteria, I felt unbelievably relieved as everything >seemed to fit and I finally knew what was wrong. When the reality of the >diagnosis hit me I suddenly felt very isolated as what I had was just >something in common with the diagnostic criteria – a piece of paper. >Discovering this newsgroup has made me realize that I have something in >common with more than just a piece of paper. So many of you out there open >yourselves up to the world so when people like me get diagnosed for the >first time we don’t feel alone, but realize that there is a whole community >out there just waiting to support us. I really respect that. Thank you. >I hope you don’t mind if I continue to post on this newsgroup, >Rach

Response:

Hi Rachael, Welcome to ASDM. > My name is Rachael I am 17 and I have been reading this newsgroup for a > while. For the last couple of months I have been being assessed by a pdoc > who has suggested that I show the signs of childhood onset bipolar disorder > combined with an anxiety disorder. I am coming off the antidepressant, > Citalopram, that I was previously taking and I am starting on Carbamazapine > (Tegretol). I have had a fairly colorful medical history including a brain > tumor of the pituitary gland which was removed just over a year ago. > I have a couple of questions which I would be really grateful if anyone > could answer: > 1) I am interested in ANY articles on childhood onset or rapid cycling > bipolar disorder

http://www.nami.org/helpline/bipolar-child.html > 2) My bipolar takes the form of 2 weeks of mania or hypomania followed by 2 > weeks of depression (the depression continually gets worse and reaches its > peak just before the mania starts). I don’t seem to have any ‘normal’ time. > The mood swings tie in with my cycle as the depression always ends 5 days > after my period had started. I know that the mood swings are not just a form > of bad PMT as I suffered from the same severe mood swings before my periods > started. I have also tried the Contraceptive pill which seemed to have no > effect and even possibly made things worse. My pituitary tumor also > manifested itself by raising my levels of the hormone prolactin and at the > moment all my hormone levels are borderline normal. Because of all of this I > feel that there may be some connection between my bipolar and hormones. If > anyone knows of anything about connections between bipolar and hormones I > would be VERY interested.

A medline search would help. Or you can use any of the following search engines: Try this site  http://www.highway61.com   and type in drug in question. Also try: http://www.dogpile.com/ http://www.beaucoup.com/ You can also use an Alta Vista search. Another medical site is http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/ Health & Medical Search Engines http://www.healthcareforums.com/sengines_frame.html Contains: Internets – search 1000 databases MedHunt by HON CiteLine by Citizen 1 Open Directory Project by NewHoo (just purchased by Netscape) Bookmark this great new resource.  http://www.isleuth.com/usen.html is a site that allows you to type in specific things, like a particular drug, and get a large list of references both at drug web sites and from dejanews listings of newsgroup discussions.  This information courtesy of runner1, one of of our resident researchers. Then there is the following list compiled by James Milton: Health & Medical Search Engines http://www.healthcareforums.com/sengines_frame.html Contains: Internets – search 1000 databases MedHunt by HON CiteLine by Citizen 1 Open Directory Project by NewHoo (just purchased by Netscape) > 3) I live in the UK and I would be very interested if anyone knows of any > places that specialize in bipolar in the UK or any hospitals that are > particularly experienced in treating it.

I live in the US so I cannot be of any help here. > Finally I just wanted to say thank you to anyone who has recently posted on > this newsgroup. When I was diagnosed with bipolar the first thing I did was > to I read all the criteria, I felt unbelievably relieved as everything > seemed to fit and I finally knew what was wrong. When the reality of the > diagnosis hit me I suddenly felt very isolated as what I had was just > something in common with the diagnostic criteria – a piece of paper. > Discovering this newsgroup has made me realize that I have something in > common with more than just a piece of paper. So many of you out there open > yourselves up to the world so when people like me get diagnosed for the > first time we don’t feel alone, but realize that there is a whole community > out there just waiting to support us. I really respect that. Thank you. > I hope you don’t mind if I continue to post on this newsgroup,

We are happy to have you here :0) Peace, — Lynda

Response:

Hi My name is Rachael I am 17 and I have been reading this newsgroup for a while. For the last couple of months I have been being assessed by a pdoc who has suggested that I show the signs of childhood onset bipolar disorder combined with an anxiety disorder. I am coming off the antidepressant, Citalopram, that I was previously taking and I am starting on Carbamazapine (Tegretol). I have had a fairly colorful medical history including a brain tumor of the pituitary gland which was removed just over a year ago. I have a couple of questions which I would be really grateful if anyone could answer: 1) I am interested in ANY articles on childhood onset or rapid cycling bipolar disorder 2) My bipolar takes the form of 2 weeks of mania or hypomania followed by 2 weeks of depression (the depression continually gets worse and reaches its peak just before the mania starts). I don’t seem to have any ‘normal’ time. The mood swings tie in with my cycle as the depression always ends 5 days after my period had started. I know that the mood swings are not just a form of bad PMT as I suffered from the same severe mood swings before my periods started. I have also tried the Contraceptive pill which seemed to have no effect and even possibly made things worse. My pituitary tumor also manifested itself by raising my levels of the hormone prolactin and at the moment all my hormone levels are borderline normal. Because of all of this I feel that there may be some connection between my bipolar and hormones. If anyone knows of anything about connections between bipolar and hormones I would be VERY interested. 3) I live in the UK and I would be very interested if anyone knows of any places that specialize in bipolar in the UK or any hospitals that are particularly experienced in treating it. Finally I just wanted to say thank you to anyone who has recently posted on this newsgroup. When I was diagnosed with bipolar the first thing I did was to I read all the criteria, I felt unbelievably relieved as everything seemed to fit and I finally knew what was wrong. When the reality of the diagnosis hit me I suddenly felt very isolated as what I had was just something in common with the diagnostic criteria – a piece of paper. Discovering this newsgroup has made me realize that I have something in common with more than just a piece of paper. So many of you out there open yourselves up to the world so when people like me get diagnosed for the first time we don’t feel alone, but realize that there is a whole community out there just waiting to support us. I really respect that. Thank you. I hope you don’t mind if I continue to post on this newsgroup, Rach

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