Bipolar Support Group

I was diagnosed with bipolar 1 disorder about 7 years ago and with Simple Partial Seizures about a year ago (despite suspicions of seizures further back). Since I read that 10-12% of epileptics have bipolar disorder I'm hoping that somebody here might have this dual diagnosis and provide me with some information. If you do, could you tell me what your neurologist said about the connection between the two? My neurologist is inept and likes to chase me out of her office in 10 minutes so I've dumped her and will travel an hour away to see a combo neurologist-psychiatrist.

My bipolar disorder is pretty typical, with long depressions, euphoric and irritable hypomanias and manias and mixed episodes. Lately I've rapid cycled because of med changes. My seizures usually follow some sort of manic/mixed manic outburst or have occurred when I increased Wellbutrin XL to 300 mg AMA (lowers seizure threshold). I have Simple Partial Seizures and they consist of running, sometimes hitting things, shaking or jerking of my limbs, repeating words over and over again or super rapid gibberish and then sitting and staring into space for a while either still or with constantly moving limbs. I haven't had more than 8 of these in my life and since I stopped efing around with my meds (I've since gone off of Wellbutrin XL) they've stopped EXCEPT now I have music hallucinations (original music that no one else can hear - usually repeats sections over and over) and have started to have olfactory hallucinations (I smell smoke even though there is no smoke anywhere). Both of these hallucinations differ from my bipolar hallucinations/delusions/paranoia in that they come when I'm stable or just mildly depressed or elevated. My pdoc and tdoc think they are seizure-related, but the neurologist (in my 10 min session) said to talk to my pdoc.

If you have a dual bipolar-seizure diagnosis or know someone who does, please provide any information you can. I'm getting very upset about the music hallucinations. [They're not pleasant anymore.]

I'm so sorry you feel upset and i do understand that...I do have BP for last 15 years but from March 2011 i was able to accept it finally and that's the time i started treating it and taking medication....I can share with you that 1.5 year ago i had very heavy seizures in one day, i had 4 of them....and i lost my memory completly for 2 months...I was gone to the hospital for 3 weeks, i had all the test and they did not find anythingin me to confirm that i do have epilepsy...but they said i might have due to stress and i'm banned from driving for 3 years now. For one year i was taking Lamictal due to my seizures...after that time i had maybe 2 but small ones...Lamictal was not working for me i had really bad side effects and i put on weight a lot...I just wanted to share with you what happen to me ...I was never told what was the connection between me having BP and seizures i had....

loobiloo, thank you for sharing your story with me. It is amazing how different seizures can be. My mother had grand mal seizures which looked very different from mine. I'm not sure how yours looked but the aftermath too sounds scary. I am aware of what is going on during my seizures because they are SPS type. As I said they seem linked to my bipolar disorder but my current neurologist doesn't seem knowledgeable enough to speculate on this. That is why I'm going to go to a neurologist-psychologist in NYC. He's supposed to be a very good doctor. If he can't answer some of my questions I guess no one hardly can. I want medications that properly control ALL symptoms. My pdoc is doing his best with Tegretol & Lamictal but he is not a neurologist. My current med mix is helping my bipolar, but not completely.

When I was 23 ( 10 years ago) my boyfriend and I got in a fight and it resulted in my head being hit hard. Since then, I have had a few " absence seizures." I haven't seen a doctor about them because they are few and far between. It is also hard for me to determine if I am having one, or if I am just dissociating.

You seem very knowledgable about your bipolar disorder. What is the difference between a music hallucination and just a song repeating in your mind? I think everyone gets songs stuck in their head. Just curious what the difference is.

I hope your new doctor is able to answer some of your questions.

AprilGetsAngry, I just found this thread today and realized that I never responded to your question. I hope you're still around.

The music I hear in my musical hallucinations is not playing in my head like it does when you think about a song. It plays from a place further away. At first I thought someone was playing music in the house next door or outside, but when I would go outside or inquire next door they hadn't been playing music. The music most often comes from my ticking alarm clocks, the microwave when it is running, the overhead fan above the stove, the heater vents and usually blends in with the music. I've also heard it outside in the middle of the jungle in Costa Rica. It seemed to come from the jungle off to my left side. All music is original and usually repeats again and again in small passages.

Since I've been on a high dose of Tegretol the musical hallucinations have almost stopped. Recently when I was in a high-level hypomanic episode they started again. They ended when the episode ended.

I get that too! I get musical hallucinations. I have gone mad looking for a radio or CD player but didn't find anything. Maybe I should tell my Neurologist about this. Actually I probably won't. My seizure medication, Zonegran, doubles on Saturday.

IDNK, I'm glad to learn I'm not alone. The neuro and my pdoc treated it like a freak occurrence. So you know, mumeva once told me she had 1 musical hallucination.

I was dx with bipolar disorder about a year ago and I've had epilepsy since I was in first grade. At first I had petit mal seizures and after titrating off Depakote(valproic acid), I had gran mal seizures and started topamax which i'm still on. I take equetro/tegretol/carbamazepine for bipolar (something i've taken for epilepsy before!)

I'm thinking that becuase of the drugs used when prescribing for bipolar and epilepsy are the same (for me anyways) there has to be some correlation. I don't know if my brain was damaged from epilepsy or if depakote mightve changed the chemistry when i was young or even if i was born with bipolar disorder AND epilepsy. I am upset, however, that more studies have not been done on this matter.

I don't have hallucinations myself, but my mom does. She's been dx with bipolar so that is genetic HOWEVER so is epilepsy!!! Is she having seizures when she hears these voices?? Is this mood disruption a seizure or something affected by seizures?? People say epilepsy is physical and bipolar is chemical but I know and you understand me when I say this, that there is definately some correlation between the two.

Post edited by: hayleeg, at: 11/29/2011 08:56 AM

I just found this on a post:

"The manic phases of bipolar disorder are caused by little (or minor) seizures in the brain. When the brain has one it triggers us to go into a manic state. There is proof of this ie. catscans and such. And further supporting this is the fact that most all bipolar medication is anti-sezure meds. Which is given as a mood stablizer to curb these little seizures from sending us into a manic fit. He had also stated that (pardon me for not knowing the correct term) shock treatment is used to induce these same seizures in a person who is depressed to stimulate and trigger it. Which (he said) only supports further said idea/theory. It goes deeper and further but I hope this gives you an idea of what I am trying to say. "

http://www.beatingthebeast.com/forum/index.php? showtopic=22521

Hayleeg, thank you for your posts and sorry I'm getting back to you so late. What you mentioned in your posts seems spot on to what a combination neurologist-psychiatrist told me recently (about manic episodes being a type of seizure). And of course it is well documented that once seizures are over they can cause depression as well.

I think I mentioned in my earlier posts that my seizure disorder is closely linked to my manic or mixed manic episodes. I basically don't have seizures unless I'm in a manic-like episode (I have had 2 when depressed, though). My manic/mixed manic symptoms are typical like any other person's but when the "seizures" get mixed in I get additional symptoms. I have Simple Partial Seizures so I know what is going on while they occur. I feel completely crazy and out of control during those times. I too wish that they did more research into the link between the 2 disorders. All they talk about is as you said, the anticonvulsant medications helping both, the ECT link, antidepressants often causing worsening of the condition, and also kindling.