Bipolar Support Group

Hi,

My name is Abby. I have a son who is 19 and was diagnosed with bipolar in March of this year. Today he went for a second opinion and was told that although he meets alot of the criteria of bipolar, he doesn't really fit into either bipolar i or ii. The dr. felt he might also have borderline personality disorder. It actually makes sense to me, my husband and my son that this could be a possibility. He has been on 1500 mg of lithium and 200mg of seroquel right now and it's not really working so we may be changing meds. Has anyone out there had this combo of diagnosis?

Hi Abby,

My mother's dx was recently changed from Bipolar NOS(non otherwise specified) to Addict, Boderline personality, Cluster B personality and Bipolar NOS. Once the dx was made it was like everything fell into place. I studied up on ALL the disorders and it was like reading a book about my mother. The medciation that they use to treat bipolar aren't really effective for Borderline Personality, from what I have read. Mostly just help mask the overt symptoms of bipolar. Much of the treatment and managment is done through coping and recognition of syptoms and behaviours. The thing about having the dual diagnoses of both bipolar and borderline requires that the person two be extra vigilant in the managment because they are now dealing with chemical imbalance but also a innate,genetic predisposition to behave in a certain way. I wish you and your family luck. I hope it goes better for you than it has for me, being the daughter of someone with this dual diagnoses.

Many blessings to you.

Thanks so much for that information. The dr. giving the second opinion did tell him about specific types of therapy that would be effective for him. I'm going to have to do some reading up on this latest information. This is all so confusing and overwhelming. Now that your mother has been correctly diagnosed, does she feel better? Have you noticed improvements?

Well I am glad that I could help. And unfortunately no she isn't doing any better because 1)she is in denial 2) part of cluster b personality is somatoform disorder, which is like hypochondriac, she feeds on being "ill" and 3) she is a pill addict. Without want of treatment then treatment is wasted. Until she accepts the dx she will not get better.

Be Well

I'm sorry to hear that. You sound like you've been doing your homework. Just when I thought I had bipolar down, now it's time to learn about BPD. I wish you well. I know it isn't easy.

I've been diagnosed with Bipolar I (NOS), Hypomania and Borderline Personality Disorder. The Bipolar and hypomania diagnosis wasn't made until about 2 or 3 weeks ago, but I've been diagnosed Borderline for probably 2 years now. I've been on so many different drugs... Prozac (didn't work at all), Celexa (didn't work), Neurontin (I felt worked but I was still hypomanic), Lexapro (made me terribly suicidal), Cymbalta (rid me of depression but left me manic and hypomanic), Lithium (turned me into a zombie-- I didn't give it much time before I quit taking it), Xanax (which worsens my panic attacks and anxiety and makes me quite suicidal when combined with alcohol) and now, finally, after all of those drugs being the only ones taken or in combination of each other, I am on Seroquel (but only have been for a week) and so far it's only making me tired as heck. I don't have a Psychiatrist yet (just a therapist and general practitioner) but I am hoping that one of these days I'll be prescribed something that will balance me out so I can have a healthy, normal relationship.

my husband is borderline, and yes it is rough. he self medicates himself with vodka. i would get caught in a no win situation and then comes the set ups. this is when they set you up for a argument, without you even knowing what is going on. i found out when we got married, he had already been devaluing me to family and friends, so they would think i had the problem. here i thought we were doing great as i was being set up. to make a long story short i had to leave. it gets better day to day for me

First of all, one of the most important things I've learned while treating my son with bipolar and my daughter with anxiety/ocd is never let anyone prescribe you medicine but a psychiatrist. So see if you can find yourself a good one. I know it's frustrating to find the right recipe that works for you and the side effects can be horrible but hang in there and don't be afraid to really advocate for yourself. I don't know too much about borderline personality disorder but I believe both of my kids have avoidant personalities but rather than medicate them for that, they are educating themselves about it, going to therapy and accepting that is who they are. Some things can't be changed but therapy can certainly help you to understand it and make changes along the way. Good luck to you!!!

This is an interesting concept that I had never thought of before: bipolar and bpd. It makes sense in theory and would account for treatments not working when just treating one. I work in a school with many teenage girls who will probably end up with bpd right now just traits due to age and they are notoriously the most unstable students we have.

Hi Restless,

I have bipolar II, anxiety disorder and bpd. THe bpd is a new diagnosis...i was already on tegretol for the bipolar so that drug has seemed to keep my mood changes at bay(that come along with the bpd). I struggle more with the bipolar than i do with the bpd. bpd is mostly managed through cognitive therapy and mindfulness... in a month i will start a year program called dbt (dialectical behavioral therapy) it teaches you coping skills on how to deal with the different emotions of bpd...go to this website www.behavioraltech.org and it gives alot of info on the treatment for bpd... A.J. Mahari is a Canadian woman who has bpd and developed the dbt program...she has books and audio that she has written about bpd and here experiences...i havent looked at any yet but you might want to check this out... i hope this was helpful to you