Fibromyalgia Support Group

My daughter is bi-polar, she was dx when she was 10 years old. She is 20 years old now. She just got out of the hospital actually. We are very close and I am lucky for that. She tells me everything but I also tell her everything. I love her very much and I would not change her for anything.

Well...there is also that school of thought that many to most of us in AA are somewhere on the bi-polar spectrum...

I do have mood swings and feel highs and lows super intensely...often over the course of a single day!

Meds have stabilized me for the most part, thankfully...

but it troubles me that so little is known about it even now in the 21st century, doctors are baffled and not sure how to treat as everyone responds so differently to the different meds, just as with fibro. And yes, I do believe there is a correlation, and research is beginning to back that up...the fact that most fibro sufferers exhibit low or erratic levels of seratonin in the brain, and seratonin is the calming, "non-hyper, non-mania, non-anxiety" neurotransmitter...research is also showing that fibro brains are different; showing alterations from normal brains, esp in the hippocampus ( I am picturing a dancing hippopotamus partying on the commons of Ohio State that's my memory tag)which is implicated in pain perception, memory storage and retrieval, and mood.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26455146

Altered levels of pain chemicals in brain and spinal cord too...maybe some day someone will tie it all together...but then, there are so many purported and associated causes of fibro, and most of the people who study it and work with a lot of fibro patients believe that there are distinct sub-types...google Dr. Mark Pellegrino...he has a mostly fibro practice in Ohio near where I live, has fibro himself, and thinks there are definitely subsets with different predominant symptoms. He describes this in his book, "Fibromyalgia: Up Close and Personal, which I have not yet read, only excerpts."

I am hoping to set up an appt. with him soon...a fibro friend of mine on this forum speaks highly of him. It would be worth the cost -- medicaid doesn't cover of course -- just to see an actual doctor KNOWS first-hand what we go thru!

He must have a fairly mild subset though, or how would he have the focus, energy and stamina to maintain a practice and crank out books about fibro?!

well I am rambling off course here....but I do think bi-polar, depression, panic attacks and anxiety are a part of the fibro picture...and genetics likely does play a big role.

Post edited by: hipmama42, at: 09/24/2008 14:58

Post edited by: hipmama42, at: 09/24/2008 15:12

Your description of the hippo made me think of Jada Pinkett Smith as the hippo in Madagascar. Hahahahahahaha!!!!!

Jada Pinkett Smith...a hippo? No way! darn, I must have missed that...I'll have to check it out...I've never seen that movie. Now I'm picturing a pink pig with lipstick...only it's a hippo...too much politics!!! will be glad when elections are over!

seriously though, what we need is to find a candidate for VP or maybe get a cabinet member who has fibro...someone famous with a very public profile ,that would open some eyes and raise consciousness, ooh, I better run that one thru spell-check of course if Jada Pinkett Smith were a hippo with fibro, that would work too...

I don't know why but that just cracked me up when I was reading the article...how in the heck did they come up with hippocampus when they were naming the areas of the brain? Must mean something in Latin I suppose. You see for yourself that my brain is not normal....

nhlflagg, thanks for sharing about your daughter's bi-polar diagnosis. I am glad she is doing well now. It has to be difficult for her and you and the rest of the family. I too have a close relationship with my son...but at times I feel I am losing him, and he is on the fence between wanting to get help and feel better, and getting into the drug crowd at school so he can "feel better, have some fun and get some relief from my anger" it is heart-breaking. I don't want to jump the gun and diagnose him bi-polar of course...but I do see some signs that might point that way.

Why my youngest daughter was in grade school I notice something wasn't right. I would ask the teacher how she is doing and they said oh what a beautiful child. When she was in 5 grade I read that if you don't check ADD inattentive before middle school they could get lost. I went to my family doctor and told him what I suspected and he agreed. We sent up an appt. with a shrink and it was diagnosed. They only problem was that she hated being on adderral because she couldn't sleep at night then we had to get more medicine for her to sleep. I was so glad I caught and she did get lost in the system because she was not hyper just the opposite. You have to take care of your child because no one else will. It will be worth it in the long run.

Barbara

My son is currently being treated for Bi polar and has been taking Seriquil for some three years seems to work .. but still has problems at school and in life .. he seems to always be angry and mood swings not sure the seriquil is working but dont know what else to try dr doesnt want to blindly switch his medicine ?? I dunno .. I am still not taking anything for my bi polar and I am whack sometimes .. at least I can recognize it though. It is hard to control ... So my son was having problems sleeping and for years they had him taking ritalin in the day and benadryl to help sleep at night .. but after a while said that they couldn't keep him on benadryl it would damage him internally so now we have seriquil and have horrible bad things like twitches and stuff but dont know what else could work ?? It is so hard to try new meds I am definately not good at that hense the fact that I am not on anything ?? I dont like being a human test subject .. oh like they had me try seriquil and only 1/2 a tablet the first time .. ok that KNOCKED me OUT cold .. within 15 20 min ... I was dizzy .. felt drunk .. and woke up on the couch .. 6 hrs later .. OK I have 4 kids .. cant just fall asleep and not take care of them .. but they call me unwilling to try meds .. LOOK what it did to me ... eyeyeyeyeye .. drs ... life ... learning ... so heres to all of you out there doing the same as me ....

Post edited by: angelherd, at: 11/03/2008 09:25