On the wrong meds (a friend)

[blondeangel]

I just finished talking to a friend, whom I have not been really talking to much lately because for one, I don't like her boyfriend, and he is not good for her, and she is pretty unstable, and I can't disclose details, because that would not be fair to her. Anyways, she just phoned me and told me that her and her boyfriend broke up. I felt like saying "YES! Finally!!!!", but I just asked if she was ok, and we started to talk. She wanted to ask me to type something up for her, and I suggested that she meet me at my school and we can do it there. She told me she has no computer skills, so that is why she asked me to help, but I don't want to just do her a favour...I want to HELP her. So I told her i would teach her basic stuff like microsoft word (so she can make resumes and stuff), and the internet. Then she was telling me that she is on a lot of meds right now..she was on paxil before that I knew of. Then she tells me that she is bi-polar, and she is on effexor, lorazapam and a sleeping med. And her Effexor is 300mg....AND it is the WRONG medication...and then she told me that she has been on antidepressants for 2 years. No wonder it won't work. So, I flipped through my psych book to give her some info, and told her that she needed to be on a mood stabalizer...lithium is one. Then I gave her the number of where I go for to see my psychiatrist, because she should be able to get in quick. She was diagnosed bi polar by a physician, not a psychiatrist...and was put on the wrong meds.
The reason I am saying this, is that sometimes people who have bi polar are misdiagnosed as being depressed. The same happens with other disorders..they get misdiagnosed and/or they are put on totally the wrong medication. She even told me she knew it wasn't getting better, and that it why they kept increasing her dosage.
The lesson: if you are on medication....first know what you are on. Second, if it does not feel right...it may not be right, and third its best to get diagnosed and treatment from a psychiatrist, because that is what they are trained in. Sometimes even a psychiatrist may not be right for you though too..sometimes you kinda need to shop around.
I am glad she phoned me, so that I can help her a bit, and hopefully give her some info and skills to get herself together....because she is one of those people who are really nice, but are also really lost...and deserves more than what she has.

[mum2four]

I'm glad your helping her and I'm not sure of the situation of cause and I'm not sure of who or when the diagnoises was made saying she was Bi polar(not saying she not) but I just bwanted to point out that OCD can misdiagnoised as Bi polar as well alone with a lot of other disorders. I'm glad you are getting her ask more question but I sugest that you and her keep an open mind and let the Dr do the diagnoising if you think she is on the wrong med's thats good of you to get her to seek another Dr's advice but she may also have the wrong diagnoises as well.

OCD can make people feel like thay have Bi polar and seem like thay Bi polar I even thought my daughter might have been Bi polar at the age of 3 her mood could swing so much and so fast that i didn't when to duck for cover or hug her. She is now showing signs of OCD but I not very many visable ritual's yet. I also have wondered if I had Bi polar disorder among other disorder's till I discover that I had OCD and being treted for it now.

Good on you for getting to question her med's but making sure she really is bi polar is extreamly important as well. The right med for wrong disorder would be just as bad as the wrong disorder and right med's.

[blondeangel]

hey..yeh I did ask her about her mood and she told me when she down she is really down..really depressed, but when she is up, she is really up. She said that she has beeen diagnosed bi-polar more than once. Plus, I have known her for a while...and I have seen that. Sometimes she will be so happy, and up, and then I will see her look so sad and down...but for all this time she never disclosed to me that she was diagnosed bi-polar...only told me about her meds. I am not a doctor, but i don't think she is OCD...just knowing her. Actually I think I am OCD too, or I at least have obsessive compulsive personality....but I have never been diagnosed for it. I have sowm weird rituals, and I am a symmetry freak...and I am just finished studying abnormal psychology (child psychology), and I could see some of the things, like hoarding (I hoard bottles...but I have been able to throw some out now...but it hurts me when I do), and I always take the second thing...like handing out papers in class..I won't take the top sheet, but the one behind...same with shopping..I won't take what is in front...and I could go on...I can remember lining up my book and pencil and eraseronmy desk in schoool and kids teasing me.... and as a child I used to change my room around once every month..and as I got older, I would actually drawout plans first before I moved stuff. Anyways..I am rambling on...damn ADHD.
Yeh...but all in all, at least I feel like I helped her...and she is now aware that she may be on the wrong meds. I am so sure she is on the wrong meds, and hopefully she can see my psychiatrist and get the right meds...and the right treatment. Then he can maybe refer her for counselling of therapy...which I know she woudl benefit from.

[mum2four]

I'm glad you feel good about helping I just felt it important to point out that some one may not apear to have OCD from the out side but the way the a person thinks may be OCD related. NOT ALL rituals are visable in fact I think I read more that half of people with OCD dont have visable ritual's thay have metal one's.

Also from personal ecperiance I can tell you that I have extream HIGH's and LOWS people were alway not sure who thay were going to get let alone me knowing when I was going to drop from a extream high to a low. It has onloy been since being on med's that help with OCD as well as deprestion that I my thinking has changed dramiticly and I'm no finding I have more control over my thinking which gives me more control over the way I behave or react. I was alway upsetting people by putting my foot in it basicly. I still find it hard to not put my foot in it and what would deem putting my foot in it with different people but I'm getting there.

I just felt it im portant to point out not to rule the wrong diagnoise out just yet because I was dignoised with depression 2 time in the past cause I was TOO SCARED to talk about al my issues in fear of looking insane. OCD can make people feel like that are insane very effectively. It was not till I discover the real OCD TRAITS and not just the "movie idea of OCD" that I can the conclusion that it was finaly SAFE to talk about all my issues That make it hard for me to fuction like other people.

I could barly get out of bed n the morning with out forcing my self and finding a reason to get out of bed I was basicly waiting for certain things to happen before I felt safe to get out bed. I never felt safe getting out of bed if all my kids were sleeping still and if the sun was not shining I felt unsafe to get out. I was so scared of window's that I would stay in one room as soon as it started getting dark. I felt like I could get so down that I wanted to put my self thew a wall or bang my head so hard that I knock my self out cold it felt like the only way I could feel better whan I was at my worset. I was afraid of car(still am a litle) I was scared that thay would hit me or that I would walk in front of one ether by accident or on purpose. I use to mistake my self harm behaviour for wanting to kill my self instead of listing and paying attenstion to my biggest fear which was to DIE I was so scared to die that I would let my self any where near anything that I felt was a danger to my saflty when I was at my worst. I even told the dr the second time that was so depressed that I felt like jumping out of miving car. I negated to tell him that I get fear's of killing my self or dieing every day all day with nearly every situtaion. I was getting intence flash image's that would cause me to react defencively in sec's with out wanting to react. I would be in a car with my partner and a car would be in fromt of me and would be trying so hard to not be scared of being in the car but as soon as a car was a set disance from us I would frack out and put my feat on the dash or my hand on the dash or something or I would say "watch out" before I relised I was over reacting big time.

People seem to have this set idea that OCD ONLY has this trait's but the problem with OCD is that you can have one fear one week that is intence and the next week it could be something different. OCD also has a way of making people feel thay need to hide the symptom's and if you frind has only just vfelt safe enough to tell you she is bi polar now what els dose not feel safe with telling you. I have never told any one but my partner about the way I think till now and I am 28y ans have been an obsessive thinking (OCD related) since I was kid. NOT one person saw any one my strange behaviour or strange emotional reactions as anything but me being a pain in the neck( B word lol). When I did try to talk about why I did what I did to poeple in the past I was told I was insane or that I needed to think less(that made no sence to me what so ever) or I need serious help NOW. The other big one was that

[mum2four]

I found this site you and friend might want to read it about Bi-polar and there are fue test to use an assment base line

http://www.medhelp.org/lib/bpfaq.htm