Posted by Else on July 4, 2001, at 21:49:55
In reply to Re: SSRI's and irritability » Else, posted by JahL on July 4, 2001, at 18:08:00
> > > > I've experienced extreme irritability and agitation with Wellbutrin and Prozac when I've first taken them (I stopped Wellbutrin after a couple of days and have only been on Prozac for about a week and a half).
> > >
> > > > Has anyone experienced this? If so, did it subside?
> > >
> > > All SSRIs (alone) made me significantly more agitated/hostile & to some extent have left me 'permanently' so. Effexor was even worse in this respect. These effects did not subside & became worse with time. I've just been dx'd BP II or III.
> > >
> > > J.
> >
> > This has got me thinking. I get very agitated and irritated on SSRIs, hypomanic when I start Wellbutrin, unbearably insomniac and irritable on Effexor (and really anxious and I don't stop talking but I feel like s--t.) Could this mean I am bipolar in some way. I know there are irritable manias but I don't think I've ever had anykind of real *episode*. I'm certainly never euphoric (except for a few minutes earlier this year when the Wellbutrin started working.)
>
> In my case I've never had any kind of episode either. What qualifies me for BPII/III is; spells of hypomania/euthymia & general worsening on ADs, general irritabilty/agitation/hostility, anxiety, social phobia, psychomotor retardation, dysphoria as opposed to depression & profound insomnia. These are all possible markers for BP. I guess if you exhibit enough symptoms it is possible you are BP, though none on their own could be considered suggestive of this.
>
> Maybe the real Q is have you tried a mood-stabilizer?
>
> J.Initially, in the hospital my diagnosis was «atypical bipolar» whatever the hell that means. I took a drug overdose (Elavil, Chloral Hydrate, Vodka, some Parnate, probably some other stuff too). Anyway I had a weird reaction afterwards and the whole time I was in the hospital I was very cheerful and my thoughts were racing. I saw another doctor after I left the hospital who said I was in a state of excitment (I thought I was just in a good mood) and upped the Depakote I had been given at the hospital. My current doctor has rejected the initial diagnosis on the basis that I have no family history of manic-depression and diagnosed me as borderline, which I always thought was excessive. I'm am really not that troubled. In any event, the symptoms you have listed correspond to my problems exactly, right down to the social phobia, irritability, racing thoughts, everything. Also, my doctor insists on keeping me on some kind of anti-convulsant. Even though he rejected the diagnosis of bipolar, he upped my depakote to 2000mg a day (for my anxiety, he said). Now I'm on Neurontin for social phobia but it also happens to be an anti-convulsant so God knows what he's thinking. As for me, I pretty much always though I was overly anxious and nervous as hell, nothing else to it.
And very chatty and hysterical.
poster:Else
thread:68932
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010701/msgs/69000.html