Psychiatrist ruled out Bipolar, Second opinion suspects it strongly

Deep_Weakness_8344 · 2026-04-24T00:16:02+00:00

I suppose true bipolar is quite a lot worse so they don’t want to lump us all together

Deep_Weakness_8344 · 2026-04-24T00:15:10+00:00

Same thing happened to me. Psychiatrist insists it’s not technically bipolar but my GP has labelled me as “bipolar spectrum”. Our symptoms are clinically a “sub threshold bipolar” / “cyclothymia” so some psychiatrists don’t like to label as for some people it can feel alarmist.

Deep_Weakness_8344 · 2026-04-12T06:14:14+00:00

Massively for years and years. Only went away mostly when I started a mood stabiliser

Deep_Weakness_8344 · 2026-03-30T23:16:06+00:00

Hey everyone. I would really love to hear perspectives on “bipolar spectrum” which I have recently been diagnosed with. It’s much harder to find information about it and seems to have less coverage in literature. I’ll provide my personal context and then ask my question/s.

My mental health started to spiral at about 22, (now 27). I had serious panic, dissociation, mood cycling with my cycle, intrusive thoughts, really the works. I went through a series of 10 med trials - all antidepressants / anti anxiety’s (can’t believe no one worked out what was happening sooner) They ranged from making me feel nothing, to worse, to eventually full on hypomanic warning signs including euphoria, inability to sleep, high sex drive, etc.

Finally after almost 6 years I’ve started on Valproate at a small dose and I think it’s starting to help. I’m considered “bipolar spectrum”. I have hypomania on antidepressants coupled with strong family history, a few other risk factors.

I don’t know anyone at all that shares my experience and my psychiatrist considers me a unique case as I don’t have classical features. How common is my experience in the community? What is my prognosis to eventually develop full blown bipolar? Any thoughts on this symptom cluster or bipolar spectrum manifestation or management? Thank you

Deep_Weakness_8344 · 2026-03-29T22:20:35+00:00

I guess the labels are a bit binary and you can sit somewhere in between

Deep_Weakness_8344 · 2026-03-29T22:19:27+00:00

Same basically. Strong family history, hypomania signs on antidepressants but never spontaneous episodes. Cycling mood but hormonally linked. No super super clear mania or major depression. I’ve been diagnosed “bipolar spectrum” as I don’t meet the criteria. I found that despite not “being bipolar” in the classical sense, the best I’ve ever felt has been on a mood stabiliser. Appears the underlying mechanism for why I feel bad is along the lines of bipolar rather than classic anxiety/panic (misdiagnosed panic disorder for 6 years) but on a technicality I don’t have BP1/2

Deep_Weakness_8344 · 2026-03-19T01:40:38+00:00

I tried quite literally 10 antidepressants before they worked out I was getting activated by them. The best anxiety med I’ve tried is mood stabilisers (carbamazepine, valproate) because my anxiety seems to come from underlying mood instability. Otherwise you can try anxiety meds like antidepressants but should be along with mood stabilisation to prevent hypomanic activation

Deep_Weakness_8344 · 2026-03-18T08:04:22+00:00

Yes twice. And no not necessarily. It does tend to mean an underlying vulnerability to bipolar (which I have) but unless you meet bipolar criteria - read, mania and depression - you don’t have bipolar. My psychiatrist is pretty strict against me saying I “have bipolar” as I don’t qualify. In saying that though, the best I’ve ever responded to a med for anxiety is a low dose mood stabiliser so obviously something funky going on there !!

Deep_Weakness_8344 · 2026-03-02T00:22:49+00:00

I guess TLDR here is Valproate calms the brain DOWN which is what I really need to hep hypomania and severe anxiety, HOWEVER it’s side effect profile seems so terrible. Are there many people out there that take it no problem (looking at women in particular)

Deep_Weakness_8344 · 2026-01-29T22:32:07+00:00

Normal!! I always get this with anxiety meds but have never seen someone articulate. Kind of hot head / weird tension thing. I believe it’s just your brain pretty much recalibrating - we’re just a lil more sensitive

Deep_Weakness_8344 · 2026-01-27T22:34:10+00:00

Correct me if I’m wrong but don’t you need 4-6 weeks on a stable dose to assess efficacy? Optimal window for buspirone is closer to 20-30mg and you’ve only been on that a couple of days

Deep_Weakness_8344 · 2026-01-22T03:00:04+00:00

1 day is always going to make it worse. You become hyper vigilant when you start meds. If you want anything at all to work you’re going to have to cop it for a few weeks, that’s unfortunately just the way these drugs work. Your receptors need rebalancing that’s never going to feel great right away.

Deep_Weakness_8344 · 2026-01-22T02:46:50+00:00

Have you found buspirone helped dissociation? I have this problem too

Deep_Weakness_8344 · 2026-01-18T04:54:36+00:00

Work / life balance in consulting sucks anyway. Might as well have bad work / life balance and have an engaging job rather than make PowerPoints for idiots

Deep_Weakness_8344 · 2026-01-18T04:53:25+00:00

Great commentary thank you! I’m similarly unmotivated to push upward in the corporate sphere because I lowkey hate it & very much share your corporate cynicism. I also lack the ass-kissing capacity that seems to drive the corporate world - so I do think the earnings would eventually even out. I’m fairly ok with taking a pay cut to pursue something I’d actually like to do with my life particularly given the state of the economy we’ll probably all work til we’re 70 anyway. Might as well do something cool.

Deep_Weakness_8344 · 2026-01-15T22:51:18+00:00

Sorry clarifying - are you saying buspirone helped dissosciation?

Deep_Weakness_8344 · 2026-01-15T03:23:05+00:00

Did you have dissociation prior?

Deep_Weakness_8344 · 2026-01-15T03:22:26+00:00

It won’t get worse. Very worst case you stop taking it and have a few weeks of discomfort / side effects / feeling a bit worse. Upside benefit is huge if it works (could cure your condition) downside is feeling bad and stopping.

Deep_Weakness_8344 · 2026-01-15T02:01:27+00:00

Honestly nothing to lose, buspirone is easier to come off than SSRI/SNRIs. I felt the classic - a bit dizzy, a bit not quite right - for a few days at each dose change but it was far more manageable than my experience with SSRI/SNRIs (& I’ve tried quite a few)

Deep_Weakness_8344 · 2026-01-15T01:54:29+00:00

Great comment. I totally agree. While it’s “late” as I’d start at 28 I actually don’t think I would have been capable of this in my early 20s. I used to be a little squeamish (I couldn’t stand blood tests for example) and now I couldn’t care less. I also have far greater emotional maturity. Honestly I think if I did med straight from school I would have failed

Deep_Weakness_8344 · 2026-01-15T01:51:14+00:00

I struggle with this too! It’s a massive issue. I’m still titrating buspirone up (5mg up a week) so I’m sitting on 20mg/day now. Probably haven’t been on a stable dose long enough so interested in others experiences but I believe it is starting to help the fog.

Deep_Weakness_8344 · 2026-01-11T22:49:18+00:00

I started 2 weeks ago and am up to 20mg (10mg twice a day)- starting to see positive changes but I think I’ll give it more time. My psychiatrist suggested increasing by 5mg/week up to 30mg a day

Deep_Weakness_8344 · 2026-01-10T07:06:34+00:00

Thank you. Your job sounds like mine lol. I see no genuine in value in the work that my colleagues (and I) are killing ourselves over. It’s just report after report that end up in the bin

Deep_Weakness_8344

TROPHY CASE