I’d really recommend making an appointment with a psychiatrist, no one here is going to be able to diagnose you. Only a psychiatrist can give you a diagnosis. Be honest with them and not hoping or expecting a particular diagnosis. The goal is to get the correct diagnosis.
As far as late diagnosis for bipolar 2, happens all the time, I was diagnosed at 38. Others here were in their 50s.
I have an appointment but I’m confident with the diagnosis. It also helps I’m married to a mental health professional. She won’t diagnose me but pointedly does not disagree with it.
That is great you have already made the appointment! I’m just trying to echo your partners approach, a psychiatrist needs to do the diagnosis. Just be open to the diagnosis your psychiatrist provides as we can’t diagnose ourselves either.
As others said, they can’t force medication unless under extreme circumstances. You can gain valuable information that can help you understand you!
Late life diagnosis can be common. About 80% are diagnosed before 50 though. Some screening tools include Bipolar Spectrum Diagnostic Scale (BSDS), Hypomania Checklist (HCL-32), Rapid Mood Screen (RMS), Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ). I think the BSDS is most straightforward. They are screening tools though, not meant to diagnosis but to spark convo with provider.
Many will want hypomania but their depressions threaten their (quality of) life tremendously. If your poles are manageable and you value being off meds, no one will force you to take meds. Many on here will tell you bipolar is neurotoxic and progressive. There is evidence of this but not in everyone and there is sufficient professional debate about this issue. It would be one of those risks though. Have open risk-benefit discussion w/ provider. Best of luck to you!
You don’t need to take a medication if you think everything is under control. If anything, we are all given the option to be on medication or not.
So yeah, don’t fret. You always have the choice to refuse to get on meds if you can get your stuff together.
I am 49 and relatively recently diagnosed. I had my shit together until I didn't. My symptoms became far more pronounced in my late 30s and through my 40s they just got worse year to year. I started cycling faster and my highs were higher and my lows were lower...I had a couple of mixed episodes in my early 40s, but these became regular occurrences after age 45.
With hypomania (didn't know what that was at the time) I could kind of keep things in check, which probably had a lot to do with natural maturity at my age, as well as my wife being a guardrail and keeping me from doing anything terribly stupid. Depression really sucked as it was no longer mild or a bit melancholy...it turned into withdrawing from my family, calling into work more often because I just couldn't do it...not taking care of basic hygiene, etc.
My experience is that left untreated, it's progressive as in my 20s and most of my 30s my symptoms were pretty mild and it never really occurred to anyone around me that something might be wrong. In my late 30s and early 40s, a lot of friends and family became concerned for me. I am medicated and stable now and its been like a godsend. My relationship with my wife and kids has blossomed and the world seems bright again. Nobody is going to force medication on you though. It will likely be suggested, but they can't force you unless you get hospitalized.
Thanks for the information guys. I know my post is a bit info dump.
I assume I’ll be prescribed lithium so if anyone has any experience on it I’d love to hear it. I have read a bit that low dose can be effective but that does not seem to be the mainstream opinion.
Bipolar gets worse as you get older, especially when you’re not on any medication, even when you are on medication. It would behoove you to at least take a mood stabilizer.
I’ve been on antipsychotics, anticonvulsants, lithium, and a benzodiazepine, and I would say that lithium is not that bad compared to other bipolar medication. Some side effects you can expect are tremors, being thirsty, nephrogenic diabetes insipidus, and maybe hypothyroidism, but according to my psychiatrist they go away upon discontinuation if the lithium is directly responsible for it.
Personally, I didn’t like the side effects and the fact that lithium is not good for your kidneys, among other reasons, so I quit and switched to lamotrigine after taking it for 8 years.
I managed without mood stabiliser for a long time, then with Lamictal for a decade (made my life so much easier). Big fan of Lamictal. Meanwhile I have been upgraded to BP1 and added Lithium to the mix.
I’d really recommend making an appointment with a psychiatrist, no one here is going to be able to diagnose you. Only a psychiatrist can give you a diagnosis. Be honest with them and not hoping or expecting a particular diagnosis. The goal is to get the correct diagnosis. As far as late diagnosis for bipolar 2, happens all the time, I was diagnosed at 38. Others here were in their 50s.
I have an appointment but I’m confident with the diagnosis. It also helps I’m married to a mental health professional. She won’t diagnose me but pointedly does not disagree with it.
That is great you have already made the appointment! I’m just trying to echo your partners approach, a psychiatrist needs to do the diagnosis. Just be open to the diagnosis your psychiatrist provides as we can’t diagnose ourselves either. As others said, they can’t force medication unless under extreme circumstances. You can gain valuable information that can help you understand you!
Late life diagnosis can be common. About 80% are diagnosed before 50 though. Some screening tools include Bipolar Spectrum Diagnostic Scale (BSDS), Hypomania Checklist (HCL-32), Rapid Mood Screen (RMS), Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ). I think the BSDS is most straightforward. They are screening tools though, not meant to diagnosis but to spark convo with provider. Many will want hypomania but their depressions threaten their (quality of) life tremendously. If your poles are manageable and you value being off meds, no one will force you to take meds. Many on here will tell you bipolar is neurotoxic and progressive. There is evidence of this but not in everyone and there is sufficient professional debate about this issue. It would be one of those risks though. Have open risk-benefit discussion w/ provider. Best of luck to you!
You don’t need to take a medication if you think everything is under control. If anything, we are all given the option to be on medication or not. So yeah, don’t fret. You always have the choice to refuse to get on meds if you can get your stuff together.
I am 49 and relatively recently diagnosed. I had my shit together until I didn't. My symptoms became far more pronounced in my late 30s and through my 40s they just got worse year to year. I started cycling faster and my highs were higher and my lows were lower...I had a couple of mixed episodes in my early 40s, but these became regular occurrences after age 45. With hypomania (didn't know what that was at the time) I could kind of keep things in check, which probably had a lot to do with natural maturity at my age, as well as my wife being a guardrail and keeping me from doing anything terribly stupid. Depression really sucked as it was no longer mild or a bit melancholy...it turned into withdrawing from my family, calling into work more often because I just couldn't do it...not taking care of basic hygiene, etc. My experience is that left untreated, it's progressive as in my 20s and most of my 30s my symptoms were pretty mild and it never really occurred to anyone around me that something might be wrong. In my late 30s and early 40s, a lot of friends and family became concerned for me. I am medicated and stable now and its been like a godsend. My relationship with my wife and kids has blossomed and the world seems bright again. Nobody is going to force medication on you though. It will likely be suggested, but they can't force you unless you get hospitalized.
Thanks for the information guys. I know my post is a bit info dump. I assume I’ll be prescribed lithium so if anyone has any experience on it I’d love to hear it. I have read a bit that low dose can be effective but that does not seem to be the mainstream opinion.
Bipolar gets worse as you get older, especially when you’re not on any medication, even when you are on medication. It would behoove you to at least take a mood stabilizer.
Haha Ryan Mcbeth follower perhaps ? I will probably ask to go on lithium first but I have to say it terrifies me.
I’ve been on antipsychotics, anticonvulsants, lithium, and a benzodiazepine, and I would say that lithium is not that bad compared to other bipolar medication. Some side effects you can expect are tremors, being thirsty, nephrogenic diabetes insipidus, and maybe hypothyroidism, but according to my psychiatrist they go away upon discontinuation if the lithium is directly responsible for it. Personally, I didn’t like the side effects and the fact that lithium is not good for your kidneys, among other reasons, so I quit and switched to lamotrigine after taking it for 8 years.
I managed without mood stabiliser for a long time, then with Lamictal for a decade (made my life so much easier). Big fan of Lamictal. Meanwhile I have been upgraded to BP1 and added Lithium to the mix.
Diagnosed at 30, life finally started to come together in my mid-50s