Can't get doctors to listen.....

As the title says, I can't get doctors to listen to what is actually going on in my head to the point that they might be able to help me. Well, I've given up on them now, pretty much. So I wondered if anyone here might be able to help me make sense of it....

I'm diagnosed with 'clinical depression' and have been on and off anti-depressants for about 8 years, but whereas before my symptoms seemed to 'fit' the accepted 'clinical depression' tick boxes (I hate those tick boxes!) like on-going 'low mood' and so on over many weeks etc. over the past year or so things have altered and now I feel as though I'm maybe taking the wrong drugs and I feel a bit lost with it all.

I've been worried that I actually seem to fall more in the bi-polar spectrum of things because my moods can fluctuate REALLY suddenly....one minute I can be 'ok' and then the next horrendously, awfully down unable to do anything much, which lasts a few days but comes on with no warning. Then sometimes, I just sort of 'bounce back' if you like. Again, no warning. This sometimes happens over the course of a day, although mostly is a few days of feeling utterly awful.

I spoke to the doctor who said that it's not bi-polar as I don't get proper 'manic' phases, but I find it hard to believe everything must fit so rigidly into the right box before you can get any help with stuff?

It worries me because it's like not knowing where I'll be from one minute to the next. Sometimes it just seems to happen -that my mood just switches radically - or other times there's a trigger (someone says something or whatever) and then it happens. I am *totally* confused by it. I'm on Citalopram right now which does not seem to help stop this happening.

Anyone else have anything like this happen to them? Has anyone told you what it may be, or just said 'you have depression' which is what they said to me.

 

Wow its so weird ...ive just been to my own docs myself thismorn about exactly the same thing. Firstly i just want to say i totally feel for you ! i really do understand how much this must be bothering you and i also know how horrible it is that you just get the brush off when you ask for help big hugs for you!
Secondly yes im exactly the same. I was first diagnosed with depression over 10 years ago and have tried various antidepressants and have taken them regularly for years but regardless every time they change them im ok for about 6 or so months then they dont work so well after this i get bouts of depression coming back every 2 or 3 months till it gets so bad they change them.
this last 6 months or so its got so bad that im now my moods are going all over the place from sleeping loads to hardlys at all being down to agitated to pacing with mind racing etc but its not considered to be mania. There is a history of bi polar in my family but they still dont agree i have anything other than depression
If you do finally shed some light on whatever it is please please let me know and i shall do the same. In the meantime feel free to message me whenever you need to talk
love and hugs XX

 

Hi, moogiebug

Hope you check this soon as I realize that it's been a few days since your post.
Also read your post a/b your partner which I will get to as well.

Well, I was going through the same thing as well. My ex-bf and I were always trying to figure out my mood swings and I was always trying to do research on my own.
I know that Bi Polar disorder has varying degrees and levels. I brought this up to my past therapist several times, pleading with him, "Are you sure I don't have manic depression???" He kept saying no. I never felt like I could "fly" or that I was a "God" as the stereotypical symptoms seem to suggest so even though I felt there was something else besides my depression, I guess I wasn't.
Well, come to find out, Adult ADD is often misdiagnosed as Bi Polar disorder.
When I finally read, Women and ADHD, it was like I was reading about myself. Not to a tee, as there are always nuances but it is something you could consider. I'd say 85-90% of it describes what I have been going through.
Many of the symptoms are similar, especially the mood swings, the impulsivity and risk-taking behavior. Adult ADHD is often accompanied with anxiety and/or depression as a result from the struggle ADDers face. I have been diagnosed with more inattentive type so I'm not necessarily hyperactive (even though I think I was as a child) but have extreme difficulty with concentration, memory, and obsessive, racing thoughts.
I will check to see which "self-test" I took online because I believe alot of the online info is 1) centered on children 2) not as in depth.
I still struggle with the diagnosis because again, I don't necessarily fit the stereotypical portrait but at least I am closer to finding answers than before.
You could also consider hormonal influences as well. I know that I experience a level of PMDD. I forget about it and when my menstruation arrives, I'm always like "That's why I was soooo whatever, whatever last week."
I haven't been tested for that definitively (PMDD) but just thought I'd share another factor.
If your doctor doesn't think it's Bi-Polar, does he/she have any suggestions on what it could be??
Hope this helps.

 

I suffer from mood swings and my pdoc has me on Lamitcal for it.. I also have irrational thoughts and she has me on Geodon.. I hope this helps..