Hey guys,
I know it's been awhile - I hope everyone is doing okay. I wanted to find out if anyone here, after being diagnosed with PTSD, has also been diagnosed with bipolar disorder AFTER their PTSD diagnosis.
Here's the backstory - basically, nothing has changed for me. The last three weeks I was experiencing suicidal ideations every day. I couldn't get a therapist to call me back (I stopped seeing the one I was seeing earlier last year). My only option at this point was to go to the Psych ER because I knew something bad might happen if I waited another day. So - I go there, and they spend hours assessing me. Obviously, I told them that I have complex PTSD. However, the psychiatrist there diagnosed me as having bipolar disorder, as well. She explained several reason why - (one of them being that I hallucinated on Wellbutrin and it is supposedly well known that certain antidepressants "unmask" mania in bipolar disorder).
So, anyway - I'm just not sure what to think. I mean, we all know that the symptoms of both bipolar and ptsd mirror each other. I just don't know what I should believe. The psychiatrist said she is not debating my PTSD diagnosis but that she believes I have bipolar, as well.
She wrote me a script for Lithium and I've started taking it, along with Klonopin. (bye-bye xanax)
Has anyone else experienced this, and if so, what became of it.
I know it's been awhile - I hope everyone is doing okay. I wanted to find out if anyone here, after being diagnosed with PTSD, has also been diagnosed with bipolar disorder AFTER their PTSD diagnosis.
Here's the backstory - basically, nothing has changed for me. The last three weeks I was experiencing suicidal ideations every day. I couldn't get a therapist to call me back (I stopped seeing the one I was seeing earlier last year). My only option at this point was to go to the Psych ER because I knew something bad might happen if I waited another day. So - I go there, and they spend hours assessing me. Obviously, I told them that I have complex PTSD. However, the psychiatrist there diagnosed me as having bipolar disorder, as well. She explained several reason why - (one of them being that I hallucinated on Wellbutrin and it is supposedly well known that certain antidepressants "unmask" mania in bipolar disorder).
So, anyway - I'm just not sure what to think. I mean, we all know that the symptoms of both bipolar and ptsd mirror each other. I just don't know what I should believe. The psychiatrist said she is not debating my PTSD diagnosis but that she believes I have bipolar, as well.
She wrote me a script for Lithium and I've started taking it, along with Klonopin. (bye-bye xanax)
Has anyone else experienced this, and if so, what became of it.