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Only manic on antidepressant
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Only manic on antidepressant (Susanne) Q: I went a bit manic while taking antidepressants and because of this my doctor thinks I might be bipolar and wants me to take sodium valproate. I don't want to do this because of the side-effects. Does my reaction to antidepressants mean I am bipolar or is it just a side-effect, because I have gone back down in my mood having reduced my antidepressant medication. Dear Susanne --
So then there's you. Are you someone who'll never have another manic phase as long as you don't take an antidepressant (or perhaps, less confidently, if you just keep the dose down)? Same problem: no way to tell. However, one thing is clear. If you have manic symptoms, and now you know what it looks like, that needs treatment. Some researchers think if you have more such episodes you're setting yourself up to have even more in the future (you may have heard of this "kindling" business; read more on my site under "treatment details" in the bipolar section). So no one could really argue if you just keep a close watch for any such recurrence, but are prepared to pounce on it if it comes back. I don't think any psychiatrist could really tell you the odds, because we don't see all the times this probably occurs as primary care doc's give patients antidepressants (in other words, we may see some numerators from this fraction when they become "manic", but we don't have any sense of the denominator -- all the people out there who might have had just your experience and we never knew about it). My guess, and it's only that, is that you're at risk and should be quite careful. Make sure you have someone in position to treat any manic symptoms that emerge -- and I hope I'm wrong! Dr. Phelps |