Am I Bipolar? Could be Medical

[ellion]

This is just a thought. I've suffered from what I thought was just depression. I came down with diabetes and the doctor did labs before he put me on an oral medication. Liver enzymes were elevated. A year later, I asked my new doctor about the elevated enzymes. He repeated the liver panel and then referred me to a GI doctor, whom then ran a bunch of lab test, that I would've never thought of, and had many abnormals. Then,on to the rheumatologist after my regular doctor said the labs suggested Lupus which finally ended up with a diagnosis of Sjogren's syndrome, an autoimmune disease, in which there are few clear symptoms, the possibility of having other diseases along with it, such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.The depression, anxiety, fevers, joint pain and generally not feeling all that good. Most of the time I couldn't and still can't pinpoint specific symptoms when I don't feel good. So,I concluded that doctors are human beings who want to help, but there are so many diseases out there that are similar, it's hard to diagnose them properly.

[Ricardo]

I'm not sure about your specific situation, but I have heard of a woman who had her hormones affected in a very surprising way because she was on an oral contraceptive pill.

I forget the details unfortunately, but the pills made her have hormonal characteristics of someone much older and also someone much younger.

[watson]

I am not even sure if I believe bipolar disorder exists. My sister was supposedly diagnosed with it, but from what I have read on the condition, not much evidence is there to validate it.

They say they do not know what causes it, they always say, "It is a mixture of genetics and the environment." But they can never explain where the gene is, or what mixture of genes do it, and they can not accurately describe what type of environments combined with genes causes it.

They are just giving a blank name of "Bipolar Disorder" to explain the fact that not every person is the same and some act differently - meaning it must be a disorder.

[daftcow]

I am not even sure if I believe bipolar disorder exists. My sister was supposedly diagnosed with it, but from what I have read on the condition, not much evidence is there to validate it.

They say they do not know what causes it, they always say, "It is a mixture of genetics and the environment." But they can never explain where the gene is, or what mixture of genes do it, and they can not accurately describe what type of environments combined with genes causes it.

They are just giving a blank name of "Bipolar Disorder" to explain the fact that not every person is the same and some act differently - meaning it must be a disorder.

Just because they do not know what causes it, doesnt mean its not real.  I have a medical condition that requires drug treatment...they dont know what causes my condition...so according to you that must mean it doesnt exist?

My ex sister-in-law has bipolar, but unfortunately she is evil with it (which can happen sometimes).  However, two of my closest friends are bipolar.  Most of the time they are fine, but when they become manic it is very very obvious and can sometimes be very severe.  These manic stages are followed by "crashes", real bouts of depression. 
 
Theres no way anyone could convince me that bipolar does not exist.