Hi everyone im new here looking for help. Ive suffered from severe depression for 3 years. A little over a year ago i caught my wife cheating and had a mental breakdown. I was dysphoric manic and couldnt sleep for a week. I had hallucinations and paranoid delusions. I was 36 at the time and it was the first time i ever had any pyschosis. I went to pdoc and was diagnosed as bipolar 2 but im not sure thats right. My main problem now is im suffering from severe restlessness. Its hard to explain but it feels like extreme inner tension. It gets so bad that my whole body trembles. All i can do to distract myself is surf the internet all day. Ive tried going back to work this year but any kind of stress amplifies the feeling to where its unbearable. I cant concentrate on what im doing and feel completely miserable. Its caused me to lose my personality and im always on edge. I went from smoking 10 cigarettes a day to 2 packs. My pdco said its pyschomotor agitation and prescribed me seroquel and ativan. The only thing that helps is high dose of ativan but i cant take it at work because it makes me dumb and lazy. My question is does anyone have any experience with this feeling or have any suggestions on how i can get help. Im completely miserable and searching for answers.

People who have psychosis are usually diagnosed as bp1. The agitation sounds like a mixed mood. I am sorry for this.
We are not professionals here best thing to do is get a good Therapist to help you deal with this.
May I ask what meds you are on?
thank you for posting.
((((HUGS)))))
bizi

Welcome sckid

Bizi is right. BP2 patients usually do not have hallucinations or paranoid delusions, and they certainly don't experience dysphoric MANIA (which would usually trigger a BPI diagnosis unless it was triggered by a medication).

You should seek a second opinion.

I was misdiagnosed as BP2 for MANY years. I wish I could have that time back. I wonder what my life would be like now had I gotten proper diagnosis and treatment earlier. I wasn't properly diagnosed until after a s/s attempt 3 years ago at the age of 34.

Psycho-motor agitation is often seen as a side effect of meds. But what you describe as a "feeling of inner tension" is usually associated with dysphoric/mixed episodes. I can really sympathize with you, having been through many of those myself. I am a smoker and double, triple how many butts I smoke during those times, too. It helps to do something.

Those episodes need to be medicated (some pdocs use Zyprexa) cuz they can be dangerous, and they are unbelievably uncomfortable. I would make an appointment with your provider. And look for a new one to see soon.

In a pinch, I have used Benadryl to calm down a little, but taking it is not a long term solution. I also have found that showers help me a lot. When things get really bad, I will take 3 or 4 showers a day.

I hope that you can convince your provider to take a second look at your diagnosis, or at least prescribe something to make you more comfortable. You should not have to suffer like this

Please tell a family member/trusted friend and/or get yourself to the ER if you start having serious s/s thoughts


Kay

Kay and Bizi have good insight.



Tell your pdoc that the Seroquel is not helping.



Good luck to you.



M

I'm sorry I made an error in my first post because I was rushing, and I want to clarify/correct the error. I'm sorry I didn't give you a proper response the first time around.

Akasthisia is the feeling of restlessness often caused by a reaction to a medication.
sckid, you correctly described the restlessness caused by manic or mixed episodes as psychomotor agitation.

A higher dose of Seroquel may help you. It takes a little while to adjust to the increases tho. I have gone through long episodes like this and increases have helped. It helps with anxiety as well. I have to take A LOT.

You should get your BP under better control by using mood stabilizing meds rather than slapping a bandaid on the problem by taking a heavy hitting med like Ativan (I'm not blaming you for that). Then there are milder meds like Klonopin and Xanax that can help you.

I wish you well sckid, and look forward to hearing and updates

Kay

Sending some hugs and thoughts. My son was on seroquel but he has
figured out its causing problems for him. So he doesn't take it anymore.

But its for some a really good medicine. Its just the right combo of
medication that you need to find.

Donna