My husband was just diagnosed as bipolar and also has crohn's disease. I was wondering if anyone of you had both or knew of a possible link? Thank you!
hi tikkunt,
i dont have bipolar. i have depression brought on by the stress of cronic illness. as laura was saying in another post, bipolar can be preceded by large amounts of stress. my thought is that in C.D.,
the disease itself can create large amounts of stress in your life as it can control what and when you are able to do things and as you are much more aware than me it creates stress for any number of reasons. over a long period of time i'm sure the stress causes depression that can become overwhelming resulting in bipolar. that is just an observation though and something to think about.
my heart goes out to you both.
if you are interested in chatting with others who may be experiencing a similar situation please join us in our chatroom it is tonite and every saturday nite in the depression room at 2:00 am GMT. i dont know where you live, but if you want to check the time in your time zone just read the post on the depression board.
take care
God bless
searcher
i dont have bipolar. i have depression brought on by the stress of cronic illness. as laura was saying in another post, bipolar can be preceded by large amounts of stress. my thought is that in C.D.,
the disease itself can create large amounts of stress in your life as it can control what and when you are able to do things and as you are much more aware than me it creates stress for any number of reasons. over a long period of time i'm sure the stress causes depression that can become overwhelming resulting in bipolar. that is just an observation though and something to think about.
my heart goes out to you both.
if you are interested in chatting with others who may be experiencing a similar situation please join us in our chatroom it is tonite and every saturday nite in the depression room at 2:00 am GMT. i dont know where you live, but if you want to check the time in your time zone just read the post on the depression board.
take care
God bless
searcher
Hello --
I have Crohn's Disease and have recently been diagnosed with Bipolar disorder due to me taking Prednisone.
I have many other 'mental health' problems that have come on because of either my CD or my meds for my CD or both.
Depression, anxiety, OCD's, and Bipolar Disorder. I am on 1mg Klonopin and 100mg of Zoloft for this.
I don't know what other info you can use -- you can contact me through e-mail, the Crohn's Forum, or AIM.
~Sonia
"I'm not mad. I'm Grumpy!"
"People who mind don't matter, people who matter don't mind." ~ Dr. Seuss
Dear Sonia, I was reading your post and was very interested when you said you were dx'd with being bi-polar due to taking prednisone. I have depression, anxiety, and arthritis for which I take prednisone too. I am on alot of meds including prozac, attivan, skelaxin, neurontin, methatrexate. If you don't mind my asking how much prednisone were you on? I have been on doses as high as 60 mgs. but now have been at 5 mgs. for a while. I also take vicodan for the pain usually 4x a day. Quite a mix I know. I would really like to hear more of your story . I'm sending you some healing vibes hoping that you'll have some pain-free days. Hugs, Nic
I've had Ulcerative Colitis (very similar to CD) and Epilepsy since 1979.
Both conditions are stress related (in my case).
I've had everything under managable control until 6 yrs ago, my 12 year old son was diagnosed with bi-polar (manic depression) and has been puting this family through hell.
Then my UC flare-ups started to be more frequent and more severe. As a result I had to increase my UC meds, and since this effected the metabolic rate of my epilepsy medication, it has to be increased to the point where I am a walking zombie and afraid to go out for fear that everyone would think I was a drunk.
This effected my social life big time.
In a lot of cases stress is a major trigger for CD and ulcerative colitis, if that flares up then you will have to increase your meds and that can throw everything out of wack.
I guess my condition is worse than I thought as my employer of 29 years has put me on disability insurance for 2 years and then medical retirement and I'm only 47 yrs old.
So as you can see you're not alone.
Randy (Ontario, Canada)
Both conditions are stress related (in my case).
I've had everything under managable control until 6 yrs ago, my 12 year old son was diagnosed with bi-polar (manic depression) and has been puting this family through hell.
Then my UC flare-ups started to be more frequent and more severe. As a result I had to increase my UC meds, and since this effected the metabolic rate of my epilepsy medication, it has to be increased to the point where I am a walking zombie and afraid to go out for fear that everyone would think I was a drunk.
This effected my social life big time.
In a lot of cases stress is a major trigger for CD and ulcerative colitis, if that flares up then you will have to increase your meds and that can throw everything out of wack.
I guess my condition is worse than I thought as my employer of 29 years has put me on disability insurance for 2 years and then medical retirement and I'm only 47 yrs old.
So as you can see you're not alone.
Randy (Ontario, Canada)
I also have UC. And i'm bipolar and i have some OCD syptoms. I'm actually going through a flare up as we speak. and it's taking forever for me to read and respond becuz i keep getting up to go to the bathroom. Depression is not any better when you have colitis.
piggy
piggy
I have CD. My therapist just said last week that he wanted to "explore the possibility of bipolar." I'm not sure what that means. I don't think I'm bipolar, but who knows. I also have some OCD tendencies, but not enough to actually be dx with OCD. I'm on anti-depressants, but supposedly, I have manic symptoms because I like to go out and spend a lot of money on stuff I don't need. Who knows.
Stephanie
Personal site: http://www.geocities.com/chrisnsteph1022/stephanie
Group site: http://www.geocities.com/crohnsfriends/ibd
God won't give me anything I can't handle.
I have Crohns, I dont have bipolar but I have severe anxiety and depression and am on meds for it.
Hi,
I have had cd for 12 years, fibromyalgia for about 4 years, Arthritis due to cd for about 4 years, Osteoporosis for about 4 years due to high steriod use, Depression (of coarse, Dah) but have been recently diagnosed with Bipolar. Oh plus I suffer from Anxiety and panic Attacks.
My Gi is curious to see how all the therapy and Bipolar meds will help get my CD under some type of control. We know that stress is a big culprit of my CD and he is interested once I get some help with my depression and bipolar through therapy what effect it will have on my CD. He seems very optimistic. I have only been in remission on time for only a few months. But my life is very stressfull.
So we will see how all this therapy and new bipolar meds help out.
Hope this info helps.
Sincerely,
sukay