Bipolor meds risperidone

[nuggetone]

Have any of u taken this med for BiPolar?  I was taking amben and xanex for non sleepess nights n anxiety.  When I woud take the ambien I only slept 4 hrs.  After telling my Dr. this she asked.....Do u think u could b Bipolor?  I asked why she asked me this and she said studies have been done on Bipolor patients taking ambien and it doesnt seem to work on them.  This is what led her to prescribe me Risperidone.  I sleep good now and still take xanex once a dy.  I am feeling better and seem not to have such negative thoughts.  ANy feedback would b appreciated.

[Anneinside]

You haven't mentioned anything other than trouble sleeping which can be a symptom of bipolar along with a huge number of disorders... including insomnia itself. Not having read the article (and I would be interested in doing that) I can't say if I believe it as I don't know how the study was structured, or the statistical outcomes. I do know that I have Bipolar I and I use Ambien and it keeps me asleep for 4 to 6 hours. There are always exceptions BUT I am on several boards and many, many people with bipolar have mentioned they were taking Ambien.

If you want to know if you have bipolar do two things. One - look up the DSM criteria for bipolar and see if you fit. Also there are online tests that basically ask for the presence of the symptoms and rate your response to determine how likely it is that you have bipolar ---- google bipolar test

Two - see a psychiatrist. They know the criteria, they know how to ask the right questions

[Bubulous]

Yeah I don't consider most people cruel.  I consider them afraid.  If they are a man, they are afraid that showing some compassion will show weakness, when it is actually the other way around.

[nuggetone]

If u stayed up that long no wonder u dont remember if u actually had the conversations in person or on the phone.  I too was cheated on and was physically and mentally abused by my ex. I block alot of things out and dont remember alot of the bad times till someone mentions them.  I think this is what made me the way I am.  I dont trust anyone.  I think most people r cruel n there to only cause one pain.  I am so trying to get over this and the Risperidone is helping so much. I am a good hearted person but tired of being used and so I hold bk and dont tell one when I should the good things.  Know what I mean.  I want things in order cause I think my life being abused seemed so out of order.  I think im my own Dr. lol  
Much luck to u.  keep in touch.

[Bubulous]

It only happened when I am in a mixed state.  Also most of the time I didn't notice that I had them until after the fact because I wasn't really "present" during it.  Some of the things that I did notice was seeing angels.  I think it was necessary to keep me from losing it.  My reality had to be altered to keep me from hurting myself.  Not that it was safe to be in that state but it was safer than actually thinking about what was going on.  The last time I hallucinated was the other night.  It was scary because I was only manic for a day and a half and manically depressed for a couple of days.  I am taking my medicines like I am supposed to but it seems like as the years pass it gets worse.  The other night I saw things moving on the floor.  I looked away and told myself they weren't there and didn't look back.  The last major one I had was in 2011 after me and my wife split up.  I'm sure you can imagine what it would be like to know that your wife cheated on you and perhaps one of your boys wasn't yours.  I also had to leave them because I blamed myself for what she did.  I held it together for about a month, then lost control.  I didn't know I was bipolar at the time.  However looking back at it I realize that I was in a mixed state.  I stayed up for a bout a week and for the first day or so I had control but after that I only remember bits and pieces of the rest of the time.  When I finally passes out I woke up and it took me a long time to find out exactly what had happened.  I remember pieces of conversations but imagined that I was at different places having them.  I had some conversations on the phone that I thought I had in person.  I didn't realize any of this.  I found it out by asking people and people telling me about my behavior.  Had I realized I was bipolar and my support system knew it, they would have likely called the law or tried to get me admitted into the hospital.
Like I said, I am hoping that the Risperidone is the last piece of the puzzle that I am missing.  The main things I struggle with these days are the occasional "breakthroughs" of mania, and the OCD.

[nuggetone]

I have somewhat OCD when it comes to somethings.   What kind off hallucinations were u having

[Bubulous]

Yeah I read the studies.  The only thing I was concerned about was if you were diagnose with bipolar just based on the Ambien not making you go to sleep.  It ironic that you posted this because I am going back on my Risperidone tomorrow for my OCD behaviors.  Last year it was for hallucinations but I noticed that it also worked for my OCD.  When I stopped having hallucinations she took me off of it but is going to see how it works for the OCD at a low dose.

[nuggetone]

This is a Medical Dr.   I have seen her for going thru menopause and now taking estrogen.  My nerves were a wreck n in this town if u get xanex mostt Drs require u to submit to drug screening which I have no problem with. So I am prescribed the xanex.   I have severe anxiety and have had for a long time with no meds.  I have taking several  different anti depressants which I hate em.  They make u not feel like u shoud feel.  They make u suppress your feelings.  I need to feel so I  went off Cymbalta and will never take another anti depressant again.Ambien doesnt work even when  i double up on the amt.  This was studied in Bipolar patients so I suppose she thought hmmm maybe lets try this.  

[Bubulous]

Also Risperidone is not only prescribed to people who are bipolar, so if it is working that is good but I am really concerned about what I said in the other post.  

[Bubulous]

She asked you if you think you could be bipolar????  What kind of dr is this?  Is it a medical dr or a psychiatrist?

Anyway the risperidone.  It was prescribed to me for a while and it is a pretty good anti anxiety med but it didn't help me sleep.  I have been on Ambien before and it did help me sleep so I don't know why she would make that determination based on just the fact that Ambien didn't knock you out.  I am sorry, I am not trying to be and @ss but that really bothers me.
If there is more to the story please tell me.