Do I have other mental disorder/Is it normal for bipolar disorder type 1?

[idk_030]

Hello,
Before I start, I would like to mention a few things. I have been diagnosed with ADHD combined(mild), Anxiety(NOS), and Bipolar disorder type 1(recent episode mixed;severe). I am a male and had the symptoms for these since I could remember and was only diagnose in my senior year of high school. My sophomore year of college is coming up and this is where I'm at. Also, for some reason, there is a shortage of psychiatrist in my area at college so I am unable to see one because there is only 4 and they don't accept my insurance so I have been off meds since January.

I know I do have these disorders but the meds don't seem to work as well as I would like. when I am off meds, my bipolar is worse with rapid cycling, being mix, and having psychosis. When I take meds tho, my cycles get longer and less severe tho I have light hallucinations, hypomanic symptoms, and depression but no suicide isolation. I mainly think this is because of my meds for ADHD which is Concerta, but I can't focus very well and fail or get ok grades in my classes.

So the things I experience now are mild psychosis(where I have several types of hallucinations and delusions; I know they aren't real but they scare me), Can't focus on anything or hyper focus on something that get skipped to the next focus, Can't form relationships/get depression after sex or don't want anything to do with sex or people after orgasm/have hypersexual types(sexual addition? and romance intensity addiction)/get anxiety with people either because I don't think they want to be with me or don't like me/i think strangers are judging me, I am paranoid in public when I am by myself/I hear people calling my name/say thing to me or about me, i am very impulsive/when eating i always eat til i am going to burst and eat one or two types a day and feel guilty afterwards/im gaining weight/i try to budget but i end up buying pointless things/ I occasionally steal things/ I use to/sometimes still do reckless things that can range for being wasteful like making lbs of slime to microwaving fireworks or play with fire in a field of dry tall grass(i did these and more reckless things like this in my teens year and when i am not manic or in a mixed episode, I know why not to do these things. also I tend not to do these now but still steal thing that either don't matter/people lost/just not from stores or people's homes or stuff like that), and lastly cuz this is all i can think of and it has been hard just to come up with this, is school, which I can't focus in classes, I fail test, can't study materials, etc. Also sleep wise, I have abnormal sleep pattern that is i go to bed at 3 or 4 then wake up at 6-7. During the daytime I am really tired and if i am extremely tired, I have to take naps later in the day or even mid day. in freshman year of college, I had later classes at like 10 and I would either be tired or bored because I wasn't interested in anything(at the time i was on meds and in a down cycle) so I would go back to sleep and miss my classes because I would sleep till 8pm. It's either I am too tired in class, classs makes me tired, or i can't focus in class.

thank you if you know any help for me/thank you for any tips/thank you for reading this jumbled text/ thank you if you know anything.

[specialmom]

How far are you away from home? This would be worth a trip in order to see a qualified psychiatrist to discuss your meds and ongoing treatment while at school. Then you could find follow up care in your area perhaps with a psychologist and just visit your home physician for med checks.  I do think you are at a vulnerable time in your life that is hard for people even when NOT dealing with mental health issues.  The hallucinations/delutions ARE scary.  I'm sorry that is going on.  Sometimes we think we are okay without meds but then it can spiral out of control.  This is too risky for you.  You also need to find out if concerta is a good choice for you.  As a stimulant medication, it is usually not for those with bipolar.  I know that is hard---  but this definitely could be contributing to the issues.  Can you call your parents and arrange to see someone back home?  

[idk_030]

No, my parents currently are in korea because of the military and when i am on break and go to visit, I still can't because I was moved to state insurance because my insurance has oversea and state types. Also I don't have a car either so that is another factor. And yeah I totally understand the spiraling out of control, I do it alot, actually why i failed all my classes my first semester

[specialmom]

I'm sorry to hear that.  Sounds like a difficult situation.  What about this . . . do you have an advisor or health person at your college?  These are great resources.  For them to understand your current situation and not being under medical care with this difficult diagnosis--  they may be able to help.  They may have connections to get you into a doctor.  Or be able to offer you something where you are at.  Or your old doctor, can you call them and explain your situation and perhaps a prescription to hold you over until you can see a new doctor would be something they'd consider.  Most people are not wanting to take bipolar medications for fun . . .  it's not like narcotics. You'd have better luck getting this than the concerta with most doctors as conerta is abused.  How do you get that by the way? What doctor do you see for the concerta?  

[idk_030]

It's really is a difficult situation, I can go to the school's therapist(psychologist i think) but it is not really helpful because they don't seem to do any CBT/talk therapy which seem to work best for me and don't have a psychiatrist on campus so I can't really use the school well, tho i have been using disability services and that help a little for school.
On the note of my old doctor, they were a doctor for military so it goes through the insurance and since I am stateside, i can't get in contact with them and they can't prescribe anything.
This is pretty much a tough situation i guess, i'll just have to try and work something out.

[idk_030]

Oh and the psychiatric thought it would benefit me because I could focus even on bipolar meds since i have ADHD so he prescribed conterta(tho it only helped alittle)

[susan400]

I am wondering if you called your county health department if they could refer you to a place that accepts sliding scale payments and sometimes, these community health type of places have a psychiatric PA or NP that are able to prescribe psych meds.  In my town, their it program such as this that is based on ability to pay.  I don't know if this would be something that would be work investigating. In my case, I know this about my community because of my son's illness. He has bipolar(primary), schizo-affective disorder(secondary), and some mild to mod ADHD.  His meds are Clozaril, Effexor and I think Trileptal(not sure on spelling..it's an anti-seizure meds sometimes used for psychiatric purposes).  This combinations, is working really well for him. This is after YEARS of struggle and other meds not working well for him.  I wish you the best finding the answer to this provider problem.