Tourettes and Bipolar

[shaylamarie]

I'm 18 and was recently diagnosed with Bipolar 2...though I've been diagnosed with panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder since I was 12...
My dad has Tourette's, OCD, and ADHD, and he also experiences panic attacks when he isn't smoking or chewing tobacco... he has an extreme over load of Dopamine from having Tourette's syndrome and also from certain drugs when he was in his 20's (which create more receptors for Dopamine in the brain)!
He is ALWAYS hyper. His thoughts race, he is impulsive and spontaneous. Sometimes he goes on these crazy diets, gets very fit, is motivated to run and work out every day, and he is also motivated to take on more responsibilities and it's like he has never ending energy. He and I are extreme extroverts, we think very fast, and I know when I am manic, his everyday characteristics resemble my mania to a T! He also used to have anger problems, which have leveled out now, he's gotten help, but sometimes he gets VERY irritable, and angry because no one can keep up with his mind.
I have noticed some mild depression in him every once in a great while, usually related to situations though.


MY QUESTION: is it possible that his overload of dopamine is causing bipolar? and can bipolar be primarily mania with no psychotic symptoms?

I've done a lot of research on the relationship between TS and BD and I have not found much, which really surprises me! If anyone has more information, let me know.

[Amy4891]

Well if he is having racing thoughts and excessive spending sprees then maybe he could be bipolar.  In alot of cases bipolar disorder is hereditary so if your mom is not bipolar then maybe he is. My mother is bipolar and I recently found out my father is too....so no wonder I have it, lol. Sometimes genetics sux! Haha

[shaylamarie]

Thank you! I talked to him about it a little yesterday and he knows that he exhibits manic behavior all the time... but it could very well just be ADHD as you suggested... racing thoughts and what not.

Currently it doesn't seem serious enough for him to go to a doctor about it, but that could always change, and that's what I'm somewhat worried about. If my mom wasn't so grounded and logical we would be in major debt/bankrupt like we were a few years ago because of his "manic" spending habits.... a liiiiittle cause for concern there, ya think?

thank you!

[shaylamarie]

Thank you!! I know he used to have more frequent bouts of depression to a higher degree so that would make sense. Also, one would think that excess dopamine would have to run out at some point haha.

I have never been on anti depressants for that exact reason! but mood stabilizers I'm considering... medication can be tricky to figure out.

Thanks for your input!

[Amy4891]

An afterthought is that those symptoms could be a part of the ADHD. It is hard to say though.

[Amy4891]

That is an interesting question. I am sorry I don't know the answer to that, but you might try to get him to talk to his doctor about it as they may be the best to answer this question.

[Jewpaneset]

I have read some articles that suggest anything that induces severe mania (usually drugs, legal or narcotic) can cause the fall into depression characteristic of bipolar cycling.  It's been a while, so I couldn't give you the exact sources, but the research is out there, somewhere, to some degree.  

I know, for me, being misdiagnosed with depression and put on numerous different antidepressants, has made my mania and mixed episodes come more frequently and last longer, and the following depression is worse as well.