is this really mania?

[whitecat78]

I have been hyped up for about three days without really sleeping well. I have been working on this painting and listening to this intense Goa trance music, I just cant seem to relax. Now I am starting to feel kind of sick. I have withdrawn from all my medications because they made me lazy and basically I had no motivation. Is there a difference in having a passion about something and mania? and I have been tapering off this herb called kratom, it usually helped me sleep before. how do you know if you really have mania or just normal excitement?

[starbunny]

Reminds me of last year when I had manic phase - I would get up at 2.30 am and blast the goa trance music whilst putting make up on / getting ready for work (at 7 am) It would be on in the car on the way to work too and when I got in I would be beaming like...'Hi everybody what a wondeful day! Unfortunately it went on for months and I ended up poorly!  Never heard of the herb Kratom. It could be that it is related to the withdrawal of the meds - If I did that I would definately feel speeded up because the meds slow me down si it makes sense! If it persists I would go get some advice from a doctor especially if other signs of mania start creeping in!

[whitecat78]

thanks for the response. I have never been diagnosed with bi-polar, I was diagnosed with GAD and OCD and they gave me Lexapro, which didnt really help, it just made me feel apathetic. I have been totally off antidepressants for about a week.  I like the kratom because it calms my mind, but I started building a tolerance and I think it made me very irritable. But I remember getting excited about things before I even discovered the kratom and I have always been chronically irritable. Nobody has even mentioned to me that it might be bi-polar.

[ILADVOCATE]

It may very well be hypomania which can then turn into full blown mania as it takes a while for medications to leave your blood stream and then the full effect of the rebound symptoms are often not noticed until two or more weeks later. Kratom is highly psychoactive and can cause personality alterations so it does make sense to discontinue it. There are other natural sleep aides and prescription sleep aides that are far safer. It can be hard to tell at times whether a behavior pattern is normal excitement or the return of mania but stopping medication will bring back the return of all the symptoms it is treating more so than before as the brain has become used to them in a helpful manner. I know because when I discontinued lithium a couple of decades ago it was at least two weeks before I felt the full effect and then I had to sign myself into the hospital. Best thing to do is speak to your psychiatrist about alternative options as regards medications which would include sleep aides.