Patient History

Biographical Information

Name: Patient L

Birthdate: March, 1985

Gender: Female

Marital Status: Married

Address: Oklahoma

Insurance: Yes

Family: Husband, 1 older sister in CA, 2 still-married parents who live across the street. Not for any medical reasons, we just like each other. My husband (henceforth known as Biletteral) and I bought our house first.

Medical History

Nothing major until college.  A few rocky years of teenagehood, but I think that's to be expected.

Diagnosis: I was first diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, Type II after a suicide attempt in December 2003 during my freshman year of college. I had been sick with mono and given steroids which have side effects of mood loosening, clearly not a good idea, but nobody had any idea. I was immediately started on Lithium and was told I would be on it for the rest of my life. 

Since then I've experienced "mania" twice, once after an all-nighter that same freshman year, and once after taking Sudafed. My mania is more hallucinations that lasts for a very intense but short period of time - 48 hours max.

I tend to be depressed side of things and typically require an antidepressant more than a mood stabilizer, which makes me very atypical for people with Biopolar Disorder. I am definitely not angry and rarely (if ever) exhibit signs of typical mania, but I am very anxious and expect perfection of myself, but not of others.

Meds:

I've been on and off many, many medications throughout the years, and sometimes off all meds for periods of years. I should also mention that I get every side effect known to man and have the weakest stomach ever. However, the worst side effect to me is not being able to sleep. Not sleeping=not good.

Find the full(ish) list here.

My Doctors:

• Psychiatrist for meds dealing with moods
• Counselor I see weekly/biweekly depending on my schedule 
• Medical doctor I used to see for all medication including mood meds, but still see for Migraines, everything else

Personal History (well, over the past couple years)

Biletteral and I married in May 2010, two weeks after I graduated with my M.Ed. in Adult Education. 3 months later I was hired full time with the same  department where I had interned. At this point I was medication free and had been for quite some time (years). In May 2011, my maternal grandmother died and I started having a little trouble. I went to my medical dr and started Pristiq. In December, there was an event, which shall henceforth be known as The Event.

I did well for a while, but around March I started having more trouble. However, I tried nontraditional self-medicating through art, exercise, that kinda stuff. However, over the summer it has become increasingly obvious that I was still struggling. I started both counseling and Lithium in June, but still continued to go downhill. 

It became obvious that I needed additional help. I started seeing a psychiatrist in the very beginning of August and have also taken medical leave from work. And that takes you up to now!