Posted by Joy on May 21, 1998 at 11:46:56:
In Reply to: Cluster Headaches and Bipolar Disorder posted by Rob on May 19, 1998 at 12:43:29:
Rob, please don't misunderstand what I'm about to say, I'm certainly no doctor. However, Bipolar Disorder is one of the MOST overdiagnosed AND misdiagnosed ailments there is. I'm not saying it isn't a valid diagnosis, but research it a bit, you'll even find psychatrists that are concerned by the overdiagnosing of this disorder. It seems to be a catch-all for many physicians when physiological tests don't reveal a malady and the patient is still having mood swings, fatigue, and other non-descript symptoms.
When I was in your position, my doctor was considering diagnosing me as manic-depressive (before Bipolar was the trendy term for similar symptoms), I began researching other potential causes myself. Many things can trigger the symptoms of Bipolar Disorder, things like, poor nutrition, bad sleep habits, food allergies, and too little exercise and one of the biggies is CHRONIC PAIN!!! There are reams of university studies that have been dedicated to the link between depression/mood swings and nutrition, and depression/mood swings and chronic pain.
The only link between CHs and Manic-Depressive Disorder for me was the fact that the pain, frequency (up to 8 a day) and intensity of the clusters and the anxiety I experienced between headaches put my emotions on a roller-coaster. Once I addressed my nutritional deficiencies, disciplined myself to stick to a better sleep schedule, exercised more, and paid attention to my body's responses to the foods I ate, I found much of my depression and mood swings lifted. The biggest help of all was going into a remission period for the clusters.
Again, this isn't to say I don't think Bipolar Disorder or Manic-Depression aren't a valid diagnosis, but I think we need to be a bit more proactive in our health care and research what we can on our own, as many of us with CHs have found out. I wish you the best and pray for relief for you soon.