Melody...i'm not saying that you aren't bipolar....i'm just saying there are many, many different ailments that can cause the same symptoms like the mood swings. And even after 3 diagnosises by medical doctors and a 4-hour diagnostic study, and 15 months of taking medications for bipolar disorder (and researching bipolar disorder) I still am not 100 percent sure i am bipolar. I have also been diagnosed with adult ADD (which also mimics bipolar disorder) AND sleep apnea (which also mimics bipolar disorder).
Just tonight i went and had my blood drawn for a physical work-up to check for thyroid malfunction, anemia and/or blood sugar problems.
And i'm one who can tell you exactly what extreme highs and lows of bipolar disorder is about because after i came out of the hospital the first time I was going up and down (very drastically) in the course of a single sentence.
All I'm saying is #1, even if you trust your h.s. counselor.....she or he is NOT a liscensed psychiatrist or even a medical doctor. Even medical doctors are not the go-to guys for mental illness. YOU NEED TO SEE A PSYCHIATRIST!!!!!!!!
And then you need to start educating yourself about bipolar disorder and how to maintain it and recognize your cycles if you are bipolar.
I'll come back in a minute and post a list i posted else where of things that CAN mimic bipolar disorder and that i believe SHOULD be eliminated as possible causes for the symptoms (even after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, i am still checking down this list to make sure there's not something i'm missing which could hender my getting better)
Anyway ((((Welcome)))) to SR and i'm so very glad to see you came back! There are a great many super nice folks here who also know a great deal.
Hugs,
JEnna