New symptoms and blacking out

[copernicus]

I'm here to get some advice on several aspects of my situation. I have a diagnosis of Bipolar I w/severe depression and psychosis. I've been pretty euthymic for the past few years. Lately, however, some symptoms have been popping up that I was hoping to get some advice on. I've been doing some research in regards to these symptoms lately, and I'm hoping your advice can help me glue the information together

The new symptoms seem to come in waves. Right now they seem to be in a lull. These NEW symptoms are: confusion, difficulty putting thoughts together/speaking logically, difficulty reading, memory loss, and possibly "blacking out". The first 5 seem pretty normal for my diagnosis. However, I am concerned with the blacking out symptom. My best description would be as follows. I'll be doing something, sometimes even talking with someone, and next thing I know, I'm on to something else or totally lost in the conversation. These periods seem to last for less than 2 minutes. Even if I attempt to recall what was discussed or what happened, I can not.

FYI, the "old" symptoms are: depression, hallucinations (visual and auditory), paranoia, and minor confusion.

Is this normal for someone with my diagnosis? The symptom seems like it belongs in the dissociative disorder field.

Does anyone have similar symptoms?

[David O]

Good morning copernicus,

This has to be very frustrating. In brief, these "blackouts" as you describe them: "I'll be doing something, sometimes even talking with someone, and next thing I know, I'm on to something else or totally lost in the conversation. These periods seem to last for less than 2 minutes. Even if I attempt to recall what was discussed or what happened, I can not," are completely consistent with your diagnosis. This is even more so with some of the meds used to treat it, which can make concentration difficult.

Some of the most common symptoms are racing thoughts, inability to focus and concentrate, skipping from one idea to the next so there is a fragmented flow of thought (w/o your awareness most of the time), easily distracted. When you combine these symptoms you have a perfect match with your "blackouts" where you jump around and get lost in a conversation.

The meds should be managing this symptom fairly well. My thinking is that their emergence may be an indicator that you're nearing a manic episode or are hypomanic when they are occurring, or that the dosage may need to be adjusted or that a new med may need to be added to augment the Lamictal. Could this be it? I would strongly encourage you to see your MD quickly, especially since these symptoms are just beginning.

Good luck and I hope this helps.

Edited October 2, 2009 by David O

[roamer2]

hi david. i can relate to your symptoms except i have had them for as long as i can remember.. i to just recently started to research bi-polar after my diagnosis.. i just started med and things have improved a bit. for me the racing mind and distractions of all the thoughts or even any movement around me pulled my attention away and i would totally loose track of everything the task conversation and even the bird. i would remember seeing what it was or the initial thought that distracted my with various time gaps in memory.. even while driving i wouldn't remember a few miles.. things always seemed to get done in these times. im still coherent still continuing on the last task but that blank spot was there. finished intelligent conversations and dident know it. reacted to bad drivers and even deer that would snap me out of the trance as i called it only major things would bring me back to the immediate situation. i dident know it was symptoms till diagnosed. for me i learned to recognize when the manic state was coming and became hyper aware to try ti minimize the laps or avoid them if at all possible.. that did help some and the meds help a little more. good luck

[copernicus]

Thank you David O. It's good to hear that there is an easy solution to this one!