My brother too

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My brother and I are not very close. In fact, he's viewed as the black sheep of the family. Yesterday I was asking my mom about my symptoms as a child. I obsessed, I got lost in my own world, she had to say my name several times to get my attention, etc. But when I asked about clothing sensitivity, she said "Oh, Jeff was MUCH worse than you. He would just pull violently at his clothes and say they didn't feel right. Drove me nuts!" Our father was schizophrenic and our sister was Autistic or something very like it to the point of being non-functional and needing 24-hour care.

So I got the notion to call my brother up. He's always had mental health problems and behavior issues. He was always getting into fights. I was always getting picked on. He was rashly diagnosed as bipolar by a Dr who just asked him a few quick questions and BOOM-- depression medication. He hated it. It made him non-functional and he couldn't work while on it.

We just had the longest chat we've had since my sister died. Like me, he can't wear jewelry, watches, or have anything against his neck. He can't stand tube socks. He gets exhausted in social situations. He twirls and flips objects as a nervous habit. He feels like people don't like him for no obvious reason, but I know why. He obsesses, blathers on endlessly, and talks too loudly. I can't stand it. Grates on my nerves. But now I understand him better. Apparently I used to do the same things but I altered my behavior when several people made me more self-concious of it. Actually, I'm sure I still do on occasion, but not constantly.

So anyway, I told him to go back to a professional and make sure he mentions HFA and Az and the symptoms that we both share. I told him ADD (which he also clearly has) is easier to medicate than bipolar symptoms. He's very resistant to medication, but he agrees that a little medication with just moderate side-effects is worth it if it can allow him to function.

Wow, this has been an amazing afternoon for me. I feel like I'm reconnecting, or rather connecting for the first time with my brother. I'm 38. We're both going to see professionals to see if our instincts are right about this.

Last edited by Dalebert on 07 Sep 2006, 6:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Wow thats great to hear

I think I speak for everyone here when I say we're all very happy for you and your brother

Good luck

I'm glad you were able to "find" your brother.

Yeah, you're really lucky to be able to share something like that.

I think my brother was even happier to hear it than me. He's gotten quite desparate to understand where his anxiety and stress is coming from and hearing "bipolar" from a doc in a five minute evaulation just didn't cut it for him.

Yeah I wouldnt be very satisfied with that either.. bipolar is a bit of a drastic diagnosis unless the psychiatrist has spent a significant amount of time evaluating you.

To just make a snap judgement after 5 minutes like that makes me feel like the guy was just being lazy and it was his way of saying "I dont know and I dont care" without sounding like the hack he is.

well good luck to you and your brother

I've allways been phobic about things/people hands getting near my neck. Not sure why
its even abit crazy.

Yeah I do not talk to my brother much (him 42, me 36). The last time I did talk to him
in person in Florida about 18 months ago he mentioned he was taking Strattera. A non
stimulant approved for ADHD.

http://www.strattera.com/index.jsp

Since its a non-stimulant it wil be easy to get. Oh one big negative in stimulants is
they require a 30 day at a time only rx! You guessed that makes doctors rich and the DEA happy.
With a non-stimulant you could get a 90-180 day supply

The downside is Strattera will be less effetive than stimulants and perhaps worst side effects. I have used a drug Reboxetine which is a selective noradrealin reuptake inhibitor SNRI (just like Strattera ) and at a high dose of 20 mg it was very amazing
at alllowing me to focus (with nasty side effects). I had a small amount of
reboxtine left when I worked my dose to 20 mg but in a few days i did more work
on an invention I was working on than the last few years(machining parts).

*Drool* Maybe I can get past 10,000 words on my novel over the last 5 years!