Question:
My girlfreind started taking Lithium and Depacote for her MD about a
month after I met her, and I can see a real difference in her. So much
so that I feel it best that we adopt rather than have children of our
own if/when we marry. I just can't see putting both of us (and her
especiialy) through not only the mood swings of pregnancy but also the
mood swings of NOT being on the medication for a good nine months to a
year.
She says that bipolar women that she has known have had stable
pregnancies, as the bipolar mood swings seem to have offset their
pregnancy mood swings. That sounds medically shaky to me, and I'm not
convinced that would be the case with her even if true. So I thought
I'd ask the group what their experience has been on this topic. Is it
typical for manic depressive women to have stable pregnancies or
extremely swing-laden pregnacies? Or does it depend on the woman?
Answer:
This is an inheritable factor. If one parent is bipolar there is a twenty five
percent chance the child will be bipolar. If the other parent also
suffers from some type of mooddisorder such as clinical depression,
the chances become much greater.
