QUESTION:

Dr. Heller,

I am a 39 year old female with BPD. I suffered greatly from it when I was younger, but I feel as I have gotten older I have mellowed somewhat. I am currently on Paxil, Wellbutrin, BuSpar, and Seroquel at night to help me sleep. Although I do not have the rages that I once did, I feel that my mind is in a cloud, hard to concentrate, thoughts a jumble. I have taken a thyroid test years ago and it did not show I had a problem with my thyroid. I read that BPD's can have thyroid problems, and the test show they are normal. How do I find out if I need it, or have my doctor prescribe the medication for me? If you can answer this, I would greatly appreciate it.

ANSWER:

I go over this in detail in both "Biological Unhappiness" and "Life at the Border " and in the low thyroid Newsletter I use for my patients.

The major breakthroughs in treating borderlines for me were:

1)    Realizing how important it is to make all the diagnoses. (See screening test)

2)    Having a formal plan for stress.

3)    Seeing the incredible effect listening to Zig Ziglar had on my patients.

I settle for nothing less than sensational for my BPD patients, and perceiving that you are in a "cloud" is totally unacceptable to me for my patients. My goals are very, very high and I don’t quit until I reach them.

I highly encourage you get all your diagnoses made - and I suspect attention deficit disorder may be there based on what you wrote. Life can be great, not just less bad!