Is emotional dysregulation often co-morbid to Bipolar?

For as long as I can remember, I've majorly overreacted to the smallest of things and jumped between loving and hating people. So much so, that I suspected myself as having Borderline Personality Disorder.
About half of my 'depressions' have a cause behind them (e.g. feeling like a worthless piece of $#%^ for five days because my friend cancelled on me).
My OP psychiatrist said to me that it was simply my autism which can cause irritability, emotional dysregulation and impulsivity - much like BPD. However, I disagree and think that these depressions are still a part of my bipolar disorder.
I cannot decipher what is my bipolar, what is my autism and what is my ED very easily and it's beginning to seriously irritate me.
BPD and autism seem to be commonly comorbid to bipolar disorder. Both of these have significant emotional dysregulation. Is it possible that the emotional dysregulation is caused by bipolar disorder?

Based on what you're taking, no.
You should be pretty well regulated with that lovely cocktail.

But assuming they're not working correctly, or a myriad of reasons they're not stabilizing you correctly, emotional dysregulation, in my opinion, is such a subjective concept, because what the hell is a normal response?
Is it normal for me to throw a glass at the wall because I burnt cookies? I dunno, but it made me feel better. Is it normal for me to then cry on my kitchen floor because I broke a glass? I kinda think that's normal.

I mean don't get me wrong, there's a very clear line in the sand where my mental illness starts and my friends' quirks end, but that line is irrationality, not level of response. I have a certifiably mentally normal friend that I feel overreacts to everything. Broke a nail? She's gonna be angry and sad at the same time for the next 40 minutes, and wanna tell me about it. Got a date with a 7/10 dude on Saturday? She's going to go from elated to melancholy and back to excited but anxious over the course of the week.

I don't know that much about Autism, other than I tend to like Autistic people, but Borderline people and Bipolar people are irrational and reactive. That's what we do. It's who we are. Is that emotional dysregulation? I dunno. I don't really see it as worse than most people I know other than when I'm euphorically happy I've been known to think I can fly, and they've been known to get married on a whim....

Personally, I don't think you should worry about the terminology as much as the fact that on that cocktail they've got you on (assuming your signature is up to date), you should be totally stable and even a little sedated... So maybe something in your mix isn't working the way it should.

[quote="Rev678"Personally, I don't think you should worry about the terminology as much as the fact that on that cocktail they've got you on (assuming your signature is up to date), you should be totally stable and even a little sedated... So maybe something in your mix isn't working the way it should.[/quote]
I don't consider the medicated me to be the real me. The real me periodically thinks he's God. The real me periodically feels like he doesn't deserve to be alive. The real me goes to bed crying for a week at the slightest insult. Medicated me is essentially a fake me.
I've definitely become less emotionally dysregulated due to my medication cocktail. The Abilify is there specifically to address my dysregulated emotions, irritability and impulsivity. The Seroquel makes me VERY sedated... almost to a debilitating point.
My current emotions are unnaturally stable. I have no (normal) highs and I have no (normal) lows... I'm just 'flat'. I'm consistently a 5/10 on the mood scale. I haven't even had a 5.1 or 4.9 since going on Seroquel. It helps, but it helps too much.
I think that emotional dysregulation is another s***** part of Bipolar in the same way that anxiety is.

If you don't like what they have you on, then tell them and stop taking the stuff you don't like.

I'm very forward with my doc on what I will and will not take.
Does it inhibit the ability to do her job?
Yes. Very much so.
But it's my life, and I refuse to be a zombie for it.

Be your own advocate, man.
Tell them how to treat you.

It's your life.
Don't be a passive observer just because you're also crazy...
We all cray cray. Doesn't mean we can't be our own advocate.

I agree with Rev. I was on such high doses of my meds at one point I was a zombie for months. Exactly how you described. I finally got my NP to work with me on lowering one. You have to talk to your doctor about this. You can't be forced to take medication that is robbing you of your personality and emotions. That's just no way to live. Sadly, over-medicating is what most doctors do.

Jellybeanery wrote:I agree with Rev. I was on such high doses of my meds at one point I was a zombie for months. Exactly how you described. I finally got my NP to work with me on lowering one. You have to talk to your doctor about this. You can't be forced to take medication that is robbing you of your personality and emotions. That's just no way to live. Sadly, over-medicating is what most doctors do.

And if your shrink doesn't listen to you, then you need a new shrink.
I was over medicated for a while, and one day I accidentally missed a dose, got manic and quit all my meds. I also called my pdoc, told him I quit all my meds, and that he got one last shot at finding me the smallest amount of meds to stabilize me without sedating me.

He wasn't happy, but it didn't matter.
This new doc, I didn't even try to mince words with. I told her upfront how I was going to be treated, what I'd already taken and hated, and what side effects I wouldn't abide...
I'm sure she'd love for me to roll over and take whatever she felt the need to prescribe, but I don't care.

My therapist asked me about emotional detachment the other day. It was one of a series of questions she rattled off that were things I had not correlated to BP. I don't think I have dysregulation unless you count detachment; I don't really go over the top at the other end. My answer was/is a resounding yes. It bothers me that I don't always feel love towards people I love; sometimes I feel nothing. It is not the same as feeling I don't love them but many would interpret it as such, so I keep quiet about it. But I answered the therapist truthfully and was told that it is another symptom.