confused over diagnosis

[frenchhorn]

I suddenly have four new diagnosis which different people think I have being chucked at me.
Asperger's, which I am getting a referral to a specialist for an assessment.
Dissociation disorder of some sort, that my community psych thinks I have, plus she think I am psychotic.
Today the crisis team guy said it sounds more than just my EUPD I am diagnosed with and said my mood swings sound like bipolar and the paranoia and psychotic symptoms sound like schizophrenia.
The crisis team guy said he will try to speak to my psych before I see her on Wednesday My psych wants me to have a second opinion over everything and I keep getting told I am a complex case!
So yeah I am very confused right now and just wish there was some simple test, like a scan or a blood test to determine mental illness.
But I do agree that there probably is more than my personality disorder.

I know if I am diagnosed with any of the above it won't suddenly change me, but hopefully it will mean I can get the right support and meds, rather than no one knowing what is wrong and playing a guessing game.

[Rilic]

I think that's pretty much the same list I've had thrown at me. The only thing that has helped me is ADHD and being given methylphenidate, but all these different people saying different things, and sometimes the same people are saying different things, it's as though they don't know what they are doing.

Personally, I would rather have struggled through on my own then be dragged here and there through all this nonsense and being told I "can't be helped" because of "complex issues" that they don't know how to approach by the more educated persons, and because I "don't try" and "don't help myself" by a few idiots that somehow make it into the profession.
I no longer feel like an actual person. It's like being a product that is being passed around and each person is trying to decide what shelf to stick me on and at what price.

[I'm just stressed right now. This is the stressed-as-&@$% me talking]

[Laura2.0]

I dunno if they already did that with you, but I got forms to fill out once. It was like multiple choice and they used that to diagnose Borderline Personality Disorder with me.
I think there are different forms for all kinds of things and they can probably help to determine if it is possible you have something. Though it shouldn't be used to make a diagnosis without actually talking to someone and seeing how they act.

[frenchhorn]

the only form I have done, was when I first went to my GP and she did a depression 9 question thing, and diagnosed me with severe depression, got diagnosed with EUPD/BPD in hospital. I am hoping it can become a bit clearer when I see my psych on Wednesday, plus I see my CC on Tuesday.

[Morpheus]

Thats odd. When i was wrongly diagnosed with personality disorders i had to do several sessions with a psychiatrist answering tons of questions and explaining your answers. Everyone at the place i was in treatment had to do that to get diagnosed. I did that several times and that was only for personality dosorders.

When i was getting my schizophrenia diagnosis and when they suspected it they did diagnostic testing as well.that included asking questions with a psychiatrist, this took hours over several days, seeing a psychologist who did cognitive tests, and seeing a ergotherapist and a psychologist to talk to. I did this twice. Several years apart before getting the diagnosis. They suspected it and i showed many symptoms but because of my young age, around 22, they wouldnt diagnose me yet. I got my official diagnosis of this a couple of years later where i did all the tests, once again. I also had my head scanned in an mri scanner. You have to here before you can be diagnosed with schizophrenia.

I have been tested for other things like adhd, brain damage etc.with the same kind of procedure but different doctors.

This is normal procedure in denmark when diagnosing but i of course, dont know how it is in england.

I find it odd that they just throw around diagnoses like this without doing any diagnostic testing. Its unfair, confusing and distressing for the patient. They shouldnt be telling you such conflicting things without knowing a damn thing. As a matter of fact i find it very unprofessional of them.

Ive gone through misdiagnosis and the same thing you have in spite of the tests so No wonder they dont know whats wrong if they dont actually do any diagnostic testing. I would ask for it if i were you.

[LilMissEmma]

I never did a test for BPD lol. Just after years of **** I finally saw a decent psychiatrist who diagnosed me with my ED and BPD, just from knowing my history and current symptoms.
I was originally diagnosed with depression, which was wrong as I could be a bundle of hyperactive happiness lol, so I understand incorrect diagnoses.
*Hugs* hope things become clearer soon.

[frenchhorn]

well my community psych wants me to have a complete assessment again of my diagnosis plus a second opinion.
What is more confusing is them disagreeing, some think I am psychotic, some don't etc and I'm lost in the middle trying to find out what the hell is going on.
thank you all for your replies. I'm just very scared and confused at the moment, just hoping I get a bit more clarity next week.

[frenchhorn]

thank you Emma, yeah I was diagnosed after a 10 day hospital stay where the nurses had been monitoring my behaviour and things and then the psych told me I have EUPD.

[LilMissEmma]

I'm lucky in that my diagnosis is like a jacket that fits me perfectly. When I read the symptoms it was like 'oh wow yes that's me' but not everyone will have this perfect fit and it can be confusing :(

[frenchhorn]

I have that too with EUPD, it fits me, but I've always had this thought that there is something more and suddenly in the last few months 4 new possible diagnosis have come out.

[Morpheus]

I can understand that. Before my schizophrenia diagnosis some were saying i was psychotic another that it was "just" personality disorders. I was referred to a place that treated personality disorders, they had already told me years beofre they couldnt help me, i did the testing again and the psychiatrist said she didnt understand why i had been referred there as i was clearly psychotic.

I had the diagnoses avoidant, borderline and depressive personality disorder, depression, anxiety, anorexia before my schizophrenia diagnosis, then i was diagnosed with paranoid psychosis and the paranoid schizophrenia. It was very confusing and distressing for me.

Atm they are also suspecting ptsd which to be honest, i am pretty sure i have.

Today i have three diagnoses that fits pretty well. I have paranoid schizophrenia which causes many of the symptoms i had before like anxiety and such. I have an eating disorder, i no longer fit the criteria for anorexia as i gained a shiit load on anti psychotics and i have reaccuring depression. Those are my negative symptoms that schizophrenia causes that sometimes take over and becomes and actual depression. So i have been through similar as you over many years, ive been told i couldnt be helped over and over again and every doctor i have met had basically disagreed until now. However after getting my schizophrenia diagnosis and the right help (on my terms) i have gotten a lot better.

Unfortunately there is no certain test for psychiatric diagnoses and sometimes when we develop as people our diagnoses do as well. Smetimes we recover, otehr times it turns into something different. I started out with depression as a child and teenager and started hearing voices at the age of 17. However i have always had paranoid delusions in one way or another. I also always struggled with food and weight and had extremely odd eating habits and was underweight, but it didnt turn into actual anorexia until i was 18.

So what you may have been diagnosed with some years ago, may not exactly be what you have now and its not even certain it was ever the right diagnosis. But i agree, going through it is so confusing and distressing. But be honest, tell them all your symptoms and thoughts and make sure they listen. They werent always good at listening in my treatment.

[Morpheus]

Even when i have been in hospital for up to a year, been monitored etc. They have done diagnostic testing before diagnosing me.

[Laura2.0]

If I were you, then I would wait and see what your psych says and hopefully they do good assessments.
It sounds unlikely that you have all those diagnoses, but somethings symptoms overlap and that's why they think different things.

[frenchhorn]

thank you Morpheus.

Yeah I understand what you mean about diagnosis can change etc
Yes I will be honest and tell them everything.

[frenchhorn]

thank you Laura, yeah I agree, symptoms do overlap, so it can be hard to get the correct diagnosis. I know a diagnosis isn't everything, because they could put a different label on me tomorrow, but I would still be the same, but having a diagnosis helps to get the right meds, talking treatment and support, if that makes sense.

[Laura2.0]

totally makes sense with getting the right support.
Plus the therapists and drs and so on get an idea on what could be going on for you when they have the right diagnosis.

[Aubergine]

I was diagnosed with recurrent depressive disorder, then acute and transient psychotic disorder, then schizoaffective disorder. Schizoaffective disorder is the diagnosis that has followed me for the past few years. It's hard not knowing where you are. *hug*

[LilMissEmma]

Tbh I feel pretty simple, seeing how many complex diagnoses you guys have and I'm sat here with my BPD and ED xD

That just made me look incredibly retarded O.O

[Morpheus]

For me, being misdiagnosed, resulted in not getting the right help. Being disgnosed with as many things as i was, made no one want to treat me. I have been in the system for ten years and some years i didnt get help at all because i had so many different diagnoses that no one knew where to treat me as they only specialized in one thing. So i was just given tons of medications that didnt help and i was told over and over again by so many people that i couldnt be helped which left me feeling hopeless and suicidal.

It wasnt until i was diagnosed with schizophrenia i actually got proper help and i started improving.

So for some people, having the right diagnosis do actually matter and it is very important as it can make the difference between getting help and being completely on your own, believing you will never get better.

Whether we like it or not, a diagnosis (the right one) is important, not because it changes you, but because it changes the treatment you get or even whether you will get treatment at all in the psychiatric system.

I was discharged from hospital after a year once and everyone agreed i needed intense treatment but becuase i had so many doagnoses, no one would treat me. I didnt fit into a specific box so i ended up going two years without help at all. And ended up in hospital again. It was very traumatic for me and made me far worse.

I think it shouldnt be the diagnosis thats important but the symtoms and struggles of the patient but as the system works now, it is the diagnosis that decides if you get help pr not, where you get help or how much help you get. That is unfortunate in my opinion but its how it is.

[frenchhorn]

well I saw my psych this afternoon. She doesn't think I have bipolar, as my high moods don't last for 4 days or more. She thinks I have PTSD because I have flashbacks, nightmares and am hyper-vigilant. She also thinks I am dissociating, she said some of what I think and do could be linked to the fact she thinks I have Aspergers. She said I may possibly be developing a psychotic illness, but she isn't sure, as she said they can start to develop on your late teens and early 20's (I'm 23) She wants to start me on a new anti depressant, but I need to have blood tests done first. She will see me again in 3-4 weeks and then she said she will probably put me on a mood stabiliser too, plus the anti psychotic I am already on.