I am struggling to acccept bipolar is even part of the problem because a pdoc 5 years ago whenever i insisted i was feelig the moods told me it was a denial and my symptoms were not prominant enoguh. I am not asking you to diangose but do you get a sense of this from my posts.
Definitely moods, I never saw you psychotic though so I don’t know.
1 Like
The distinction between bipolar 1 with psychosis and schizoaffective bipolar type, is,in my opinion,largely academic. The treatment for both is largely the same ie atypicals and mood stabilisers.
The question is do you think you are getting the help you need? How would a switch to a bipolar dx change that for the better?
Ish, my impression is that moods/mania are very prominent with you. Perhaps these symptoms have increased as time has passed?
It’s hard to tell the difference sometimes between bipolar and schizoaffective.
The psychotic symptoms sometimes go to sleep and are reawakened during times of stress.
I feel as you may have bipolar maybe with just a hint of schizophrenia - kind of like me possibly.
Bipolar and Schizophrenia could run on a spectrum or scale - it gets complicated.
Technically speaking are your psychotic spells almost exclusively during periods of depression or mania? If so that would point more to bipolar than schizoaffective as the correct technical diagnosis. If on the other hand you have a fair amount of psychosis even when your mood is level that would point more to schizoaffective.
I haven’t had psychosis in six years so hard to tell
I can get paranoid like I am now even when I’m not cycling, this probably places me more towards the schizoaffective category.
Although my pdoc said that people with bipolar can get paranoid even when they are not cycling, so who knows.