I found out my new diagnosis is Bipolar and ADHD. He didn’t say schizoaffective. I’m happy about it because if I really thought I had paranoid schizophrenia still I would accept it, but I don’t think I have it anymore. I’ve worked hard on recovering and feel more stable as time goes on.
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Maybe your pdoc is not sure about your diagnosis - she could be tossed between SZA and bipolar - kind of like me I guess. She keeps telling me that I have bipolar, but writes down Schizoaffective for insurance purposes.
Not that it really matters, but what is your dx on paper?
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Great, people these days are being public about Bipolar.
It has less stigma then sz.
I say you can call me what ever you want, just give me Seroquel.
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Schizophrenia/schizophrenia with disorder of gender identity/ schizophrenia with personality disorder/ bipolar/schizoaffective/ very dependent narcissistic personality(that pdoc really disliked me)/ paranoid personality- had them all diagnosed or suggested at various times by pdocs . It’s all a f***ing crap shoot in my opinion.
And that’s a real shame
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I think they’re basically the same illness just differ in forms of severity. People with Bipolar 1 disorder CAN get manic and paranoid too.
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I agree, paranoia is not limited to paranoid schizophrenia or SZA only - My psychiatrist said that bipolar type 1 is the same thing basically as SZA
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That’s my basic understanding of it.
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well it’s nice to know your diagnosis. I thought being bipolar was harder to balance than schizophrenia? with mood swings and such.?
I don’t have mood swings.
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Are you saying you don’t currently have mood swings because the medication works for you or you have never had them? If the latter that would go against you being bipolar.
Before I took Abilify I was having mood swings, and when I got on it I had a lot of crying spells for months. I would complain that it made me apathetic and altered my emotions. The doctor told me that the numbness sometimes was permanent, so I was petrified and started opposing it. When I withdrew from it I became psychotic. I was put on Risperal before any other medications, and I was having severe reactions to it so I think that’s what caused the actual damage, all the medications.
I don’t have mood swings anymore though. I just need something to level me out. Bipolar means that your energy levels fluctuate rapidly, which sometimes affects your moods but can be managed through meditation and mindfulness.
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Currently I am not experiencing any kind of significant mood symptoms - just a lot of anxiety over my current health issue.
The meds can even out the mood shifts that people with bipolar have - but overloading bipolar people on high doses of mood stabilizers is not always the solution
I had no clue paranoia was part of it. I thought I was diagnosed with schizophrenia / schizoaffective merely because I experienced a little bit of paranoia during psychosis. I’ve not experienced it in over 4.5 years though. Sometimes I think that maybe I’m bipolar too (on its own) but only time will tell.
You might be Bipolar. You could ask your doctor. Often when a psychiatrist hears paranoia or hallucinations they jump to schizophrenia, but people with Bipolar can also have that to varying degrees.
Have symptoms---->Treat Symptoms
Bi-polar and schizo-affective are similar. You can be both schizoaffective and bi-polar. Schizophrenia+Bi-polar=Schizoaffective I believe. Or Schizophrenia+Depression=Schizoaffective. It just means you have both a psyschotic and a mood illness. It’s contingent on case for which is more severe. But schizophrenia tends to be more severe. It seems a natural reaction for a schizophrenic person to be depressed so I would say schizo-affective is more “natural” than just plain old schizophrenia. Weird how that works out. I too am schizo-affective. Paranoid schizophrenia is my psychotic part of the illness and bi-polar is my mood disorder. But medication handles me pretty well. On the other hand a bi-polar person can have psychosis so it doesn’t really make sense these diagnoses.
I may be full of ■■■■ though on this whole post. Or maybe not.
Paranoia in Bipolar Disorder
http://www.everydayhealth.com/bipolar-disorder/paranoia-in-bipolar-disorder.aspx
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