I saw my psychiatrist today. We discussed my Risperdal, she does not want me to lower it some more for the time being, if things go well, she may change it to 2 mg in another month or so.
She also told me that I suffer from Bipolar Disorder - type 1 mixed variety with Psychotic Features.
Now my therapist and psychiatrist are on the same page with my diagnosis - Bipolar Disorder.
I have carried this label before for years - nothing has changed much. My meds are the same, I need to take antipsychotics and a mood stabilizer and a benzo for my OCD and anxiety issues.
I really like this site - I like the people on this site - I have been on here for years since the old site.
I want to continue to be able to post on here and contribute - learn and share - for me nothing has changed -
I am tired of these labels anyway - I am still the same person underneath
i think the forum is free to all. its a public place on the internet where anyone can come and post with something related to schizophrenia or off topic. everyone is welcome as i see it.
Don’t sweat the diagnosis - that’s mainly for insurance purposes and categorization. I doubt anyone on here will turn their backs on you…I know I won’t.
There are those that say bipolar and schizophrenia don’t ‘breed true’ and are not two different diseases. There is a suggestion that psychosis ‘breeds true’ irrespective of diagnosis. Because of the blurred zone between bipolar,schizoaffective and schizophrenia Professor Tim Crow proposed the ‘continuum theory’.
At the end of the day the symptoms that brought you here haven’t changed and a diagnosis can be a shifting thing that changes with the differing emphasis a new pdoc might put on the symptoms you present with and when you present with them.
I think it’s not unusual for a person to switch back and forth between schizoaffective and bipolar 1. Basically it shows the flaws in the diagnostic system.
Ultimately what matters is getting the right help.
It is so true @firemonkey the diagnostic system and the DSM 5 are a bunch of baloney in my opinion
My doctor does not think there are big differences between schizoaffective disorder - bipolar type and bipolar type 1 with psychotic features - basically the same meds. She does not obsess over diagnosing - she does seem to treat the symptoms as they appear
That is what son’s PD has diagnosed him since day 1, bipolar, he still agrees with that. Hospitals have diagnosed him as Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective - bipolar. The way I see it, they are seeing him at his worst state in hospital. However, he has seen this dr for 4 years, he sees him more than anyone, manic, hypomanic, so the doctor has more to go by. My son has mixed and psychotic features also. One thing that really can confuse the situation, my son wasn’t on meds and very quickly got worse. Cycling was in the beginning but turned into a rapid cycle turning his symptoms into full time instead of a cycle, hence schizoaffective - bipolar. Son was put in Invega shot because of non compliance in the past year, and had to come off due to medical reasons. I asked his PD if he could still do a mood stabilizer/ Trileptal only, and Doc said yes. Son had been on Lithium and Depakote, but with an antipsychotic. The short of the story is If he weren’t Bipolar, Trileptal wouldn’t work alone. He would require an AP for the psychosis. However so far it has worked better than any other med he has been on. He has been on Zyprexa, abilify, geodon, invega, risperidone, latuda, seroquel, lithium, depakote, saphris. Klonopin, xanax, prozac and a few more for sleep. His dr has always said if the moods are even the psychosis doesn’t come either way. But the APs would usually throw him to the other pole, a Dysphoric depressed mania. That is not pretty. On trileptal you can’t hardly tell he’s taking anything. I hope it all works out well for you. Keep trying to get the best fit on meds.
Trileptal is a variant of Tegretol, but with less side effects - a good med.I have been on Tegretol for years
Thank you @rsummwwjd for the well wishes - I hope your son has continued success with his treatment plan
Bipolar, schizoaffective, schizophrenia…
The same manic energy, the same depressive lows, the same drugs that keep us functional, the same battles with stigma, the same travels through the mental health system, the same wish to be well…
I like this site because all are welcome.
I have had officially in order- schizophrenia/schizoaffective / PD NOS/ Paranoid PD and mentioned in notes- schizophrenia with disorder of gender identity/schizophrenia with PD/ probable bipolar/ very dependent narcissist.
The biggest change over the years as often happens with people is that I’m now more chronically than acutely ill. The core symtoms - anxiety/depression/mood swings/paranoia/ mild/sub clinical psychosis/emotional and stress reactivity haven’t changed but over time the diagnosis has. As I said before most of us are mongrels and cross diagnostic boundaries .
Honestly I think the label is completely irrelevant. Patients should be treated via individual symptoms because blanket treatment and generalization of symptoms isn’t an effective method when dealing with mental illness. No one person is going to experience it the same way.
I got so sick of trying to find a name for what I had that I eventually gave up and gained the motto “I am what I am.”
we are all a ’ mixed bag of nuts ’ on here.
next week they will probably diagnose you with sz again…!!
take care