Hi beauflow,

First of all - no, you don't come across as hasty or sarcastic, although I understand the need for a little sarcasm. I can be incredibly tongue-in-cheek about my mental health issues (not on here so much, but certainly when talking to certain friends) and I think humour, however inappropriate it may seem, sometimes gets us through some dark times.

I'm sorry things are so frustrating and confusing for you at the moment. It sounds like your pdoc hasn't helped so much as increased that frustration. I don't have a diagnosis or a background in psychiatry but here are my thoughts:

From talking to a trusted friend/colleague last week, as well as haunting the bipolar forum for the past month or so, I have learned that there are as many different forms of bipolar as there are people. The DSM-IV seems particularly rigid in its criteria in this respect, as it seems to me there are very few people who completely 'fit' the description of BPI or II. Some people experience mania, some hypomania. Some have an episode once every 10 years, some have a few a year, some might cycle rapidly throughout the course of a week. Some experiende psychosis, some do not. Some manias are euphoric, some are dysphoric. I have come to understand that everyone's experience of bipolar is different. People are unique, fluid creatures. We do not fit into boxes!

As for borderline - yes, I think it is entirely possible to suffer from more than one disorder at a time, and my understanding is that borderline pd and bipolar share some similar symptoms. When I first signed up to psychcentral I took the SanityScore quiz, the results of which suggested I showed signs of 8 serious and 6 milder 'problems'!

Your pdoc sounds very confused. You aren't bipolar, then you need antipsychotics, then you ARE bipolar but "only" BPII as there are no psychotic features?! I wonder if they fully understand bipolar themselves! I think you should discuss these concerns with your therapist or another trusted medical professional. Our minds can be chaotic enough as it is without someone (who should know better) causing extra confusion!

I hope you get some proper answers soon. Let us know how things go x