I have been thinking about the day I was diagnosed because I had gone to see someone who billed herself as a therapist. I was looking for couple's counseling. Within a few minutes she had me diagnosed and gave me several samples of meds she wanted me to try.

I was just diagnosed with fibromyalgia this week and was looking up the connection between it and bipolar. I came across something that mentioned that sometimes fibro is misdiagnosed as bipolar and vice versa.

I have been completely med free for almost two years and have had small bouts of depression, but no real bipolar symptoms which were out of control only during the time I was on meds.

I am wondering if maybe I was misdiagnosed... the "therapist," who is a nurse practitioner, didn't order any blood work to check thyroid function, and did no work to rule out any other conditions.

Years later, now that I am educated and med free, I feel that I may have been misdiagnosed. I had just had a baby a few months before my diagnosis and I wonder if I had been suffering from a combination of post-partum depression and the effects of a stressful and bad marriage. (We have been divorced for a year now)

Anyway, my big question is: Can bipolar be diagnosed in the space of 10 minutes without ruling out other causes?