Hello.

From what I read psychiatric misdiagnosis is very common. Ive read that most people are misdiagnosed a couple of times before they are accurately diagnosed. Keep this in mind. also, keep in mind that ONLY YOU KNOW HOW YOU FEEL WHEN TAKNG YOUR MEDS.

While an outside observer/doctor or prescriber can see things that the individual patient doesnt see objectively, the fact that you feel more depressed tells me you need to speak up about your treatment. If youve been on these drugs long enough for them to have a level in your bloodstream and you still dont feel better when you take the meds for bi polar --then it suggests to me that you dont need those drugs, or that the dosage or medicine itself should be changed. THAT IS MY PERSONAL TAKE. I am no doc, but, yes, I have been misdiagnosed myself and I know what Im talking about to some degree.

When I was fourteen I was taken to a pschiatrist you disgnosed me with schizophrenia and put me on antipsychotic drugs. From that time forward, fo the next fifteen years I was given every antipsychotic developed.

The drugs always made me feel terrible: heavy and lethargic and slow moving on the outside and nervous and shaky and anxious on the inside. I felt terrible and that my life was over, but was always told it was me and my illness.

Then when I was thirty years old I took myself off these drugs. It was only then it was discovered I was not schizophrenic and never had been. So, I was medicated for fifteen years for an illness I never had and for those fifteen years never was off medication. Because these drugs did not help me I was also repeatedly hospitalized because I was so depressed and desperate because I couldnt stand living the way I was living.

It has taken me years to get myself and my life back, but now I have. I think it is very important for anyone to sepak up when they dont think their drugs are helping. YOU MUST BE YOUR OWN ADVOCATE.

Keep in mind that diagnosis can be a very subjective thing and from what I read, even where you live -what part of the world you are in- influences what a psychiatrist diagnoses you with. Not the best scenario for feeling secure as a patient.

Insist that you doc hears you out and considers what you are telling him. Speak up and advocate for yourself. The treatment team/equation only works when it includes BOTH you and your doc. This is so important ebcause this is YOUR life.

Take care, kiddo. Be strong in yourself and your rights to understand your diagnosis and treatment plan and to ahve an active voice in it.