Early diagnosis of Aspergers seems to clash with new diagnosis?

In my early 30s , I was diagnosed with aspergers, and it suited me to a T.
Now there's a good chance it's some level of bipolar?

Problem is I'm on Abilify and it's indicated as helping both autism irritability and manic phases, so I'm not only confused but disheartened. I read that you can't be bipolar AND aspergers, is that still correct?

I was so scared, my head just became afraid of everything. I think I was planked, or something, still don't know but the point is I overreacted and wound up looking crazy as a fruit loop. I'm told my brother has bipolar but that's 2nd hand, but Effeexor put me in a medically induced mania years ago, so it's possible.

Is there anyone out there who has knowledge that may assist me here? I'm not self diagnosing, just trying to figure this riddle out. Truth is, I haven't asked the doctor yet what he thinks I have. I'm afraid to ask, because beyond PTSD and OCD, the only known is depressive episodes with irritability. Which could mean many things.

Thanks.

It's not true that you can't have both aspergers and bipolar. From what I have read you can definitely have both.

But if you do have PTSD, OCD and bipolar it could be possible that the combination of symptoms was mistaken for ASD by a psych. But I'm very confident that someone can be ASD and also have bipolar disorder and that one does not rule the other out.

Interesting. The PTSD came largely from bring bullied badly due to my ASP inclinations. (Also runs in my family...like about 80%).

I think the stress from the bullying out me into a manic bit there, but meds helped.
Thank you for your input!

It is possible to have any diagnosis along with asperger's so yes you can have asperger's and bipolar. The rate of other diagnoses is pretty low with serious autism. However, those with asperger's, like myself, often appear as typically developing and therefore due to the stress of trying to "fit" with society they like I have on some level, develop psychological health problems. Mine was believing I was a powerful, god-like alien from another world with incredible powers. The stress of knowing that you are unlike other people can push some into insanity, like it did with me to some extent. I would be willing to bet that for you the "mania" is probably a similar form of escape mechanism. I have not been diagnosed yet (although I am currently in the process) because it took a long while for people to see that I was truly different from other people and that I was having serious difficulties trying to fit myself into the cookie cutter mold of society

That's my issue, too. Same dough, different cookie cutter. Oh, yes, being on the outside does weaken what's already broken--or the other way around. I was just telling somebody there's nothing that having resilience wouldn't improve.
You have my empathy. Hard not to see how being an alien woukdnt fit in your life. Superpowers, even better, I guess. Good luck in the diagnosis.

My brother who has APS also has OCD and Anxiety. So you can have multiple diagnosis. Go to your doctor and you can be tested for being Bipolar. It's easy to say to not be afraid but if you are experiencing mania and depressive lows you should see your doctor. It's important to take care of your mental health just as much as your physical health.

I've been diagnosed with both bipolar and Asperger's syndrome. They interact in really strange ways, especially socially - when I'm depressed, I isolate, I'm standoffish, flat affect, restricted interests, I seem more autistic. When I'm manic, they're all still there, but I'm so hyped up that I'm much, much more social, and less reserved, less standoffish, definitely less flat.

I've also studied theatre so long that at least when I'm normal or manic, it's possible for me to hide it from most people. The only people who guess I have Asperger's before I tell them are people who are pretty familiar with it. But because of my presentation, some of the psychiatric professionals I've seen disbelieve the diagnosis, so much so that I wonder about the diagnosis myself. I know I'm definitely bipolar, with autistic traits. Maybe I'm broader autism phenotype.

Theater kid, the doc seems happy I'm doing better on Abilify. I see you take it, too. Doesn't it work with autistic agitation or so to he pamphlet says?

Have you (or anybody else) ever experienced autistic agitation switching into a full fledged bipolar state, especially after other factors (like PTSD) cause lack of sleep? I've never been real happy with past diagnosis. It was always depression or aspergers with depression. But I could tell something else was going on. Nice to not feel so alone, in this. No wonder the docs have had trouble with me. I'm so stubborn that I can hide all but the very, very worst of my symptoms. When I'm happy, people are happy to relate. Depression is do normal for me that it just blends in with the flat state of my autistic traits. The anxiety attacks were impossible to hide (and were made worse by cruel people, not that I don't realize some gratitude that they pushed me into getting help and medication. I think a lot of aspys learn to act...stuffing everything inside, especially the taunts. I'm so grateful I can finally deal with these issues, and it helps knowing others have had similar issues.

I just started Abilify, I've been on it 3 weeks - 1 week at 2 mg, 1 week at 4 mg, 1 week at 6 mg. What's interesting is that my pdoc said Abilify was "activating" and that it could CAUSE agitation. So far it hasn't.

I don't know if I experience much agitation, whether it's autistic or bipolar. I get a LOT of anxiety. My mixed states are usually full of anxiety. I've never really had a rage - it was trained out of me in childhood. The docs tend to disbelieve the diagnosis too, because I can make conversation and eye contact during office appointments. They don't see me out in the real world though.

I was diagnosed bipolar before I got the asperger's diagnosis. My pdoc agreed that I had some autistic traits and referred me to a specialist, who determined I had "moderate to severe asperger's", and I read his report and he included a lot of the psych background my pdoc sent him, verbatim.

I used to see an occupational therapist who wondered if I had ADHD and suggested to my psych nurse that I get an assessment, but my psych nurse said it was impossible to have both Asperger's and ADHD (I think that's not true) so she never referred me for testing. Which sucks, because I think ADHD actually fits me better than Asperger's.

My nephew has ADHD plus aspergers, my niece (different sisters child) too. So you could have both. There's all sorts of things co-with aspi traits: OCD, and even Tourette's. (Funny id know that but not about bipolar!)
Interesting about the abilify dose age. I halved my dose age to 5 (from 10) and did ok, but my p doc wants me on 10. I think it's waaaaay too high at ten, so I agreed to again try the full amount but keep dr apprised of the situation. He hadn't seen me on the full amount. The anxiety/agitation was terrible, but I also felt oddly clearheaded too. If I get agitated, I'm to see the dr do he can see in person what it's like for me (very nice!).

Aspergers is funny. Not comically funny but hard to get diagnosed as an adult funny. A former therapist said it was because most adults have long learned to mask the symptoms. Sadly, I guess many professionals seem to think if you can fake it, you aren't suffering from having it. Far from true. Far.