[Disorder7]

How long did it take your pdoc to diagnose you as bipolar? Sometimes I find it odd that my pdoc was able to diagnose me during the very first appointment.
I've heard some people say it took several appointments and even their family had to be involved.
Just wondering what it was like for you. Thanks.

[pawn78]

5 minutes.

After I was hospitalized with text-book mania:
stopped sleeping for days, went psychotic, thought I was literally god, asked to meet the president because I had to help save the world....
It takes any Pdoc who looks at my case history about 5 minutes to declare "BIPOLAR TYPE 1"

[Disorder7]

Wow. Well, I guess the first appointment isn't such a stretch then.

[TheatreKid]

I was diagnosed over a 3 month hospital stay. It only took the first couple of weeks to get a definitive diagnosis, but it took the rest of the time to get me stabilized because I was all over the place.

They did take family history into account (several suicides and suicide attempts in my family) as well as those weeks of 24/7 observation as well as second opinions from psychologists, other psychiatrists, and social workers.

And I still convinced myself I had everyone fooled!

[BlackSheep79]

I was misdiagnosed for 12 yrs as being depressed. I was a teenager when it all started. I was seeing a therapist and pdoc in the same office. After several months my therapist said to me one day "I think your bipolar." He then talked to my pdoc and I started titrating on lamictal and at 50 mg it was night and day for me. I look back and I'm so angry that I was misdiagnosed because they put me on SSRIs that triggered mania for me. I was a ticking time bomb everyday and hurt the ones I loved.

[BioAdoptMom3]

What a relief that it was diagnosed so quickly after you sought help! Our daughter saw 2 different pdocs and 3 therapists for a total of almost 3 years before we took her to a residential treatment center where she was diagnosed by the doctor there on the very first day! He must have been correct because the medications have been a significant help for her (and for us)!

Nancy

[BipolaRNurse]

I got a provisional BP-NOS diagnosis along with Major Depressive Disorder at my first visit, which was a 90-minute consultation. My pdoc spent most of that time coming up with reasons why I might not be bipolar (I'd gone in having printed out several online tests and quizzes that showed I had BP tendencies) because I was depressed at the time and didn't have a strong family history of the disease. So I was surprised that he gave me the provisional dx, although he said he might change it back to MDD depending on what he saw during the next couple of visits.

I was a little improved by the second visit, but on the third I bounced into his office and all he needed was one glance to know I was hypomanic. That's when the MDD diagnosis went away. Eventually I ended up with Bipolar 1 because of a couple of severe manic episodes that were triggered by work stress.

I sometimes question that because I've never completely lost my $#!+, like walking down Main Street naked or thinking I was God, but then I have experienced some pretty serious impairments as a result of the mania AND I've had psychotic symptoms with some episodes.

[Double Edge]

It took almost one year. I was having one of the worst depressions of my life that I couldn't pull myself out of, so started seeing psychiatrist and got on Wellbutrin XL. Fast forward almost a year later, still really depressed, Abilify add-on hasn't worked and gave me unbearable akathisia along with 25 lbs., I'm worried about memory problems so I go get a full neuropsych eval, which revealed my BP. They said BP I but my pdoc says BP II, because my hospitalization was 8 years ago, 3 of 5 known manic episodes were SSRI-induced, and because he'd "been suspecting BP II all along." That comment drove me up the wall....then why didn't you say something sooner, especially when I brought up concerns that I might have BP? Frustrating. So I've had the dx for two weeks on Monday. I still agree with BP I because one of my manias was psychotic, and I've identified transient psychotic thoughts when under high stress. He says BP I is unlikely because it's been a few years since my last mania. But doesn't it just depend? The past few years since literally a couple weeks after my last mania I've been battling hard with severe PTSD and MDD so who knows, maybe that keeps the mania at bay for some reason. Maybe when I can finally get this cursed depression to lift my mania will reappear. Who knows.

[Tucson]

I was diagnosed with MDD in my early 20s. I have strongly showed some key traits of BP ever since I was 12, but I did manage, albeit poorly at times. At 25 I was hospitalized. When I reached my fourties, the mood swings became unmanageable. I crashed several times and lost jobs. Only then was I properly diagnosed as BP. This is several doctors later, all who were clueless until I met the right doctor.

So this means I have been misdiagnosed for over fourty years, and it took several major disruptions to my life before I was properly diagnosed by a doctor on my first visit with him. God, don't I like the caliber of health professionals out there! LOL

BTW my current pdoc is very good.

[wiredidiot]

9 years! They kept treating me for depression. After things started getting "really" bad over the past several years, I was the one that suspected bipolar and sought out a shrink. She also treated me for massive depression for a few months and then changed the diagnosis to bipolar.

[lilypup]

Same thing as Tucson. Dx at 18 with depression. Took lots of anti-depressants until hospitalized at 35. Then one doc asked me a few questions and dx bipolar. Boy, was he ever right! I was so grateful as I had blamed myself all those years for my crazy behavior.

[Nightside of Eden]

I was diagnosed in a single 3-hour out-patient assessment by a Ph.D psychologist rather than a psychiatrist. The diagnosis of BP II isn't a perfect fit, as I do have psychotic features, but they only occur in depression and mixed states. I've never had anything even approaching mania. So I guess she chose the diagnosis that came closest to describing my symptoms. The only thing that really matters anyway is that I'm receiving the correct treatment from my med doctor.

[loophole]

About 2 months of primary physician trying to fix the problem.. 30 minute evaluation at clinic.. diagnosed bipolar ii.. since been diagnosed with bipolar 2/nos. Yep that's what she called it.. with episodes of rapid cycling...

[tigersassy]

I was dxed ptsd/mdd when I was 18/19. My primary dxed me with bipolar 2 late last year, 26, because I told her about my laughing at a family members funeral and having to try really hard to be somber. Then she referred me saw a Pdoc 2x's never knew his dx. Saw a NP, for an emergency appt cause I got in big trouble at work with my irritability and lack of filter, in a1 hour visit she dxed bipolar 1. Saw my new Pdoc a little over a week later and she put bipolar 1 as well, starting I'm currently manic.

[wiretwister]

since my pdoc first saw me inpatient, sometime in that 72 hours...my t in 30 seconds or so she said..

[Victoria'smom]

WetherI was in and out of the mental health system. Originally Dx depressed, no meds. Then depressed with meds turned manic. Went off meds. because Dr suggested crisis unit. New Dr took all of 5 seconds. Looked at my file looked at me asked me why I stopped my antidepressant ans I yelled at him "do I look like I need an antidepressant?" Walked out with a mood stabilizer. Pdoc 1 had fun with adding and removing lables for me. Intake to new T & pdoc had their suspictions moment I walked in but it took hours to decide whether the crisis unit was the best place for me. Psychotic features were added later.

[Disorder7]

Thanks everyone. You've help me put it in perspective. For years I was diagnosed with just anxiety and depression. My latest pdoc said I had been misdiagnosed all of those years, and that I was bipolar, with an anxiety disorder. I wondered how he could possibly tell that in just one visit.
I guess it happens. Again thanks.