[BNLsMOM]

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?

[Lonlin3zz]

Personally, Neurological conditions might be generally harder to diagnose than a physical illness. So, I feel a generous time-span should be given to properly diagnose Bipolar Disorder in a person.

Let me ask you, are you really particular about knowing about what label suits you?

[CopperStar]

I would say no, especially without any blood work. I've been through some very distinct mixed episodes and psychosis, and my recent pdoc still had me get blood work and still insists on starting with episodic mood disorder nos. With my pdoc being on the other end of the spectrum, the behavior you describe of that nurse sounds rather suspicious to me.

[BNLsMOM]

Originally Posted by Lonlin3zz

Personally, Neurological conditions might be generally harder to diagnose than a physical illness. So, I feel a generous time-span should be given to properly diagnose Bipolar Disorder in a person.

Let me ask you, are you really particular about knowing about what label suits you?

I'm not really too focused on labels, per se, but I would like to know if the hell I went through while on meds was really necessary. I was never hospitalized or had any real psychosis until I was put on meds. I had every side effect under the sun including sui ideas and actions and was hospitalized 10 times. I ended up having ECT for a year. This was all because this one person had me diagnosed so quickly. I didn't know any better, and I only saw her for a period of 9 days. (she had me in every day for hours for 9 days). When I went to a new practitioner, an actual psychiatrist, I walked in thinking I had bipolar, so that's what I told him. He started right in with treatment and meds, and that started the descent into madness.

After ECT, I was feeling better and asked my practitioner at that time (I had been through a few by then) if I could try going med free because we discussed the fact that I had more problems on meds than I ever had before meds. She agreed to try, and now it has been nearly two years. (November witll be two years) Since then, I have not had any true episodes (a couple of depressive weeks now and then that coincide with my menstrual cycle) and I have gone through the most stressful times I have ever encountered (divorce, selling a house, moving, settling my kids into new schools, learning to be a single mom and having very little money.)

I still see a therapist and he agrees that I am doing very well and is surprised that the stress I have been through in the last year and a half hasn't caused any episodes. My psychopharmacologist has "graduated" me and I no longer have to see her.

I am virtually untreated and you would think that with no meds at all that I would have episodes if I really had bipolar.

What I went through during treatment has left me disabled, and has significantly affected my memory. I have very little memory of major events such as my wedding, the birth of my children, taking them to Disney World, weddings of my cousins etc., and people talk about things and events that I attended that I have absolutely no memory of.

Now that I have been healthy for so long, I am back to being able to remember almost everything without writing it down or taking notes. Before treatment, I always had an amazing memory, both short and long term.

[wiretwister]

my pdoc after swearing on his license that I was bp1, now says I am just on the spectrum of bp ( whatever that means ) , after ip ( i feel caused by an overdose of lexapro ) we started down the rabbit hole of heavy meds , I am now on a lesser dose and less strong meds, as the meds were lessened I began to regain my full mental self , as I got better the pdoc keept backing off his dx , .... yes I feel I was taken advantage of, then over dosed to keep me that way, ... it is my plan to be completely med free one day, .... I have been depressed since ip but it was probibly the meds as when we changed then the depression lifted ...it is very possible you where miss dxed, ..." but only a competent pdoc would know that, not me," .... remember in life it is always true, .... follow the money, and big pharma is the money ...

[gayleggg]

I would generally think it would take longer than ten minutes. It took 20 years for me to be diagnosed with bipolar. And three psychiatrists missed it.

So it is possible you were miss diagnosed.

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[loophole]

Took about 15 years to get it right... Mind you 7 of those years was me on my own uninsured and self medicating with weed and alcohol

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I'm so sorry for all you went through. It sounds terrible. I have no idea why you'd be diagnosed that quickly, but most DX's are made based on observation and self reports from the patient.

I'm glad you are med free and stable, but I'm so sorry for all the memories you've lost.

I also have Fibromyalgia. It plays heavily into my mental health. So much so, that I often have a hard time figuring out where one ends and one begins. It's a horrible disorder and i'm sorry you have it.

[UCMATH]

Originally Posted by BNLsMOM

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

I don't think so. They might suspect it if your were floridly manic or something. Even then, I would think they'd want blood tests. Ten minutes seems really quick.

[*Laurie*]

I've been seeing therapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists for 35 years. I have never had a definitive diagnosis. In fact, oftentimes medical professionals seem to diagnose more according to their convenience than to my actual circumstances. I no longer look for, trust, or rely on a definitive diagnosis. I love how, in the movie 'Girl, Interrupted' Lisa calls 'diagnosis' 'diagnonsense'

My husband worked in mental health for over a decade. He was a unit supervisor for a state ran mental health facility. I read him your story and he's PISSED. As he stated "It takes longer than 10 minutes just to go through your life history"

Something seems very wrong here and I'm so, so sorry you went through all that.

[coffeebuzzbuzz]

It took me many doctors and over a decade to be correctly diagnosed--15 to find out I have had Aspbergers my whole life as well.

It hurt me when I first found out I needed a lot more therapy and more than just a mild antidepressant to feel better, and could have had a better life...still does sometimes, but in the end being helped now is better than never.