[BadWolfC]

I was recently re-diagnosed, and I feel like it's the first time I've actually gotten some answers. I've been diagnosed as Bipolar for a few years now, but no one ever specified which type I might have been, and I always felt like there was something else missing. Now I think I finally have those answers. After being re-evaluated, I've been diagnosed as Bipolar 2 with Borderline Personality Disorder traits. I think this makes a lot of sense, and I actually find it very interesting. If this diagnosis is correct, it's taken me 14 years to finally have the right label, and I'm only 23. Before being diagnosed with Bipolar a few years ago, I was considered severely depressed for a very long time because I didn't have any manic episodes until I was 19.

I'm curious as to if any of you have had similar experiences with misdiagnosis/lack of diagnosis for long periods of time, and what your thoughts on it and the causes for it are.

[Mountainbard]

I'm glad you've found a diagnosis that fits your reality. I was misdiagnosed with major depression for 17 years. It was just a year ago that I was diagnosed, and that led to my being prescribed a group of meds that have allowed me to become stable after a long depression. My hypomanic episodes were very subtle early on, but as the years passed they became more and more pronounced.

[ComfortablyNumb5]

Congrats on your new info and ability to understand your MI better! I know the feeling. For years (I'm talking age 16-27) I went to the same place for pdocs and tdocs. It was always just bp2. Then I got insurance and went to a better place where they sat me down, asked real questions, made me cry ect. I left there as BP2 with PTSD and borderline personality. I got home and read up on these new dx's. Makes sense. Yea it sucks because I'm even more messed up than I thought but at least I know now lol.

Dx: BP2, PTSD, bulimia/anorexia
Risperdal 4mg
Trileptal 300mgs
Buspar 45mgs
Ativan 1mg PRN
Vyvance 70mgs PRN

[bbTofu]

I was initially diagnosed with severe Depression, then I was experienced psychosis with the depression. Afterwards depression got better, they said Cyclothymia.

I did not see any psychiatrist for 4 years up until few days ago.. and she said Bipolar II. I was confused because I told her I'm never manic, rather hypomanic, and when depressed I'm still able to function somehow, however hard it is... she said that it still very hard etc.. bipolarII it is

I feel like I've come to better place with this diagnosis because maybe the medications will really help me, and I hope I'll finally feel some emotional balance.

[Unrigged64072835]

Glad things worked out for you. I was misdiagnosed with depression for about 20 years, mainly because my mania didn't get me in really bad trouble ( though there were times I should've been). I already had a borderline diagnosis but didn't get bipolar until a few years ago, when I've run the gamut of antidepressants. My pdoc decided to put me on Lamictal and things were a whole lot better.

[Pastel Kitten]

I was diagnosed with ADHD and clinical depression when I was 13. I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder when I was 16, and then I discharged myself from the mental health care system because I thought I was better. After 4 more years of these terribly frequent mood swings, I've decided to seek out help again and am being evaluated for bipolar disorder after speaking to a counselor and my primary care doctor. Because I was diagnosed with ADHD and depression initially, I was prescribed antidepressants (fluoxetine) and ritalin, which made my mood fluctuations even worse for years. My psychiatric appointment is on the 4th of December. I hope it goes well, and that I get to begin proper treatment so I can finally start getting better. I'm glad to hear you've found answers after years of misdiagnosis. Bipolar 2, I've come to realize, can be especially hard to recognize for many years, because the debilitating part of it is mainly the severe depression.

Depression for many years. I never saw my therapist or psychiatrist during hypomania. Then I had my first real manic episode and I thought i had bipolar and I saw a new psychiatrist who confirmed it after a year.

[Cocosurviving]

I was misdiagnosed but not for very long tho. Growing up I had no signs of my dx. My onset was later in life 36 yrs old. I was dx with depression, adjustment disorder and ptsd (April 2012). I was prescribed a med (AD) and was not getting better. I actually turned manic and had my first episode. I left damage behind including losing my job (May 2012). I didn't know I was manic or what was going on. I just knew things were getting worse. I told the therapist from the start I didn't feel the dx fit and I'd get a second opinion. Well now I knew I needed to just do it. In July 2012 I went for a second opinion. We went over what had been going on with me, what moods I experience daily, weekly. etc. We went over family history. I was taking off AD-Celexa ASAP. I had BP 1 and AD cause mania when ur not on a mood stabilizer. My heart goes out to everyone of you misdiagnosed for years.

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[msox12]

Wow.. now Im reading up on borderline personality disorder and that sounds even more like me... Ugh

Im so glad you got some answers, OP. I hope to get some too, as well.