[GoldenSnitch]

I just really need to rant. I went IP last week and stayed for 5 days. The pdoc there changed all of my meds because he felt mine were redundant and I was on too many. He has me fill out a mood disorders screen (I answered yes to every single question) and talked to me about Borderline personality disorder. I got no therapy while IP and had small chats with pdoc twice. I told him that borderline and bipolar both fit me and he said the only way to know for sure if I’m bipolar is to go off my meds in about 6 months and see if I get manic. On my discharge paperwork it said that my diagnosis was depression? I’m so annoyed by that. I feel like nobody is taking me seriously because I’m not as ill as some other people with these disorders. I went IP because I was rapid cycling, how does that equal depression? And when I answered positive to the screen and all of the symptoms of borderline match my life, why won’t they give me the diagnosis so I can be treated appropriately? I’ve been back home for a day and a half and I’m already all stressed out and I haven’t even returned to work yet. Ugh.

[SorryShaped]

I'd be very dissatisfied with that IP experience too. It seems like they didn't try when you were trying the last thing you could.
I'm sorry that place sucked.
I hope your regular pdoc can help with this and the meds changes help

So frustrating! I went IP and they slapped me with the BPD label no problem. She didn't believe I had bipolar until I started going manic off Zoloft. So I have both.

This can be such a frustrating process and figuring it all out is hard. Hugs.

[Guiness187055]

IP seems really quick to put the BPD label on someone. They actually saw me manic so I didn't have that issue. I was confirmed bipolar 1.

[~Christina]

Going off meds for 6 months to see if you go manic had nothing to do with a diagnosis of borderline and sounds reckless advice from a Pdoc . Borderline is treated with DBT Therapy..

Second opinion is what I would want and probably a new Pdoc

[still_crazy]

if you're female, BPD seems to be the -it- diagnosis. Its like...the 21st century equivalent of hysteria, or so it seems.

on the plus side...fewer meds=less potential for drug-drug interactions, lower pharmacy costs. maybe this "expert" think you'd respond well to psychotherapy?

[sonjaward809]

I’m so sorry you had that experience!! I was diagnosed with Bipolar after my first IP stay when I was 17. Before that I was told I had depression + schizophrenia. It took me getting hospitalized for them to give me the correct diagnosis. Now I’m told I have BPD also. 😒 I would see about getting a doctor to really look into your symptoms (not the same ones from IP) and see what they say. It can take a minute to get the proper diagnosis. It does sound like they weren’t taking you serious and just wanted to put a label on you.

I agree that two brief meetings with an inpatient psychiatrist is not enough for a major change in diagnosis, unless you clearly exhibit undeniable symptoms. Full blown mania usually fits that category.

I have no idea what your past history with psychiatrists​ was prior to your hospitalization. Did a past psychiatrist witness you clearly hypomanic or full blown manic? And did those episodes fully meet the criteria for such episodes? Time requirements, enough symptoms to meet their criteria, and others?

From what I've read, Borderline Personality Disorder's emotional dysregulation can seem a bit like what some people call rapid cycling (or specifically ultra ultra rapid cycling). In some books and online articles, true ultra ultra rapid cycling bipolar disorder is said to be fairly rare. I've also read that there is the occasional psychiatrist that doesn't even believe in it. [Not my view, because I don't know. Just what I read.] That certainly can be a reason why some psychiatrists doubt that diagnosis in favor of Borderline, if clear Borderline symptoms are also firmly noted. In any case, mental health practioners have their own views about mental illnesses. I do not have Borderline PD, but I remember as part of a conversation one of my past psychologists saying that he didn't even believe BPD exists, despite it being in the current DSM. He was a lousy psychologist, I'll admit.