[birdcrazy]

Well, I have a couple of diagnoses on my chart, but I still have symptoms that don't seem to go with them. My current diagnosis is in fact Schizoaffective Disorder and Anxiety NOS. But it's more complicated than that.

One is the fact I was severely disordered as a child to. As a child I presented differently, but one doctor had the opinion that my childhood problems could be a manifestation of the same disorder or disorders I have now. As a child according to the records for example it sounds like I had ADHD. As an adult, people tell me that I act like I have ADHD, but when I read stuff about it, I think that probably I'm really mild in that area now because I actually don't relate to it, but I don't know.

Another problem is I have brought up a couple of things before and they blamed it on what I was currently diagnosed even though I had never read that my current diagnosis could do that.

I do have a tenancy of over thinking past and current symptoms. I actually don't sometimes know what to call them! For example autism has stimming and ADHD has fidgeting. I have one of these behaviors but well, maybe my nail biting is just a fidget, but if I am standing up what do I call the twisting around movement that i always start doing?

I really don't know how to bring this issue up again. Symptoms overlap so much. For actually what I am diagnosed with and stuff I suspect I have, I have some symptoms but I am missing other symptoms that are major to the disorder. Like if I really am schizophrenic I am missing the voices, for asperger's, I have a few symptoms but I can read non-verbal cues.

[Leed]

Just be open and honest with your doctor like you have been with us. Tell him that you're confused about some symptoms that you have that seem to point to other diagnoses, but not entirely -- and you're just wondering what it all means. Don't be afraid to mention these things. Some doctors can be real jerks about these things and they tell us that we 'read' too much which I think it nonsense. If we don't try to educate ourselves we end up real idiots about our conditions! Yet if we DO read, they tell us we read too much! So we're darned if we do, and darned if we don't.

The thing is, do NOT let your doctor intimidate you. He's working for YOU and if he gets an attitude, just remind him of that! Tell him you're just trying to educate yourself! But just be open with him, and tell him about your symptoms. He'll explain things to you if he's any kind of doctor at all. God bless and please take care. Hugs, Lee

[(JD)]

Why not make a list of those symptoms and then ask if they are included/covered with the xxx diagnosis the doctor gave you. Often they are part of what the doctor has used to make the said diagnosis. (For example, anxiety being a part of PTSD which is an anxiety disorder. The anxiety really doesn't need to be listed separately from the PTSD.)