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Bipolar or Autistic? Answers on a post card.............

picitup

Ok, so the title is quite tongue in cheek.  I do like to face challenges with a bit of humour Grin

I was diagnosed as bipolar a number of years ago and have taken meds for that condition for some years.  The symptoms as I saw them were a period of high activity followed by a long low where I couldn't really function and mostly lay on the sofa all day.  It's no surprise that this caused some relationship issues with my wife.

I've often chewed over whether I'm autistic and have read a lot over the years.  My background is all technical, being well into electronics and computer software.  i anted to be a computer programmer for many years and when I goth there, was as happy as Larry!  Long hours staring at the computer, often alone and sometimes through the night, it really was the bees knees and I achieved much I was very proud of.

The turning point in thinking for me was last time I had some mental health support.  I was going through a highly inactive stage and saw a number of professionals many of who were asking me if I thought I might be autistic.  Some of the support was occupational therapy from a lady, who also asked me and I questioned why she was asking.  She said she thought I had an over concern with facts.  She said there was nothing wrong with facts, but I had a high reliance on them.  I think that was true.

They gave me the AQ questionnaire to fill in and my support worker said I "was definitely on the spectrum" which peaks my interest, but of course, doesn't tell me anything.


They referred me for an NHS assessment, but the wait is 5 years lol, so am trying to sort out another test, possibly by the NHS RTC pathway.

So........ A mood disorder with unusual highs and lows or a bit of a creative with occasional autistic burnouts.  If you have any thoughts, I'd very much like to hear them, no need to worry about the post card Joy

Cheers

Steve

  • in reply to Tears_before_bedtime

    Hi    Thanks for your reply.   I'm sorry you had a manic phase, it must have been very difficult.  Your comment about them looking for an excuse to discharge you, rings quite the bell for me and it's appaling.  My feelings are that I have been dumped royally from the MH team which I suspected was coming for some time.

    In 'the old days'  I would get a high or low mood and call them for a meds review.  Quick chat with a psychiatrist, meds wiggling and I'm sorted.  I had a stroke at 60, 6 years ago and some time later had low mood so called them.  Without a meeting or conversation, they referred me back to the neurologist who dealt with my stroke.

    Now, I know what a low mood looks like for me, as does my wife.  I still had the number of the neurologist and explained the situation.  She had no idea why they had done this and called them, referring me back to the MH team.

    Then I got a chat with a psychiatrist and I described the issues and they decided to send me for an MRI scan to check for dementia which scared me in a way I had never been scared.  Anyway, scan all good, in fact pretty impressive for a coffin dodger.  I ended up thinking of things in a seriously negative way, but all better now.

    So what's happening?  Of course, I have no idea, but suspect they wanted rid and tried to crowbar me into neurological issues to get rid.  To be honest I'm so upset and angry, my Garmin Watch was telling me to do breathing exercises last night Joy

    I've tried my best to sort this out in a professional polit way, but am on the cusp of kiccking some serious *rse and the GP, MH team will all get a peice.  Not physically, of course, but I think I'll get their attention.  Phew!

  • I'm bipolar and recently went manic. The crisis team were looking for an excuse to discharge me so said I was probably autistic therefore they wouldn't help me with the bipolar relapse. 

    I got a private diagnosis and it turns out I am autistic. However, that was entirely irrelevant to the fact I was having a bipolar relapse!

    Got re-referred to mental health and this time got a proper psychiatrist appt. Got a top up to my lamotrigine and then an antipsychotic to add in.

    I'm not psychotic now, which kinda shows the meds work for me I suppose.

    It's really hard to know if bipolar meds are working. A bit like the joke about the guy selling alien repellent to spray on your lawn. You know it's working because no aliens show up...

    Coming off meds is obviously something best supervised and supported by mental health. If they're not interested in a referral then rope in the GP.

    I would hazard a guess that if you tell the GP you want to stop and if they won't help titrate downwards you'll stop immediately that they will support you by reducing the dose to avoid the danger of you just stopping them dead. Either that or magically your referral to mental health will be accepted. 

    Wishing you good luck however you decide to act.

  • in reply to profdanger

    Hi again.  I'd like to say how much I appreciate you 'getting me' Grin:  ' A doctor confirmed it so p*ss off! Joy

    Your advice is spot on to speak to a GP, but there's a story.....  You're right they are all very serious drugs and need some care to wean off.    The fly in the ointment is that I have no mental health support.  IT's a very long story, so to paraphrase....

    I contacted the MH team to ask for a meds review

    They said I had been discharged back to the GP and need to see them.

    Saw the GP who referred me to the MH team

    MH team refused the referral saying the GP had to use a specialist medication support line.

    GP called me  and told me the support line no longer offer this service and would sort it out and call me.

    No callback after a couple of weeks, chased and was told the GP no longer works for the surgery

    Wrote the whole story, printed it and handed it into the surgery at reception.

    Chased a few days later and it seems nobody knows where the letter is.

    Wrote it again and addressed it to my own GP a couple of weeks ago.  No call, nada.

    I'm going to chase it tomorrow and probs get frustrated again.

    I take Lamotrigine and Depakote.  For Lamotrigine I felt confident crushing and mixing with water and reducing over a much longer period than recommended.  It's suggested a 4 week taper is appropriate, but some of the withdrawal effects are scary, so thought I should increase the period.  I reduced it using this method by 10% per week (5 weeks) to get down from 100mg to 50mg.  I then stayed on 50mg for a couple of weeks and started to cut them in half, so 25mg.  Did this for a few weeks, then stopped taking it.  The only effects I've noticed  are that I'm sleeping better and I do have some anxiety,  but at a level I think I can manage, so not scary.

    Your advice is very good, so thank you for that.  I'm on a bipolar forum too, and a guy posted up at how sick he was about taking such risky drugs and was going to go 'cold turkey'.  I can understand the thinking there, but others posted up that they had done the same and ended up in hospital.

    Clearly a good deal of caution is needed here, despite a growing distaste for taking such risky medication.

  • Hi, I think if the mental health professionals suggest it, I think they have reason. If you yourself suspect it - you have a reason. The waiting times are insane. I think, that they are so long intentionally- to make people disheartened and give up on trying to get the diagnosis.  There are possibilities like Right to Choose (probably in England if I remember correctly) or private, if the money is not an issue for you. There is also a question if you need the diagnosis or its not so important. Its very individual.  I'm self identified and also suspected by my therapist,  who understands me like no-one else before. We gonna speak about it soon - what would be the next steps. I'm a bit anxious about not being taken seriously by diagnosticians, but if it's not autism then I would accept it. But I think I would stay in this forum anyway because it means for me so much and I found some friends here.

    Autism often coexist with other disorders and we often get first the other disorder diagnosed,  in my case tourette. It turned out was a wrong diagnosis,  then there was depression. Only when the other disorder gets kind of managed it turns out, it was not the only one. For example anxiety and social anxiety often coexist with other disorders, that are present before like ASD and ADHD. Hopefully there is more knowledge about mental and neurological conditions and the support would come earlier and be more effective. 

  • in reply to picitup

    Gotcha! Yeah, I understand wanting the diagnosis to be able to say “Hey look, a doctor confirmed it” to friends and family that disbelieve it. That was a big reason why I pursued diagnosis.

    As for your BP meds, I’d recommend talking with your GP before dropping them. They might be able to wean you off of them safely with lower doses or tell you which meds are safe to drop. Psych drugs are really scary to just stop using because they can often cause serious issues like depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. I recently dropped an antidepressant (I ran out and was too lazy to refill it, thinking it wasn’t doing much for me) and found out the hard way that my body/mind was NOT ready for it.

    I hope you have a wonderful evening as well!

  • in reply to profdanger

    Hi    Thanks for your reply.  Yup 5 years.  My two worries are that being on a list for so long, I might just drop off and never get tested.   The second worry it I'm 66 so will be 71 when tested if I haven't croaked by then!

    My guess is I probably am, but would quite like the label to be honest, then it would be a kind of shield against the droves of people that tell me I've been thinking the wrong way.

    You might be right, but I want to come off all teh Bp meds and see where i am without them.  If it turns out I need them, then i will go back on them, but need to find out what's what.  The other issue with the BP meds is that some of the side effects I've had are unpallatable and some are downright life threatening and scary.

    Having no medical qualifications at all, I've often thought that bipolar, autism and ADHD all live in the same house in your brain.

    Have a good evening..... Grin

    Steve

  • FIVE YEARS? Holy cow. I don’t blame you for trying to figure out another test.

    One thing to consider, though you are probably already aware, a lot of people self-diagnose as Autistic. If you feel as though you are Autistic, then it doesn’t really matter what a diagnosis would give.

    Also, bipolar disorder and Autism can exist at the same time, so there is a potential that you could have both.