• Replies 7 replies
  • Subscribers 6 subscribers
  • Views 871 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

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

Parents

  • 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.

  • 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

  • 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 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.

Reply
  • 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.

Children
No Data