DX with other disorders first?

[cargenx75]

I'm just wondering if anybody was diagnosed with something before ASD. Like bipolar, schizophrenia, borderline personality, etc. I think my bipolar may be misdiagnosed. Or perhaps these are common coexisting conditions?

 

[Jaywalker]

I'm just wondering if anybody was diagnosed with something before ASD.

I was diagnosed with ADHD about seven years prior to ASD.

My latest obsession is- oh look, something shiny. Let's learn everything there possibly is to know about it! :-D

 

[Sarsaparilla]

Yes borderline personality disorder. I'm not sure I really blame the professionals for that. At the time I did appear very borderline, I was self-harming, abusing alcohol, in a stormy relationship, very depressed, hated myself intensly. I also had a lot of suicidal ideation and I didn't keep it to myself but I did keep a lot of my aspie traits to myself as by then it was second nature to hide them so for example while I had no problems talking in great depth about how I intended to kill myself, I was deeply ashamed of and hid my special interest at the time because it was very childish (Harry Potter).

Did I actually have borderline personality disorder? A lot of the relationship issues were down to my struggle with having a grown-up intimate relationship, a naive expectation that a relationship would fix my problems and the fact that attempting to share my life with another human being caused me to have a lot of meltdowns. When the relationship ended and I had treatment for the self-harming, a lot of the 'borderline' traits disappeared or were minimised. I do think I'd been through a lot by then and it could very well have led to me developing BPD, but I also think a combination of Asperger's, alcoholism, anxiety and depression also explains what happened.

I definitely have depression and anxiety as well as Asperger's, so you could have bipolar and Asperger's but equally it could be a misdiagnosis. What do you feel about it? I think we know ourselves better than the professionals a lot of the time so trust your gut instinct on this.

 

[DogwoodTree]

I was dx'd with major depression, anxiety, and PTSD when I was in college (20 years ago). I stabilized somewhat when I got married, functioned pretty well for the most part for nearly 2 decades, then reached burnout a little over a year ago. I only just recently started seeing a therapist, and he hasn't specified an official dx or anything. But I suspected bipolar for quite a while before I stumbled across the AS self-dx. (I knew I didn't want to go on meds again, though, so I never went in for an official dx.) Everything is still deeply affected and complicated by C-PTSD, but I think most of the underlying stuff is explained by AS with some OCD and PTSD-related issues thrown in for the fun of it.

 

[Judge]

I'm just wondering if anybody was diagnosed with something before ASD.

In the early 80s- OCD and clinical depression.

 

[Suzanne]

Just severe general anxiety; was too well dressed and clean in body and mind, to be even considered anything more. That was as a young adult.

Childhood, just stupid.

 

[AsheSkyler]

Never been diagnosed with nothin' neurological. I walk the line too much between normal and not-normal. They'll never catch me!

 

[Progster]

I was diagnosed with Social Phobia in 1991.

 

[TragicKingdom]

I'm just wondering if anybody was diagnosed with something before ASD. Like bipolar, schizophrenia, borderline personality, etc. I think my bipolar may be misdiagnosed. Or perhaps these are common coexisting conditions?

I was diagnosed with Depression and Borderline Personality Disorder before I was eventually diagnosed with having Aspergers, also.

 

[Datura]

As a child my parents were told that I should be put on Ritalin, and also that I would never be able to live independently. Other tests said that I was perfectly normal, or possibly some exotic form of dyslexic.

As an adult I have been diagnosed with OCD, depression, anxiety, and possibly ADD. On that last count I was given scholastic accommodations consistent with ADD, told that I displayed signs of the disorder, but never given an official diagnosis.

I have never, to my knowledge been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. I may just be a hypochondriac on this count.

 

[princess_ria]

Like bipolar, schizophrenia, borderline personality, etc....Or perhaps these are common coexisting conditions?

bipolar, BPD, and schizo-affective. do I have them? who knows! (I'm a nihilist in that sense.) I've yet to be officially diagnosed with asperger's, but my psychiatrist def says I'm autistic. not sure he thinks asperger's is its own branch...

 

[Robby]

I was told I have social anxiety and panic disorder, but also bipolar disorder (yea). and was even put on lithium for a short time but I stopped taking that crap due to bad side effects. That psychiatrist was just lazy and didn't ask me comprehensive questions that my current one did, who thinks I am on the autism spectrum. A lot of these psychiatrists are lazy and dangerous, not even bother asking thorough questions it shouldn't be totally on the patient to figure out what's wrong.

 

[James Dunn]

When I was diagnosed It was mental and physical retardation as the psychologist that assessed me was an industrial psychologist and he did not know how to write it.
I had Autism and blindness and this psych put down mental and physical retardation. took years to get it changed and rewritten

 

[HamburgerHelper]

I was diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder, ADHD, and Severe Depression at the age of 15. I was diagnosed by a psychiatrist who interviewed me for 10 minutes before making a diagnosis. I felt like I was in a pill-mill.

 

[DarkAscent]

Bilateral sensorineural hearing loss (mild). Now it's severe.

 

[SignOfLazarus]

When I was about nine I was DX'd with major depressive disorder and ADD and it certainly fit. But I remember back to at least six years old [earlier actually, that's just the most specific age] having incredible breakdowns/"tantrums"/"fits"- they were traumatic for my parents and me- I would cry and just freak out literally until I ran out of energy and passed out. I wasn't angry, I just had zero frustration tolerance.

When I was about 20 I was diagnosed with bipolar, which made more sense to me- I had a lot of things that seemed to be slight paranoia, I was often anxious and depressed, I'd go through periods that were in great contrast to that. But then around 23 I was first DX'd with HFA, which I didn't really... take to at first. Somewhere along the line I saw someone who specializes in ADD, spectrum disorders and learning disorders, but treated everything. He also said I had HFA, but not ADD.

Then in about 2010/11 we finally got to the bottom of my "obsessive tendencies". Someone asked the right questions because those "tendencies" are actually full blown OCD- Pure O. I have a lot of my OCD symptoms happen mentally, but no one really ever investigated it the right way so a lot of it got shoved into this... "residual bipolar symptom" category. [They also confirmed the autism]

Since getting that sorted out though... the bipolar is in the background. It's the least of my issues. I'v worked very hard to manage mood symptoms and I know how to. It hasn't been a problem since 2011 really. The OCD is an issue. It's funny though, there are things that overlap with the autism- but I can distinctly tell when something is rooted in OCD and something is rooted in autism most of the time. My current thereapist, who I have been with for a few years, usually works with people on the spectrum who have comorbid diagnoses. He said at some point there's an intersection of mood disorders or OCD and autism and it's hard to really draw a distinct line to divide them. So when I was having meltdowns at six- was it indicative of autism or pediatric bipolar? Probably both.