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Other Anyone else have comorbid disorders that made drs "discount" your trauma?

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I have the opposite. My psychiatrist doesn't believe in my autism/Aspergers coz, she says, all my symptoms could be attributed to complex childhood and adult trauma, which she diagnosed me with. But she's a trauma specialist and knows Sweet FA about Aspergers/Autism.

It's frustrating coz I KNOW I'm on the spectrum, but it costs more than I can afford, at this point, and my gp was like "Why pay all that money for something you already know?"

Well, I've figured out that getting my right diagnosis, will open doors to appropriate treatment, so I guess there is merit to being listened to and taken seriously, when there's a co morb situation.

Being a female, it's been a long haul, getting good info about how Aspergers/Autism presents in my XX genetic sitch, which has made a lot of us overlooked, as we often fly under the radar coz we try too damn hard to blend in.

It doesn't work, but lots of us are quieter, than many of our male counterparts, about how much we are socially struggling. That's my experience, anyway.

I hid in books. And was very, very, quiet, for the most part.
Oh wow, that's interesting it's the opposite for you. I'm also female. I was diagnosed with autism when I was 7 but my trauma was overlooked at that point even though it had already happened. Since autism was my original diagnosis that's what most professionals tend to be stuck on even though PTSD seems to be more problematic for me at this point.
 
I’ve had this too, but to be fair, it is very difficult to know how much is Cptsd, how much is TBI and post concussion syndrome, and then narcolepsy. Sometimes I can tell, but mostly I can’t either, so it’s difficult to give useful information. I have sympathy for drs who are truly trying their best but miss, because it is even more of a puzzle when they don’t live with me.

I do know that the chances of me getting non-emergency medical care are little-to-none with a ptsd diagnosis though. I had pneumonia and was sent home to “practice mindfulness and meditation.” They said, “ It’s a stressful time for everyone.” Well, it’s the same as always for me. But no, now everyone in Canada (or in my region anyway) can only get covid, so I guess the field has been leveled.

One especially funny moment was yrs ago when the insurance company tried to not pay out for my TBI with a list of symptoms they’d unearthed from 12 yrs earlier that was presented to me by my lawyer as an unfortunate all-destroyer. I looked at it and the date, and said, “I was 8 months pregnant.... I don’t think that counts as a ‘pre-existing chronic condition.’” She laughed in relief and said, “No, it does not. I’ll take care of this.” And she did. But wow.

Did they just conveniently leave off the first pages where the dr was reporting my pregnancy visits?

I think this problem is common for many health conditions. I know people whose diabetes is apparently the reason for every ailment. So they just smoke their weed and live on with the problems :/
 
Basically my last three months of self advocacy and doctors appointments add up to no psych appointment until after my student visa expires, meaning I move back into an abusive environment. The fear of having what little mental stability I'd built being dismantled is real.

I have Complex PTSD, ADHD, and as a result of childhood survival skills- Codependency. All my documentations or labels finally converge like Karma at one point 😁My point, ‘labels’ are not - all or nothing processes of one’s journey: some labels overlap and your Therapist is of value.

However...I quoted the part above because often we can feel a tendency of having to do something or a subconscious victim stance cultivated from the prior trauma abuse. Seriously, consider if you must move back into your abusive environment or if it is conditioned thinking.

There are choices at times. Often sacrifices are necessary to protect our mental health. Perhaps your T. or another agency can assist in your journey as you return from your Student Visa with other options.

I do not offer this lightly: I left my home to move forward as a teen. It was hard: I had a child. But the abuse stopped and my healing began one step at a time. Peace be with you on your choices.
 
I don't know if its "discounting" but it was certainly a longer road to get to help than it could have been. I had a serious eye injury at 11. It was in the hospital that my real trauma happened though. The nightmares started happening just after I got home. It was discounted to "of course you have nightmares after that."
So long story short - at 32 diagnosed with Addison's and thyroid problems. Problems with my injured eye led to removing it, continued pain led to addiction to codeine - several times.
Thyroid issues throughout 2019 (it went really wacky) along with a ton of other issues. The nightmares came back too, with a vengeance. Spring of 2020 - started a series of appointments that led to therapy. January 2021, diagnoses changed from anxiety disorder to PTSD.
In all this are so many shared symptoms between Addison's, Thyroid, and PTSD that it finally took me myself looking for help to get to therapy.

So, discounting, to some small degree yes. Tons of shared symptoms, absolutely. But that link between Addison's and PTSD has just been discovered in the last few years. Medical research has so outpaced the ability to apply whats learned that it takes far far too long to apply simple things like, if there is Addison's, check for PTSD. If there is PTSD watch for Addisons, because that tiredness, light sensitivity, moodyness, and a laundry list of other symptoms could be more than one problem.
 
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