Undiagnosed I Think I May Belong Here.

[Go Hungry]

First post. I haven't been formally diagnosed as having PTSD but.. well during one of my freakouts last week the thought came into my mind to check into it and find a list of symptoms. Everything was a hit. Everything. There are things about myself that I was convinced were going on just because I was some miserable coward, but they were all there. The fear to go places that you don't know, the terror of crowds and meeting new people. The feelings of a grim world where you have to be alert for the next attack at all times... Reliving things that happened 30 years ago. Shame over things that other people did to me. Everything...

It's come as a massive relief. It's like.. everything is so typical of the condition. I've been having joyous tears for the last few days at the idea that I'm actually a normal person experiencing a somewhat normal reaction to extreme circumstances.

I'm going to see my psych tomorrow and plan to bring it up at least. I don't want to be a hypochondriac, but there is so much going on inside of me that my bipolar doesn't explain, but PTSD does. Kinda scared she will disagree. But if there's some sort of therapy to work through this.. I want in on it.

 

[Deleted member 12723]

I wish you the best on your journey of healing and recovering.

Good luck on your therapy and welcome to the forum.

I hope it helps you as much as it has helped me.

 

[Rizen]

I diagnosed myself too. I went through a lot of hardships trying to treat wrong things when I should have been looking at my situation as PTSD before that. Finding out what I have and finding sites like this has been a huge relief. I felt completely alone.

 

[arfie]

I, too was diagnosed bi-polar before PTSD. I don't know if PTSD declares the BP to be a misdiagnosis. Don't know that I care. It is nice to have a name to call it, but I kinda feel like one name is as good as another. Still, like you, I find that PTSD explains allot of things BP does not.

Glad you are going to talk to your psych about it. I will be interested to hear what she has to say about it. Even if I was qualified to diagnose other people, I don't think I would self-diagnose. Especially if I were qualified?

Welcome to the forum, Go Hungry.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

A PTSD diagnosis doesn't void any previous diagnosis. Any incorrect diagnosis must be removed from your records.

 

[macbeth]

Hi @Go Hungry. I was diagnosed by a professional, however, when I first read up on the condition I was relieved too, that, as you said I was a miserable coward or insane or even possessed. (yes I really thought that was a possibility)!! Welcome to the forum. Hope we can help and support you. :hug:Gentle hugs.

 

[Go Hungry]

Oh yeah Solara, there is absolutely zero doubt that I am bipolar. That is well established. :) But it's just other things that I always attributed to it that maybe belong under the PTSD umbrella. Guess I'll find out.

 

[Caterpillar]

I was actually quite surprised by my PTSD diagnosis (which is also co-morbid with Bipolar) and wrote it off as wrong for a long time. I was very deep in denial. It sounds like you have a much better starting point than I did, since recognizing problems is so important.

Good luck with your doctor and welcome to the forum.

 

[Go Hungry]

Hey everybody. Turns out my suspicions were right. I told the psychiatrist about all the stuff I mentioned before, and lots of other things that I had never bothered telling her because I thought it was all bipolar. Also I'm just kind of reticent about some things, since I had a bad experience with an earlier therapist. She said that I certainly have an anxiety disorder and that, though there were drugs for it, it was her last day working there so she didn't want to change my drugs up and then dump me with another doctor in the middle of such a transition. Which I completely agree with.

But she also said that the way for fixing this sort of stuff is definitely through therapy, including something involving eye exercises? Or some kind of vision therapy. That was a shock. But anyway, I'm not sure how I'll get the scratch for getting this kind of work done, so I'm going to be going over my budget -yet- again. Just when I was getting it all worked out. Life is funny that way.

Thanks for all the hugs everybody. :) And now, coffee.

 

[Caterpillar]

I'm glad you got the answers you were looking for. Good luck finding some treatment.

 

[intothelight]

Hi Go Hungry,

Welcome to the forum!

There is a sense of relief in finding the correct diagnosis, as having a proper diagnosis is the first step in getting the treatment that can make things improve. I hope you find the information and support here helpful to your healing.

Debbie

 

[Kas_Can_Fly]

ncluding something involving eye exercises? Or some kind of vision therapy.

EMDR - Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing?