Dangers of a Bipolar Misdiagnosis
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- čas přidán 15. 12. 2022
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Disclaimer: All of the information on this channel is for educational purposes and not intended to be specific/personal medical advice from me to you. Watching the videos or getting answers to comments/question, does not establish a doctor-patient relationship. If you have your own doctor, perhaps these videos can help prepare you for your discussion with your doctor.
I had a Psychiatrist who diagnosed me with Schizophrenia and hospitalized then later a local doctor discovered I had B12 deficiency and said I had manic depression. Back then it was not called Bipolar. Because I had a Grandfather with serious depression it was believed that it was in my family history. I was put on lithium because I was told I had a Chemical Imbalance and would need drugs the rest of my life. A Life time sentence of drugs!!! Because I had alot of in laws who were medical and believed the Chemical Imbalance and educated others to believe that I was Chemically Imbalanced it made my life very challenging. I was medicated for 5 years and pretended I was well so I would not be put on more drugs. I gained so much weight and had suicidal thoughts. I was hospitalized 4 times. Thanks to God I asked Him to help me and protect me from those that made my life challenging. I would not take higher doses of lithium. I am so thankful that I am almost 33 years prescription drug free even though I was oppositionally challenged. When I chose to be drug free and family found out I was not taking the drugs I was hospitalized for 48 days but came out totally drug free. The hospital was a rock of safety because the family continued to try to get me medicated went I was able to leave the hospital.. About 7 years ago I went to a lady Psychiatrist and she heard my story and said that God had helped me and comforted me and that she saw no signs of Schizophrenia or Bipolar. My in-laws continued to believe that I needed the drugs. Interesting that some of the in laws who are medical people who believe in drugs are also on drugs for depression due to their strong belief in the system.
(BS Belief System)
I am so thankful for Dr Peter Breggin's book Toxic Psychiatry. I also did research and learned that the Chemical Imbalance theory was a false theory. I had the Joy of going to 2 of Robert Whitaker's lectures in Calgary, Alberta and bought his books ANATOMY OF AN EPIDEMIC and MAD IN AMERICA. I am so thankful for utube that allows you Dr Josef and many others who are speaking up and for patients given the opportunity to speak up as well. I am very thankful that God is using you in a powerful way to educate and help so many patients in need of wisdom concerning all these drugs. I never tell people to stop taking their drugs because that would not be wise. I tell then to research and make them aware you and others who are able to help them taper off the drugs successfully.
I have a heart for mentally ill people who are traumatized especislly in a world that is so upsidedown and drugs are the only way to turn them around according to the medical agenda. Big pharma is happy to drug people today as it is their business that profits by it.
THIS!! PTSD all my life!! Abuse started as a young child. Diagnosed as “bipolar” as a teen after a death threat at school and the abuse in the household was too much and I wanted to check out. Recent diagnosis was “bipolar 2”. The doctor justified ripping me off all my medications and then put me on another cocktail. I’m damaged by that doctor. Akathisia for 5 years because of that guy. I did follow a doctor and this is what happened. I was just ripped off another antipsychotic and now I’ve got dystonia and TD!! Like I took Seroquel for decades for sleep. Why am I being put on Latuda? I don’t relate to bipolar people. What are “mood episodes”? What is psychosis and mania? My whole life I’ve never had any of that. I’m painfully aware of reality. I used drugs and alcohol all my teens because I didn’t want to deal with what was going on in my life. Then somehow I ended up with a narcissist who was an alcoholic, sex addict, gambler, sexually abusive, mentally abusive, and almost physical abuse once. Like I finally left that guy when I hit rock bottom. He did some really f’d up crap and I was just done. He didn’t have the decency to apologize. The guy never apologized or bought me fresh flowers. I’m on a tangent. I love your videos and wish I had found your practice 5/6 yrs ago. We paid $500+ for this guy who gave me Akathisia and other disorders. My doc now is $300 something. Yeah. I guess the poor people settle for the free groups on Facebook.
Sue that MFP/MISdiagnosis For Profit shit bomb. Sue him for malpractice. Hurts you went thru all you've been through. Your PTSD trauma was complicated by a greedy out for profit shitbomb. He re-traumatized you. The more people who press lawsuits against shit bombs like that the less likely they'll be pushing their MISdiagnoses for profit. Wishing n hoping you the best.
This happened to me last year. I had a stress-induced mood episode after I was in severe pain following an antibiotic, and nobody believed my pain. Instead they put me in the psychiatric unit, where I was started on Lexapro for "anxiety." That caused me to spiral into a "manic" episode and I couldn't sleep for days. Of course this was my first interaction with the psych field, so my family was pushing to "listen to the doctors;" my opinion never mattered.
Ended up in a psych unit in West Allis and was put on antipsychotics after being "diagnosed" bipolar via a ten minute conversation. They said I was impulsive, avoidant, and defiant for "crying all the time and disrupting the peace" and "questioning the doctor's expertise" when all I wanted to do was understand. Of course I didn't want to sit out in the noisy public area, where people were constantly blasting the tv and screaming at each other. The unit was overrun and definitely didn't have enough staff.
After having strange reactions to Seroquel, I was told I was "paranoid" because "seroquel doesn't have those types of side effects." They added Abilify. I got worse. I'm a 150 lb woman and at my peak I was on 900 mg of seroquel and 15mg of Abilify. I was so depersonalized and derealized I wouldn't eat or talk to anyone. I was losing nearly 10 lbs a week and they still thought they hadn't subsided my "psychosis." It was hell on earth. I was pinned down, injected, screamed at, taunted and laughed at for reacting in a way out of my control.
Then they entrapped me in residential care for 5 months, switching back and forth between antipsychotics, antidepressants, and mood stabilizers: seroquel, abilify, lithium, lamictal, trazodone, Prozac, etc. Eventually I just gave up and zoned out; then they thought I was "doing so well" even though I was crying constantly in my room, screaming and eating pens and nails out of desperation to feel anything. I was extremely suicidal.
Luckily when I discharged my outpatient therapist noticed the side effects immediately, but it was extremely difficult stepping down and ended up going into full blown psychosis. I was put into involuntary hold at the County mental institute. Apparently they didn't have any data on which medications I was taking and I ended up going off cold turkey. I thought I was going to die. They thought I was having a "regular" psychosis, not one induced by withdrawal. In the end though, it was for the best; I was put on a mild dose of paliperidone and lexapro and I came out of it feeling much better. I've since stepped down off the paliperidone.
Turns out I don't have bipolar I, but ASD, ADHD (officially diagnosed) and potentially OSDD (still to be evaluated). I also have PTSD from my experiences in these units. I was never evaluated during my year from hell. I'm lucky I have my therapist and family now in my corner, but it could have ended so much worse. Thank you for talking about this.
im going thru the same thing now got eye floaters and was told i was hulcanating having sleep problems and manic depression now
Wow!!!
What a testimony!
I hope others heed your warning!
God bless you.
Psychiatry in the USA is a dangerous craft!, just by reading all these comments!
If it doesn’t make dollars it doesn’t make sense to them
I served in the army for over a decade. When I come back from a very difficult tour of Iraq, where I was a A&E medic I started having pretty severe PTSD symptoms. I asked for help and was told to toughen up and made to feel “weak” in comparison to everyone else who was just “getting on with it” less than a year later I found myself pregnant with my son, all I ever wanted to be was a mum so for a short while I felt I’d been given a second chance of happiness and to focus on all the wonderful aspects that motherhood had waiting on me. I didn’t understand it at the time, but all I was doing was suppressing these feelings, almost like constantly cramming things into a cupboard till one day everything comes spilling back out. This happened when I had my son, instantly and I mean instantly It was like this wash of sheer dread overcome me as he was being held up to show me this beautiful dreamed and prayed for baby. No instant rush of love nothing just absolute fear. I ended up with what was also undiagnosed postnatal psychosis. The army however decided because I was talking fast and seemed agitated, and the fact I had said I was scared my son had been sent as a punishment for a mistake I made on tour which I won’t get into but yeah, even then they didn’t think wait a second? Traumatic tour just before pregnancy now this, 2+2=4? Well no the army said it =Bipolar and because I argued and protested this wasn’t right and that I wouldn’t be taking anything they where giving me, they deemed me as paranoid and aggressive and sectioned me. In the psych ward I was basically bullied and worn down till I complied with starting on antidepressants,antipsychotics and a mood stabiliser. All of which were extremely high doses and left me a shadow of the women I was, I can’t even remember that period clearly as I was so medicated and unable to function. Anyway things got worse but somehow I found myself pregnant with my beautiful daughter who was a twin. I wasn’t taken off the sodium valproate which is a huge no in pregnancy especially during the 1st trimester however the army refused the take me off the SV and I miscarried one of my baby girls. During this time I was sectioned for a sectioned time as I refused to take my meds again, screaming and crying, begging someone to listen to me. No one did, in the end they convinced me at the age of 26 to be sterilised as I was told what I had done (coz I got pregnant on my own 💀) was selfish and that I was already unstable and unable to be a good mum to my son and wife to my then husband and how I’d acted recklessly. I was shouted at and told that I was ruining everyone arounds me life by not accepting my illness and that I’d never be a good mum or wife if I didn’t do just that. So in the end again I complied had my daughter and was “ok” ex husband left when she was only 6 weeks old, the army medically discharged me saying I was unfit for military service. My life my career everything was over including as I said my marriage. I eventually got the correct diagnosis of PTSD in 2015 and was slowly and carefully taken off all the meds I’d been given by the army. The two psychiatrists I seen upon my discharge where horrified to put it mildly and since then I’ve been trying to build my life back up. I should add the only reason I got to see these psychiatrists to eventually get my correct diagnosis and help was through having to fight for 16 months to have my children returned to my care after there dad removed them claiming my bipolar made me unable to care for them the way him and his now wife could. That I couldn’t provide a stable home etc etc I was unpredictable you get the idea ? I eventually did win the custody of my children back however as it stands on the 7th of October 2023 im still fighting for justice, even an apology from the MOD and waiting on a request I have made to have the incorrect diagnosis placed on my discharge medical records changed. So far nothing has happened. No apology nothing just a women at 37 desperately trying to understand why. I’d like to add I’ve been off all antipsychotic/mood stabilisers for over a decade and been “Asymptomatic” all that time also
This misdiagnosis has plagued me for 10 years. Have ADHD. Psychiatrist diagnosed me day 1, 3 weeks after the DSM was updated. Threw 10+ different meds at me in 3 days, including Clozaril. Another psychiatrist there questioned the diagnosis but was oddly dismissed. The fallout from the misdiagnosis has been a decade+ nightmare of trying to escape the self-fulfilling prophecy with no apparent solutions to this situation. This particular misdiagnosis feels ultimately like a slow burn death sentence.
1)Took zoloft
2) showed signs of mania after up-dose
3) was told to cut zoloft after self reporting to psychologist
4) go through zoloft withdrawals (the worst feeling ever)
5) prescribed bi-polar meds(Geodon)
6) I Google what does bi-polar means
7) have anxiety attacks from possible dangers
8) praying that this is a misdiagnosis
9) now im here
Was misdiagnosed for 15 years.... unfortunately during my children's childhoods. 😞 For some reason, I could just sense over the years that I wasn't bipolar. For a while I thought I might be autistic, so I went to find out once and for all what was going on. I found a psychologist to that provides thorough (4-hour) mental health assessments - which no psychiatrist had ever given me. Well, turns out I wasn't bipolar at all or autistic. I have BPD... borderline personality disorder, which made so much more sense and is very manageable. Then I found a wonderful nurse practitioner who specializes in medicine and got my meds in order. So much better!
Ooh I had this and it's ridiculous. I was in cortisone withdrawal with slight mood swings and feeling off and impulsive and a bit lacking in judgement then eventually ended up on rivotril through therapy because the lack in judgement and being in an anxious wave while I just wanted to understand what was going on. I said I felt I was off and there was more going wrong than tinnitus. The GP threw sulpiride/papaverine at me for vomitinf instead of letting me rest but luckily realized that was bad advice. Afterwards the neurologists now claim that the cortisone has revealed underlying mania while I didn't have mania in cortisone withdrawal either. I was living life but since some days of clonazepam use I'm completely destroyed. The psychiatrist said I had hyperarousal but also didn't link it to cortisone and then after the rivotril symptoms started to show (which I needed cause I had to sleep she said but I actually asked non habit forming guidance and didn't unserstand why I wasn't sleeping but still so awake) I suddenly had GAD and PTSD and was gaslighted it couldn't be the meds. I'm sorry but constant tremors, burning skins, muscle spasms, etc. cannot be explained by anxiety. I never ever had anxiety or depression in my life before these meds. I just wanted to understand what was going on and sought psychotherapy. Insane. The mania comment is even after the fact, not evidence based at all and by a so called sleep neurologist who is against benzos but doesn't believe I'm this sick from them.
Thankyou!
After listening to your videos I have a much better understanding of myself and how I became diagnosed...or what I now believe is MISdiagnosed.
It is crazy!
I am angry at what I have been through from antidepressants, epileptic drugs, and antipsychotic sedatives.
I now realise I am a normal person having normal reactions to adverse life events that put me under enormous stress, and extreme emotional pressure.
I resent that I have been medicated incorrectly for almost three decades.
All of this has terrible impacts and consequences on my health, my mind and well-being...when all I needed was help to be able to manage what was happening because of trauma (both childhood and as an adult) and ptsd.
I currently want off all medications.
Especially seroquel...which the doctors have had me on for FiFtEEN YEARS.
Why? Because they said "you just need something to help you sleep".
Why the hell would you do that to someone!?
I am actually scared at what could happen to me on these meds 😣😓
I was never told the long term side effects, or that they can be permanent. Or the LEVEL of risk of developing them.
I know you have said in another video it is basically a 1 in 20 chance each year I am on them of developing tardive dyskinesia... all for the need to sleep because my life had become unbearably stressful.
I had moved states.
Had pneumonia.
Lost 3 relatives that I was *very* close to in quick succession.
I had to move homes again with two small children while dealing with grief, and had to deal with my child and I becoming the brunt of my in laws anger and grief.
We were living in an *incredibly toxic* household.
My child had started school and there were a multitude of very serious issues that transpired *because of* the school, and some of the people there.
Was volunteering at least three days a week helping students with various things, and at least twice a week was there all day as I was doing three or four different things throughout the day.
My child was diagnosed with autism so was doing multiple therapies a week.
Also had a baby.
And the list goes on.
As well as abusive relationship, dealing with infidelity, and an abusive in law whom we lived with after the deaths of two of my loved ones.
Had to break my childs heart to tell them one of their most loved relatives had died. It was the first death they had experienced.
This is all the tip of the iceberg.
I also got pneumonia for a second time in 12 months and was on high doses of steroids (prednisone) Was diagnosed with a genetic immune disorder, was having to have hospital trips for therapies and specialists in between all of this, and was still trying to run my life.
Now tell me again doctors *that I* have the problem!
Wow.
Thank you
Feel like I have weight gain problems and thyroid problems after being diagnosed with bi polar disorder 😢.
Serious business
Why do most western physicians like using brand names for drugs e.g. Depakote instead of Sodium Valproate, Tegretol instead of Carbamazepine etc..
Is a misdiagnosis grounds for malpractice? I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in October 2018 and was put on Lithium. Almost immediately, I felt horrible and requested to be taken off of my medication. I was told that it was to stabilize me. Fast forward to September 2023 when I was hospitalized for a psychotic episode. The attending psychiatrist suggested I may have BPD, not bipolar disorder. I brought this up with my psychiatrist and she dismissed it and told me that it wasn’t possible. I sought out a second opinion and was referred to a consulting psychiatrist who officially diagnosed me with BPD and said that I have a classic case of it.
I believe i"d been misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder. I am mostly a happy person. I think the meds cause me depression
same here! I see my new doctor Wednesday. I want to be treated for PTSD and not bipolar. I just have edposides where I relive memories. I feel I am back in time, and I am very involved in my thoughts. Yes if I am deep in thought and someone communicates with me, then I may come off as aggravated. Just like if ex is sending harassment emails all day long. It just makes me remember new things I had thought I had forgot about.