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Misdiagnosis and incorrect pharmaceutical treatment

CossieNew Contributor17 Jan 2020, 12:57 am AEDT

Misdiagnosis and incorrect pharmaceutical treatment

Hi my name is Greg. I'm 40 years old and have been in the mental health system since 2004.

I was originally diagnosed with Bipolar affective disorder then Schizoaffective disorder years later however last psychiatrist said Post Traumatic Stress Disorder all along.

I had multiple hospital admissions over the years and the more medications were imposed on me, the worse I got mentally and physically. I never had a period where my mental health improved due to the medications. I have been on just about every antipsychotic and mood stabilisers.

Initially the Bipolar diagnosis should have been drug induced psychosis. From there it was all downhill because the regime of antipsychotics and mood stabilisers drugs administered on me have taken their toll on my brain's chemistry and body.

I have been off all medications for over a year now and I have so many regrets due to bad choices and actions while on those pharmaceuticals.

I wish I had been diagnosed correctly in the early days.

At the moment I am depressed due to circumstances and have anxiety stress to issues I have to deal with in the next month.

3 replies

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In response to: Misdiagnosis and incorrect pharmaceutical treatment

BunniekinsSenior Contributor17 Jan 2020, 4:29 am AEDT

Re: Misdiagnosis and incorrect pharmaceutical treatment

@Cossie Hi Cossie (Greg) and welcome to the forums :). I am going to tag @Eden1919 as she is also drug free and may be able to add to the conversation. I have schizoaffective disorder originally diagnosed as bpI. You have come to the right place for support from others suffering mental illness. We are a very welcoming group who support each other. You might like to have a look around the threads before you post. One good thread to start with is the Good Morning! thread which basically has someone posting online throughout the day and night. There are many others too.

If you want to speak with someone directly put a @ in front of their name like I did for you and they will receive notification of your post. I hope to see you around the forum :Dx greenpea

In response to: Misdiagnosis and incorrect pharmaceutical treatment

Unknown userMember17 Jan 2020, 5:09 pm AEDT

Re: Misdiagnosis and incorrect pharmaceutical treatment

Hey @Cossie thanks for sharing your story, I am sorry it's been so up and down - no doubt very frustrating as your trying to recover having all of these changes within the system and with meds.

Did you want to speak to us within the community about the upcoming challenges that have you feeling stressed? Of course it's totally up to you, but we are here to listen

In response to: Misdiagnosis and incorrect pharmaceutical treatment

Eden1919Senior Contributor17 Jan 2020, 5:53 pm AEDT

Re: Misdiagnosis and incorrect pharmaceutical treatment

@Cossie Hello and hi @Bunniekins I can definitely empathize with the issue of meds and diagnosis. I was diagnosed with so many things over the years and currently would say a few mainly apply. Meds for me though did not work at all, they made things a lot worse and if I am honest nearly cost me my life. I have been off them for about a year and a half and think they did permanent damage and I am still physically recovering from many side effects it is slow but at least it is going in the right direction.

In in regards to diagnosis it is VERY hard to get an accurate one, things like how long you have seen the psych and personal opinions can heavily affect the diagnosis and there is no test you can do so at the end of the day it always comes down to personal opinion of the psych and what they think fits best. Do you have any ways you usually cope with stress? It can be hard the mental health system in my opinion is struggling and because it is always underfunded it is hard to get quality care and that experience of bad care in the system can be so damaging and can really leave your feeling hurt and confused and frustrated. Hopefully you can feeling more on track and coping better now.

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