Will I ever get a AS diagnosis? (EXTREMELY P*SSED)

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WHY? WOULD? A SANE PERSON? LIVE? IN? GERMANY? AND GO? TO GERMAN DOCTORS?
Well because I have to lol.

I got a proper diagnosis of asperger's when I was 21. now 34. My autism doc moved to GB shortly after my diagnosis and she said “go to my collegue dr. X”. so I went to her collegue. he talked to me for 10 minutes and said I have schizophrenia and need antipsychotics. so there we go. he's a doc after all and I'm the most gullible person on earth.
And since then, I tried different doctors and All they say is schizophrenia here schizophrenia there.
It doesn’t bother them that much that I have no hallucinations or delusions. They even ADMIT that I don’t have a history of hallucinations or delusions. So they diagnosed me with undifferentiated schizophrenia. GOOD. But they themselves now see that I’m even less schizophrenic than that so they changed it to simple schizophrenia. And now they say schizotypal personality disorder.

My personal opinion is that they are trying to force me down the schizophrenia rout for whatever reason, and they try their best to ruin my life, partly because Asperger’s doesn’t really exist yet in Germany. My pdoc has 1 patient with Asperger’s and my therapist doesn’t even exactly know what that is.
So basically I’m screwed. And the fact that I’m now addicted to Zyprexa and get bad withdrawal when trying to quit that doesn’t help at all. “You see? You can’t go without Zyprexa, hence you are psychotic” Yeah dipsh*ts you made me take it for 10 years and now I’m addicted to it and it’s your fault stupid piece of sh*t doc.

I have nothing more to say.

Sadly, health programs are now being run for the benefit of the drug companies. There are still a few people in the system sincerely trying to help, but they are rare and busy.

Why is this so common? Aren't psychologists supposed to be helping people?! Hearing about this kind of thing really pisses me off.

Don't psychologists realise the damage it does to tell someone who has had a diagnosis for years that the diagnosis is wrong?! They're basically taking away part of the person's identity.

Changing someone's diagnosis should be a very rare thing, and should require much more evidence than the original diagnosis, and multiple psychologists' opinions, preferably including the one who gave the initial diagnosis if available.

Even then, it should be done with only with extreme care and a ton of support to the impacted patient, because changing of a diagnosis is probably much more traumatic than receiving the initial diagnosis.

A diagnosis certainly shouldn't just be changed at a whim simply because a new psychologist has a different opinion than the old one.

^^ Most psychologists are just muddling through. They can't imagine living with the conditions they study, or have empathy for patients. If you should happen to have two conditions, such as AS and PTSD from people's reactions to it, your combination of symptoms fits nothing in the book and so all they have to go on is what worked with the last guy you sort of remind them of.

That is awful. I'm in that confusing crossover of ASD / Schizoid / Schizotypal / Schizoaffective symptoms, and haven't gotten a helpful answer on that question either. I react very badly to meds (psychosis etc.), and am grateful I could never take anything long enough to get addicted to it.

I really do feel like we're still in the stone age, in terms of doctors understanding mental illness. And that we're just guinea pigs in their attempt to figure out what works, and what doesn't.

Not that it's the doctors' fault either, for being born in an era where little is known. But I wish they would admit that they don't have all the answers, instead of blaming us for our problems.

I wish I had more helpful advice in terms of finding a better doctor, and dealing with the medication issue. But I just wanted to say I hear you, and hope things get better from here.

I don't think PhD's are allowed to say "I don't know." The best help I ever got was from someone who didn't really feel qualified, but was willing to work with me to figure things out.
For most of our lives, an ASD diagnosis was unavailable, so mother taught me to avoid any diagnosis. This is a skill more of us could still use. Don't be hypnotized by those white coats and posh offices.

[Edited for stupidity and pointless ranting... Sorry!]

Zyprexa is the worst possible drug to put you on. No doubt you have experienced massive weight gain as it is the strongest appetite stimulant known to man. You have the right to not take any medication you want as a patient. Tell them to wean you off, don't ask, rather order them to. I wouldn't trust a word that comes out of a doctor's mouth who prescribes Zyprexa, as even if you were psychotic there is simply no justification to use that poison piece of s**t drug over the many alternatives that don't cause morbid obesity and diabetes type II.

I've encountered the same bs , schizoid, schzioaffective before I finally met doctors who specialize in adults with autism who twice diagnosed me on the autism spectrum and removed those schizo diagnoses from my medical files.

Don't just go see any old Jo Blow doctor, you need to see one who specifically specializes in assessing adults with ASD, otherwise chances are you will encounter a doctor or psychatrist who doesn't know jack s**t about ASD like the ones you have already encountered so far.

Can I ask you a few questions OP?

What were you given Zyprexa for? What symptoms was it given to you for? What were the reasons the docs gave you this medication? What symptoms are the doctors confusing for schizophrenia that are actually AS?

Because unless you were very psychotic, this medication is completely inapropriate.

I am very sorry to hear about your problems with doctors. It must be very frustrating, as others have said you may need to find a centre (maybe in a different country) that will actually give you a proper assessment.

I used to be diagnosed with schizophrenia too.
I just keep on finding good doctors (in different countries) to help me.

Holy sh!t, I would be you if it weren't for dr W.! And I believe my cousin is just like you, with autism mistaken for schizophrenia and no way out
Dr W. didn't diagnose me with ASD either, he didn't believe it, but at least he questioned the diagnose of schizophrenia, changing it to psychotic depression and anxiety and he gradually discontinued Risperidon that had been making a suffering vegetable of me. On my own request he left quetiapine because it helps me with insomnia, and he prescribes escitalopram, which I don't know if I need but I function well on the mix.
Holy cow, maybe you should pursue your first doctor to UK?
It is really hard to remove the label of schizophrenia, everything you say can be used against you - that's what I've learned from my expirience

PS - autistic shutdown looks fairly like schizophrenia from the outside. Only in schiz. the overwhelming stimuli are generated by your own brain, while in ASD shutdown your brain gets overwhelmed by the real stimuli.

I had a GF with schizophrenia and I noticed that her mother would always say things to her in an ambiguous way. Usually, you can guess what a long-time companion means. However, whichever meaning my friend would choose, her mother would then always contradict her. Even a 50% failure rate would have been suspect. For some reason, she seemed to favour her son instead.