My psych pa says I might have autism

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My psych pa says I might have autism and she is going to refer me to somewhere I can get tested for it . I have the diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder . I don't hear voices or see things that aren't there, so I may be misdiagnosed. I am 37 years old. I have some of the other things that people with autism sometimes have, like seizures and gi issues. I've looked up the symptoms and they describe me well . I've lived with my parents most of the time, even though I think of myself as high functioning.

I've been a member of this forum for a few years but I've been away. Since I got the schizoaffective diagnosis , I didn't think I belonged here . Now that the "A" word has come up again from my provider, I'm worried about it again and needed to talk about it somewhere. This just happened today. It will be days before I have an appointment with a neuropsychiatrist. In the mean time, I am being treated with a AP. The side effects are not fun, to understate it . I am taking a newer, atypical AP. It's called Vraylar.

I called the insurance company (Humana) and asked if they could give me a list of in network providers who offer autism screening. They said "Did you say, 'office cleaning?'" I had to spell autism to get my point across. There is only one in network provider and he doesn't even have a website. I'm like, really? No website? I looked the doc up by name and got some background on him. He seems legit. University of Wisconsin med school, class of '82. He specializes in childhood and adolescent psychiatry, also adult psychiatry, mood disorders and autism. He's been in the business of psychiatry for a long time.

I don't know if my psych pa will refer me to the above mentioned doc or not. I'll mention that I found him on my own. My psych pa will probably find someone for me that she has sent people to before.

Today is a big day for another reason as well, this one is a way more positive note. I'm trying prozac for the first time tonight. My psych pa says that it will help my mood. She even suggested that it will help me sleep at night. Currently I get about four hours of sleep each night. I think it is because of the AP. My psych pa wouldn't give me a scrip for a sleep aid. She just said to start taking the AP in the morning instead of at night. Seems like a simple fix. We'll see if it works tonight.

If you've read all that, thanks for reading. I will check in to see if anyone replies maybe once a day. I am scared of stigma, so I will force myself to only look once a day.

Looked up a couple terms that I wasn't familiar with:

Schizoaffective disorder is a chronic mental health condition characterized primarily by symptoms of schizophrenia, such as hallucinations or delusions, and symptoms of a mood disorder, such as mania and depression.

Ap - I suspect your are referring to anti psychotic drugs. But that is only a guess.

It is strange that you received an assessment of schizoaffective disorder without the symptoms of schizophrenia. I can understand the symptoms of a mood disorder, such as mania and depression. Those conditions are driven by stress. Aspies experience significantly more stress than the average NT. Stress is cumulative in nature and stored within the body chemically. Unless stress is properly vents is can accumulate and become distress, such as trauma, mania, depression and mood disorders such as Bi-Polar.

I come from a long line of Something women. I was just diagnosed with ASD, previously was misdiagnosed with Bipolar and "treated". Before I knew about ASD, I wondered if my mom had Borderline Personality Disorder, but it wasn't a good fit, AS seems to be. Now I suspect my grandmother was ASD (she wrote me about electrons and physics) or at least comorbid; she was diagnosed with Schizophrenia (80 yrs ago).

I come from a long line of mis- or missed diagnoses.

Welcome... again to WP!

Welcome back to Wrong Planet.

Schizoaffective disorder was a common misdiagnosis for autism back in the day. Bi polar disorder is both a common misdiagnosis and co occurring condition to autism. While there are stigmas and stereotypes surrounding Autism in recent years some of them are less negative and even positive. And there are places similar to this that even embrace some of the traits.

Drugs may be needed for co occurring conditions but will not make you not autistic if that is who you are. This is because Autism is a developmental disorder in other words the vast majority if not all autistics are born this way, drugs don't alter one's genetic makeup. In general psychiatrists proscribe drugs, psychologists use therapies so the ideal is to find a psychologist who specializes in adult presentation of autism. As you are finding out this can be quite difficult, especially if you are in a rural area.

In the meantime there are workarounds and coping mechanisms for traits associated with autism that one finds inhibiting.

I have diagnoses of Asperger's and schizoaffective . I had the schizoaffective previously from 1983 or so till it was changed to personality disorder in 2005 .

When my therapist suggested that I might have ASD, I ended up going Out of Network to am Assessment Center for testing. In the end I'm glad I did. I found a great Dr. that knows what to look for in adults, which made me more comfortable with knowing that a Specialist in Autism believed that I am on the Spectrum as apposed to someone that has a hunch. One of the difficulties with an Adult Assessment is you have a lifetime of camoflauging and masking techniques you may not even be aware that you do to fit in with people. From an outsider it may still look off, which can lead to misdiagnosis.
All of the In-network Assessment Centers in my area only dealt with kids because it is easier.