wrong diagnosis for 15 years, officially diagnosed asperg

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ok
my family doc would never refer me to a psychiatrist, or other referalls ever, altho we asked.
he has had me on zyprexa and clonoazepam intermittently as he thought i had schizophrenia, but never heard voices nor was ever hospitalized, and have worked for 25 years not missing many days.

he had me take zyprexa and clonazepam when anxious then to stop. for 15 years. i have been more anxious last two years so been taking more meds. about a week a month
work said i needed to get reviewed by the company doc as i was missing tasks, forgetful and not as i normally am.

june 1st after telling the company doc (who happened to be a psychiatrist), my history, family history, med schedule etc, after 20 mins he told me i did not have schizophrenia, but aspergers.

the work issues were due to the medication regime my doc had me on, when on the meds i would be forgetful, not able to concentrate, sluggish, and likely miss tasks.

he can't issue meds as he is an assesor, but wil refer me to a new doc to completely change my meds. he said i will be back to normal in a few weeks.
well, normal for me.

my old family doctor almost made me lose my job and wife as he was wrongfully issuing antipsychotics and high levels of clonazepam.

the company doc was amazed that i made it this long, as he said the meds i was given should not be taken for a week then off for three weeks, but continuoulsy. that is if i was psychotic, which i am clearly not.

he will be calling the provincial medical authority to lodge a complaint against my doc.

what a roller coaster life has been.

What an awful happening. Glad that the bad doctor has been found out, who knows how many other lives he has caused pain to, I'm sorry that the doctor wasn't found out earlier.


Anyways, welcome, hope you feel better soon.

Welcome to Wrong Planet!

Glad that company doctor turned out pretty good.


Now, as I understand, with some of this high-powered medicine it's important to come off it slowly, even if it is the wrong medication to start with. However, if you're already come off it more power to you.

Please note: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. I am a pretty good guy, read widely, and kind of have the knack of asking good questions.

I think the treatment for anxiety, like depression, in a respectable way is trial and error.

With depression, as I understand it, no doctor in the world can predict whether a particular antidepressant will work for a particular patient. I recently excerpted a news article in my post "Treating depression can be hit or miss (2009 article)" http://www.wrongplanet.net/postp3700869 ... t=#3700869

What is important is a doctor with a light touch and a willingness to try something new if the current thing is not working out.

---------------

It sounds like your family doctor was a big egotist and a "be righter" and just plain stupid to boot. His "being right" seemed to take priority over the welfare of your life, and that is like the complete opposite of what the good practice of medicine should be. (or some bureaucratic thing where they hardly want to refer people at all). I am sorry this happened to you.

G'day (wave)

- I was put on Lithium by my family GP for several months 20 years ago and then Mirtazapine about 3 years ago. A psychologist told me to stop taking the Lithium as I was clearly NOT bipolar. At the time that I was prescribed mirtazapine - much later than the Lithium situation - it actually was appropriate and helped because I WAS very depressed at that time (something specific had happened to cause it and I'm now finally understanding WHY) - but I only used them for a few months and weaned off.

Last edited by Wooster on 06 Jun 2011, 12:10 am, edited 1 time in total.

I'm so sorry to hear about your misdiagnosis, and really glad for you it got straightened out. How frustrating, and scary-being prescribed incorrect meds and everything. I'm really freaked out that something like that could happen to me; I started working with a psychologist to get a diagnosis and started asking a lot of questions because something just didn't seem right- with the tests she was giving me, the questions she was asking/ not asking, some of her comments... she finally admitted that she had never tested anyone for aspergers or any kind of asd outside of school and had no other clients with aspergers; I probably should have asked more questions initially but didn't think of everything at the beginning ( I was really nervous, I don't care for doctors in general) It really scares me to think how badly she could have misdiagnosed me if I hadn't realized something wasn't right--and she works with a psychiatrist who could have prescribed meds for me, too! Now I'm kind of afraid to try someone else. Do these people not realize how badly they can screw up your life because they don't want to admit that they're not qualified to diagnose you? Or do they just not give a damn as long as they're getting paid? Or maybe they're just happy to have a guinea pig to test out their education on? Sorry, I don't mean to be so negative, but this just happened and then I saw your thread and like I said, I'm more than a little freaked out. I'm glad you're going to be "okay".

That doc should go back to medical school.

Welcome to WP.

It certainly must be hard to go through life with the wrong diagnosis, but it sounds as though your life will hopefully take a turn for the better from now. Good luck, and enjoy the forums.

Welcome!

Years ago, a general practitioner (who had some country smarts) told my Mom that depression can start off situational and become biochem. And even though this was just one guy, it kind of had the ring of truth.

And I'm wondering if that was kind of your experience?

Welkome to WrongPlanet.

The WP Kink

And add to this that some of these so-called professionals have fragile ego (and very much want to be "right" and avoid being "wrong", and basically end up guessing and then stick adamantly with their guess). Straight up, I think it's at least 1/3 of mental health professionals who are just plain lousy. And I think that's a low estimate. Yes, really. 33%, or more.

And all the standard advice of needing to find a "match" and needing to find someone you "click" with, that only applies if the person is at least average. Yes, some people here at WP have had good experiences and more power to them. I just am not one of them.

Now, with Asperger's / Autism Spectrum, it not like they can do an MRI while you're listening to music or talking on the phone and say, aha, you overutilizing this part of the brain and underutilizing this other part (which I'd want to be done very respectfully in any case. And I'd ask, how wide is normal anyway?). No, the test for Autism Spectrum is very general, do you have these traits and do they cause problems. Well, I can do that as well as a professional.

Hi alanj, Welcome to WP! Sorry to hear about your wrong assessment, but glad to hear you finally know the difference. Hope you enjoy your stay here.

Absolutely. - it's sort of complicated and I could just about write a book but I recognise I have a propensity to over explain so I'll try to keep it brief.

In a nutshell:
- leaving a job I'd held for 8 1/2 years (my - BAD - choice) + moving to a different town + having a road accident on the way + job I had lined up not being there + going into bankruptcy
- all ended up pushing me over the edge...

Wow, that's serious. I'm sorry all that happened to you.

To WrongPlanet!! !