Looking for a root cause...

[Chatative]

Hey guys,

Hope everyone is doing well. I've been doing rather well but been under with the flu the past week, which has: triggered my asthma, brought back my IBS & some short-term anxiety... wee! :D

I try to be pragmatic but it can be hard with my health anxiety. I've become convinced that there is something else going on in the background... I've always been someone who becomes overly obsessive about things for a few days, to weeks or months & then my interests change. I've learnt this is called Hyper Focus. I'm pretty sure I'm not just 'seeing' it but it's there. It's always been there & definitely affects how I do things.

I read up symptoms of AD(H)D & I seem to fit everything apart from perhaps the Hyperactivity, but it's my understanding that there are different types. My Doctor said I can't possibly have it because it'd have been apparent in childhood & I should show hyperactivity but I read an article about adult ADD & it described me down to a tee. I also read that Anti-Psychotics can make these things worse, which could explain my side-effects that weren't listed whilst I was using those. People with ADD are also more prone to other mental illnesses like... you guessed it, anxiety!

Anyway, my Doctor has referred me onto the Mental Health Services. He kept bringing up Aspergers for some reason (I assume hyperfocus can occur with it too) but essentially said there is a spectrum, which I might sit on somewhere but I might just end up with a label & nothing that can actually be done. Still, I would like to know why I am the way I am, & perhaps if I knew that, I could learn to manage my hyperfocus better.

I had a friend with ADHD. We were very similar & got along well because of it but he was more noticeable affected by his ADHD.

Geesh, I'm doing it now as well as being hyperactive as it happens. I feel like I've had 10 shots of espresso or some coke, a line of that is, or something lol! My mind is racing & I keep going to talk to my Mum or Dad about everything that is coming to mind, which is a lot & interrupting them :p

I guess perhaps my illness & everything else is causing some sort of 'episode'. You know perhaps I was misdiagnosed & have Bi-Polar which looked like Schizophrenia due to temporary Drug-Induced Psychosis.

Who knows! I'm going to go do something else, I have so many things I want to do right now it's a joke.

Apparently unlike with my Schizophrenia, I have to wait for 3-4 months for an appointment but I'll be interested to see what the outcome is.

I've always thought a Psychiatrist would have a field day with me if they got in-depth about things, which didn't happen last time.

I'm going to stop typing now, before I scare you guys too much :p

Hope you're all well as I said!

Chat.

[Chatative]

Hey Frankie!

Thanks, I'm not sure I'll be here long but nice to visit once in a while.

I guess these things come & go, but I always come back here when my anxiety appears.... got so much good advice here & the nice folk, seems to help in it's own sort of way! :)

It is actually ridiculous how hyperactive or manic I have been since 10am. There is definitely something going on here... this has never happened before or at least not to this extent.

It's too much actually, I'm euphoric at points but I can't concentrate or do anything for long. Quite frustrating... very tiring. :confused:

I had an hour long discussion with my Mum which was very interesting, made lots of connections about what is going on. Today has been an eye opener... when I got the referral it was a possible underlying problem but now it's very obvious.

On the positive side of things, perhaps I will find something underlying & stop my anxiety creeping up every few weeks.

[Chatative]

Well, just thought I'd say... I seem to have "come down" now.

I realised that I've had other hyperactive episodes that I thought was caffeine causing me to be over-stimulated despite only having had a cup or two of tea. I actually went decaff because of it happening...

I'm hoping that I don't have any trouble sleeping tonight, trying to relax as much as possible now that I can.

From what I've read, a sudden short term hyperactive episode is ADHD, whilst Bi-Polar slowly comes on & lasts for months. Still, I'm calling the Doctor tomorrow as I need a repeat prescription so I will ask if I have been referred, update them & drop the words "manic episode" & "Bi-Polar". That should probably get me fast tracked :p

As for my anxiety, what has appeared over the last few days just vanished today. Hopefully it doesn't come back but at least I have lots of things to do to cope with it until it resolves in a week or so.

[jessed03]

Chats!

You bring up some interesting points.

It does help having a diagnosis, even though it's just a label sometimes, it can be so useful in making what you feel seem more systematic, instead of seeming like just a random and unenjoyable personality trait. I hope if there's anything there they manage to find it.

I can't remember you saying if you were ever on SSRI's or not. I know they can sometimes bring bipolar traits to the surface, wonder if you ever experienced anything weird ok them if you did take them.

I'm glad you visit man. Been a very transitional period on here. A lot of the folks that were around at Christmas time around when you came along have begun to go out of the other side of their anxiety condition. Nice to see people check back in now and again.

The question you bring up about your schizophrenia possibly being mistreated bipolar is interesting. I suppose stuff does have a way of revealing itself after time. I'm no medical professional, but having met people with schizophrenia diagnosises, and bipolar diagnosises, they have so many similarities, I can see how certain cases can be confused. Who knows.

Health anxiety is a bitch to have as it confuses things. Especially when you may have something hiding somewhere. For a long time I wondered whether symptoms I was having were stress related, and psychosomatic, or whether I did have an actual undiagnosed condition. Turns out I did have an undiagnosed autoimmune thing.

You seem intuitive though, so I have no reason to think your search for something hidden is unjustified.

Sounds like you have similar waiting times to down here with your referrals. I got sick of waiting too, and dropped the words 'immediate suicidal ideation', got a next day meeting! :D

[Chatative]

Hey good to hear from you,

No, I'm not on SSRIs or anything else for that matter. I had been prescribed some Prednisolone for my Asthma in case my steroid inhaler didn't help improve things over the past few days. Thank god I hadn't used that, it's meant to make mental health problems worse, especially on the doses I was told to take even if it would only be for 5 days.

Yes, I agree with you on the health anxiety front. Many people with health anxiety on these forums seem to having underlying health issues crop up!

I would be very careful with dropping "suicidal ideation" especially when I am labelled with Schizophrenia. I suppose Mental Health Services will be a bit more understanding but I was in hospital a couple of weeks ago & I'd mentioned I was Schizophrenic, albeit symptom free for 8 months. The Doctor then started randomly asking if I was suicidal or hearing voices despite the fact I'd said "symptom free" & after that asked if I'd taken any asprin or paracetemol or anything. I said yes, she asked how much & I said just 2 or 3 to which she replied, no I meant over-dosing. I mean what the fuck! She had no reason to think any of those things but asked merely because I'd said I was Schizophrenic... how's that for jumping to conclusions. It sickens me how much even health professionals misunderstand mental illness & that goes for anxiety too. Rant over!

It's too hard to call whether it's ADHD or Bi-Polar. They are remarkably similar & although my diagnosis of Schizophrenia would make you think Bi-Polar, it doesn't make any sense since I don't have prolonged episodes of mania or depression. When you consider I most definitely had Drug-Induced Psychosis, if not Schizophrenia, then the only unexplainable symptom is a single voice that is repetitive. I'd heard multiple voices at first I couldn't distinguish from reality but that different voice is what got me diagnosed after most the symptoms had gone. The other common cause for that type of voice is OCD. Now, I have some minor traits of OCD & in fact when I got diagnosed I'd said "I had these scenarios or images of bad things or harming people in my head." That is stereotypical of OCD too. My Psychiatrist had always pushed on "Can you hear the voices or are they in your head"... I'd said I could hear them but then again, I knew they were in my head... so perhaps the distinction wasn't clear to me. I'm quite sure I was misdiagnosed though for a variety of reasons. The plot thickens :D

I'm not going to look things up or stress about it! (no pun intended) In fact apart from yesterday, I've not had much cause to & haven't. Things will take their course now. Just got to wait, fun!

*EDIT* - Called the Doctor & told him about my episode. He said that a single episode generally isn't indicative of anything, you typically need a history of them but that would be something for the mental health folk to look at. Damn right! I don't really trust any GP on any complex mental health issues such as mine considering my history. Also, being as he knows I have health anxiety, he takes everything I say with a large pinch of salt despite being a great & understanding Doctor. Being as the referral has been made already, it's not going to get speeded up but at least I'm on the right track.