How common is misdiagnosis?

Hi all.
I'm new to this forum but I could certainly do with some advice. Apologies if a little long winded, I'll try to keep the background as brief as possible.
I got diagnosed with cyclothymia in sept 2009, and I wasn't overly convinced. The depakote I was on didn't have any effect and after about 5 months I stopped taking it.
I have two children with a man I have had a tempestuous relation ship with on and off for 10 years.
I was not with the children's dad in 2009, as we had split in 2008, he had contact with the kids, and abducted them in 2009. He made abuse allegations which were disproved. We got back together in 2010 and as soon as he found out about my diagnosis he clung on to it. Kept asking me why I wasn't on meds and I kept saying I felt okay. After a year of him telling me I was acting strangely I decided to try the depakote again, so I did, but his emotional daily abuse pushed me to the edge and I took an overdose in late 2011. Obviously, he took control of my medications, and I was put on seroquel, because my ex told the pdoc I'd had psychosis. Although I was assesed by the psychosis team who agreed I had no psychosis.
He picked up my prescriptions, administered my meds, the lot, it wasn't until much later I found out from my Gp he had been making excuses and getting extra prescriptions. I was a zombie because he was giving me higher doses of seroquel.
By the beginning of 2012, I was so fed up, the meds turned me vegetative and I decided enough was enough. I quit taking my meds, aware that I could relapse.
Anyway, my ex and I split last August(2012), it's now August 2013, and I have been MED FREE with NO RELAPSES since jan 2012. Because I've had no meds or relapses I am feeling convinced that I was misdiagnosed.
I have a new partner and am expecting again. We are very happy, I feel supported and loved. My children are very happy.
My ex though abducted the children last weekend. He filed for full residency and told the court I am psychotic and dangerous and mentally ill. Social services have disagreed with his concerns as have the police. I have the children back in my care and he got warned that he could have gone to prison for what he did.
Firstly, i need to find out about how to go about beig reassessed for mental health disorders. I'm really intrigued to see what a pdoc would have to say. I've had no contact with any pdocs for over a year and a half. Surely if I was cyclothymic, I'd be under more care?
Has anyone else had any experience of an abusive ex partner using your mental health as a way to hurt you? I'm aware I should probably post this in the dv forum too which I will do, I could just do with some honest advice and constructive ways to move on from the utter hell that my ex is putting me through.
I'm stronger than I've ever been and no medications have or I suspect ever will make me as strong and healthy as I feel and have been feeling for a long time.
Thanks in advance
X

If you've been fine without meds for so long, it sounds like you might very well have been misdiagnosed. You should get reassessed, if for no other reason to try to clear the dx from your records... It seems plausible to me that the stress from dealing with everything in your post could have caused your behavior to mimic symptoms of cyclothymia, as consistent stress can cause instability in anyone, and you may have just seen the wrong pdoc at the wrong time for them not to take your circumstances into account.

Do you remember whether anything traumatic in particular took place before symptoms presented? Perhaps the breakup? Because when I was 17, I had a string of sexual abuses happen in a short period of time, and my behavior afterward looked a lot like borderline personality disorder, which can look a lot like cyclothymia... but it only lasted a couple of years. The trauma led me to mimic the symptoms, but I never had the actual disorder (which I'm assured one doesn't just grow out of). I am bipolar, but that's a distinctly different set if issues, and I very clearly do not present with BPD-type symptoms anymore. Get reassessed, explain your situation, and seek second opinions if possible. Good luck!

To answer your topic question, very common. If you look through the forums here, you can find reports from many people who had one diagnosis, then another, then maybe another, and maybe even another. In a few cases, it is probably because of a doctor who wasn't as skilled or attentive as would be desired. In most, it's because you can name just a few mental health symptoms and find a lot of disorders that have those symptoms. It can take some time for a therapist, psychiatrist, etc. to glean enough information from a patient to whittle it down to the right one. And let's not forget that most people's problems aren't textbook examples. So getting the right diagnosis can be an adventure.

I hope you're able to talk to a pdoc, make your case for why you think you were misdiagnosed, and have a constructive two-way conversation about what could be going on with you.

I also hope you get the appropriate help for the other issues you've detailed. Perhaps you should be looking for a lawyer while you're looking for a mental health professional. Those issues are outside my realm of experience, so I can't say anything more.

I wish you well.

I think misdiagnosis is pretty common. Especially with cyclothymia as its so close to bipolar. Ive had everything thrown around and im still not sure its right. If your concerned about misdiagnosis just keep going to the drs and tell them. You need to go so much that you annoy them and make them listen x

-- Fri Aug 09, 2013 9:18 am --

I think misdiagnosis is pretty common. Especially with cyclothymia as its so close to bipolar. Ive had everything thrown around and im still not sure its right. If your concerned about misdiagnosis just keep going to the drs and tell them. You need to go so much that you annoy them and make them listen x