I think i have a dissociative disorder or DP/DR. help?!!!

Hi
IM new to this. im 19yr old male in ireland and i have been thruogh hell in the past 3 years with my health etc. it all came to a head in october last year and i was taken off steroids and other medications i had been on for years for crohns disease but it turns out i never had the disease in the first place. i was cut off all meds and expeirienced withdrawals etc. i had fairly traumatic expireiences with tests including waking up durin colonoscopies etc. i had my appendix removed without me knowing also. anyways this was all too much for my rain to handel so i had a mild breakdown in ovtober. ever since im expireincing these horrible symptoms every few months they come on very suddenly like over night and last about a week or week 1/2. They include:
feeling very confused 24/7 as if im drunk or have been drugged
loss of appetite and complete loss of interest in life
constant anxiety and depression
fuuny feeling as if my surroundings are almost alien like to me
headaches, light sensitivity etc
numbness both physical and emotional
I feel as though im dead emotionally
irritability and mood swings
a strange sort of dizziness i cant explain
brain fog, memory loss, slurring speach
i find it hard to eat and swallow
i loose sense of taste and my sense of smel gets distorted
i look different to myself in the mirror
everything feels different to me and i dont feel comfortable anywhere
unease at everything
feeling like im in a dreamy state or im drunk
feel like nothing is real
my sense of direction is gone and i cant judge distance or time
feeling like im in a time warp
nausea
insomnia and vivid dreams

ive been told its all anxiety but i know its not because all the symptoms happen suddenly when im not even stressed and the anxiety and depression set in a few days after the other symptoms. I only had an episode a couple weeks ago and i felt as if i was going insane. its terryifying. does this sound normal???

What you are describing is the classical symptoms of depersonalization / derealization. Get checked for any underling medical cause, cause in some cases dpdr could be a symptom of an organic cause. if not, I would recommend visiting a psychiatrist to see what causing you to feel dpdr, and he will prescribe the proper medicine according to your case.

don't loose hope and stay strong.

Thank you ToTo but what tests will the doctor use to diagnose me and what meds are used to treat this??? Will it go away?

Get your thyroid checked, vitamine D, blood sugar (the full test) and lyme disease, all of these can cause dpdr to some people even testosterone hormone imbalance sometimes cause dpdr and depression. If all of these tests came back normal, do an MRI scan to the brain, and if that also came back negative,then you would consider seeing a psychiatrist.

Now, mental medication is a different issue. I can't tell you exactly what kind of pills you should take, because each individual is different. some got dpdr because of stress and anxiety, others because of OCD, and so on an so forth. So, a specialist will decide what is the right prescription for you.

Hope that helped and goodluck.

-- Tue Jul 28, 2015 4:42 am --

another thing food sensitivity can cause the feeling of dpdr. and you should see an ENT specialist, cause an infection of the inner ear causes an imbalance sensation and virtigo, thus the feeling of dpdr.

Depersonalization and derealization are symptoms within a larger category of symptoms, called dissociation. Dissociative symptoms may or may not be due to a dissociative disorder. They occur also in many other disorders and under severe stress in persons who have no disorder.

There are a number of good instruments for evaluating dissociative symptoms. The usual starting point is the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES), which you can take online. Here on this website the DID Forum has a check-in thread about the DES: DID Forum: Dissociative Experiences Scale. After that there are several diagnostic instruments; typically you would go to a clinical psychologist for assessment. The DID Forum has threads about all of these instruments.

Treatment of dissociative symptoms and disorders involves psychotherapy, not drugs, and is very effective, even curative.

really sorry to hear about your condition. Years ago I went through similar experiences but only for very short periods-the depersonalization part, not the other stuff. It had not happened in years until the other day but everything worked out fine and I am back to feeling well again. It doesn't sound at all like just anxiety to me. Have you seen a psychiatrist about the problem? If not it's the place to start. Hope you recover.