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greentigress
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25 Oct 2012, 11:16 am

I have both
I was diagnosed schizophrenic in 1993
Late 2012 dx of aspergers through a specialist psychiatrist who said in no way does it change my schizophrenia diagnosis
I have heard all sorts of rubbish about extreme male / female brain
Why because diagnoses got mixed up 50 yrs ago?
Schizophrenia is a mental illness which strikes individuals or genetically ( my sister was schizophrenic until she died)
Aspergers is an unlinked developmental disorder and my cousin also has it

I don't get why people on line call me a troll for saying I have both
It is just wrong and uneducated in some small specialist area
Why have an opinion if you are not an expert on something as serious as this



AardvarkGoodSwimmer
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26 Oct 2012, 5:11 pm

Hi, thank you for participating and being brave. And yes, I think it is entirely possible for a person to both be aspie and have schizophrenia. And if someone says it's not, they really are uninformed and uneducated.

And if someone calls you a troll, now that is out of line. And I hope if people saw that happening, they would say: Hey, the person is telling their own life story. You don't need to talk all over the person's life story.

People should say something like this. Often they are afraid of getting involved. They should not be so afraid. We just need to be middle-of-the-road and stay middle-of-the-road. The people who are critical are the ones who are engaging in troll-like behavior.

Perhaps you could take this opportunity to educate us a little about schizophrenia. The little I know it's often about the brain's biochem having too much dopamine and it often involves auditory hallucinations, but I suppose neither generalization is a hundred percent.



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27 Oct 2012, 1:14 pm

I am sorry that someone called you a troll. I have had that many, many times across many sites. They also cyber bullied me. I also have schizoaffective and autism. I know you said schizophrenia but schizoaffective is very similar but has a mood component. I have the bipolar type but sometimes I swear its more of the depressive type because the mania is rare. Actually its more like hypomania but the only thing that made it mania is the delusions (thinking I was the best speaker in the world, thinking my art was going to change the world, thinking I was actually going to make hundreds of MILLIONS of dollars a year with art alone and actually thinking of how to spend it, and thinking I was going to change the entire world myself). I know someone outside of myself that has schizoaffective and autism. There are several people on this site alone that has that combination. You are not alone. Also on the other sites I go to they have both. I had on and off symptoms of schizoaffective since 1996 for sure and if you include the warning symptoms I had it since 1991. I am 29 now. Then it stopped for awhile when I first moved because it was to a better situation. Mine is stressed induced and I have an extremely low toleration for stress. Then in 2004 I started showing minor symptoms again in college. I was just writing delusions without insight. Then in 2006 I had a total breakdown and had to go to the hospital. It hasn't stopped since, I go to the hospital nearly every year for breakdowns.



greentigress
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28 Oct 2012, 7:45 am

AardvarkGoodSwimmer wrote:
Hi, thank you for participating and being brave. And yes, I think it is entirely possible for a person to both be aspie and have schizophrenia. And if someone says it's not, they really are uninformed and uneducated.

And if someone calls you a troll, now that is out of line. And I hope if people saw that happening, they would say: Hey, the person is telling their own life story. You don't need to talk all over the person's life story.

People should say something like this. Often they are afraid of getting involved. They should not be so afraid. We just need to be middle-of-the-road and stay middle-of-the-road. The people who are critical are the ones who are engaging in troll-like behavior.

Perhaps you could take this opportunity to educate us a little about schizophrenia. The little I know it's often about the brain's biochem having too much dopamine and it often involves auditory hallucinations, but I suppose neither generalization is a hundred percent.


Thanks swimmer

If anyone is interested in my story please click the link

http://vimeo.com/m/13148262

This is a video by my sister with my lines and voice
It is used in universities in uk as an educational video
Was also short listed for Vimeo awards and has been exhibited internationally



greentigress
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28 Oct 2012, 8:18 am

FireBird wrote:
I am sorry that someone called you a troll. I have had that many, many times across many sites. They also cyber bullied me. I also have schizoaffective and autism. I know you said schizophrenia but schizoaffective is very similar but has a mood component. I have the bipolar type but sometimes I swear its more of the depressive type because the mania is rare. Actually its more like hypomania but the only thing that made it mania is the delusions (thinking I was the best speaker in the world, thinking my art was going to change the world, thinking I was actually going to make hundreds of MILLIONS of dollars a year with art alone and actually thinking of how to spend it, and thinking I was going to change the entire world myself). I know someone outside of myself that has schizoaffective and autism. There are several people on this site alone that has that combination. You are not alone. Also on the other sites I go to they have both. I had on and off symptoms of schizoaffective since 1996 for sure and if you include the warning symptoms I had it since 1991. I am 29 now. Then it stopped for awhile when I first moved because it was to a better situation. Mine is stressed induced and I have an extremely low toleration for stress. Then in 2004 I started showing minor symptoms again in college. I was just writing delusions without insight. Then in 2006 I had a total breakdown and had to go to the hospital. It hasn't stopped since, I go to the hospital nearly every year for breakdowns.


hi i have had a mood component to my illness as well but don't want to call it schizoaffective because the last few years i have had more like hebephrenic symptoms - (also i started out in the  90's with mostly paranoid delusions)

I have linked above in my first reply on this thread a link to a video about my illness but actually can say a couple of things

I had violent command delusions which to me have been automatic compliance commands and actions as one.
I have had a lot of soul exchange delusions and also these were sometimes visual sexual and tactile at the same time ie having sex in the car while driving or in hospital with many men in the room - where it was demons people could shoot out of their feet.
I had delusions where i was being asked to be the mother of the second coming of christ
i made stupid goth clothes in turquoise with grim reapers and buddhas on it
I wore those or went out only half dressed around town ie nothing but a top and shoes or nothing at all except a tracksuit bottoms and a top and went missing for days, shouting at people in the street , begging, smoking and drinking and puffing with homeless and teenagers
etc in Newquay

anyway if you want to know more click the link in my last reply post above

I have worked out how not to go into hospital lately it seems by not putting too much stress in my life by paid work or any serious study
i seem to be able to keep things up for a week or two like holidays or yoga retreats with not that much psychosis that i need hospital or maybe a voluntary position for 3 hrs a week for a year

Thanks for your reply



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28 Oct 2012, 3:00 pm

I watched the video. Very well done. I am sorry that you have been through that.

As for me, I get similar things. I have delusions occasionally and they can be quite bizarre. This year I KNEW for sure that a toxic cloud was going to hit a far away solar system with trillions of life forms on it. The only way for me to stop it back then was to make a certain amount of cuts on my body. I did some of the cuts but failed to save the solar system. Not enough energy released. Then the voices started again. Telling me to kill myself to stop government agents from killing my entire family. The voices told me to overdose, but at the same time I wanted to because to stop the voices in the first place. A lot of my "delusions" (I don't like calling them that... that's why in quotes) involve space, aliens, the government, demons, angels, and just way out there stuff. My schizoaffective is minor compared to others. While I can't function while in a psychotic episode (I can't even do simple tasks, have no interests in my special interests, just not caring about myself anymore, no hygiene, etc.) I can still talk to people. I also have disorganized features when fully psychotic. Luckily its mild.

About the stressors, I wish it was simple as not putting stress on myself. I have many, many stressful things coming up. As I mentioned I have a low tolerance for stress. And these things coming up are not minor stressors. Both my parents need major surgery. I don't know a lot of information right now, but my mom is in tremendous pain and nearly every time that happens then she needs surgery. It is never minor. For example the doctors said a few years ago that her shoulder will need to be replaced. Not just a minor surgery, but a full replacement. While for most people its just a moderate stressor, people have to understand my mom's history with surgeries. She has nearly died several times during surgeries. I mean to the point of doctors telling us, "I don't think she will make it." That has happened not just once as well. Half the time in recent history she has become severely infected. She has had MRSA and some other kind of dangerous infection. My dad we don't know for sure if he will have surgery but he has tried the injections and physical therapy and it hasn't helped.

The other stressor that is happening is that my brother's student loans are coming up (private loans... which no one can do anything about) and this month's turned out to be nothing because it was government loans. He postponed it until next year. My brother doesn't have a job and he is disabled (he's autistic like myself). Also the very thing that was going to save our family is my brother's "business" which is the biggest failure in the entire world. Users? You gotta be kidding. My brother's loans are about $100,000.

Then next year we will have to get a car because of my dad's pathetically stupid decision to lease a car instead of buying it. The lease ends in 2013. This leads me to believe my dad will retire with nearly no money. We will live in poverty, having to move from a 4000 sq. ft. house to a dinky squished experience. No movement. And my dad himself is a stress to deal with. All he does is yell and complain about everything while shooting down everything you hold dear.

So, possible deaths and living in extreme poverty is impossibly stressful and believe me, I bet the other past psychotic breaks will be minor compared to what's coming up. Pills don't work around the stressors, in fact they lose their effectiveness when there is a major stressor like I am not taking anything at all.

Thank you for writing.



greentigress
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29 Oct 2012, 1:20 am

FireBird wrote:
I watched the video. Very well done. I am sorry that you have been through that.

As for me, I get similar things. I have delusions occasionally and they can be quite bizarre. This year I KNEW for sure that a toxic cloud was going to hit a far away solar system with trillions of life forms on it. The only way for me to stop it back then was to make a certain amount of cuts on my body. I did some of the cuts but failed to save the solar system. Not enough energy released. Then the voices started again. Telling me to kill myself to stop government agents from killing my entire family. The voices told me to overdose, but at the same time I wanted to because to stop the voices in the first place. A lot of my "delusions" (I don't like calling them that... that's why in quotes) involve space, aliens, the government, demons, angels, and just way out there stuff. My schizoaffective is minor compared to others. While I can't function while in a psychotic episode (I can't even do simple tasks, have no interests in my special interests, just not caring about myself anymore, no hygiene, etc.) I can still talk to people. I also have disorganized features when fully psychotic. Luckily its mild.

About the stressors, I wish it was simple as not putting stress on myself. I have many, many stressful things coming up. As I mentioned I have a low tolerance for stress. And these things coming up are not minor stressors. Both my parents need major surgery. I don't know a lot of information right now, but my mom is in tremendous pain and nearly every time that happens then she needs surgery. It is never minor. For example the doctors said a few years ago that her shoulder will need to be replaced. Not just a minor surgery, but a full replacement. While for most people its just a moderate stressor, people have to understand my mom's history with surgeries. She has nearly died several times during surgeries. I mean to the point of doctors telling us, "I don't think she will make it." That has happened not just once as well. Half the time in recent history she has become severely infected. She has had MRSA and some other kind of dangerous infection. My dad we don't know for sure if he will have surgery but he has tried the injections and physical therapy and it hasn't helped.

The other stressor that is happening is that my brother's student loans are coming up (private loans... which no one can do anything about) and this month's turned out to be nothing because it was government loans. He postponed it until next year. My brother doesn't have a job and he is disabled (he's autistic like myself). Also the very thing that was going to save our family is my brother's "business" which is the biggest failure in the entire world. Users? You gotta be kidding. My brother's loans are about $100,000.

Then next year we will have to get a car because of my dad's pathetically stupid decision to lease a car instead of buying it. The lease ends in 2013. This leads me to believe my dad will retire with nearly no money. We will live in poverty, having to move from a 4000 sq. ft. house to a dinky squished experience. No movement. And my dad himself is a stress to deal with. All he does is yell and complain about everything while shooting down everything you hold dear.

So, possible deaths and living in extreme poverty is impossibly stressful and believe me, I bet the other past psychotic breaks will be minor compared to what's coming up. Pills don't work around the stressors, in fact they lose their effectiveness when there is a major stressor like I am not taking anything at all.

Thank you for writing.



I am so sorry about your mum and your dad
I think that and the threat of poverty would send me over the edge as well

Totally agreed that stress makes the pills not work I have had the option of an easy life for 6 yrs and still dread the next episode

Yep those beliefs you had sound pretty out there. My sister had similar stuff to that. She believed that she came from an alien egg that was from the other side of the alien war - which my mum had stolen. Ie 2 species of alien at war and she was with the wrong side
She also believed god was angry with her and was constantly punishing her
She was only really lucid for about one day in about 12 years



greentigress
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29 Oct 2012, 1:22 am

FireBird wrote:
I watched the video. Very well done. I am sorry that you have been through that.

As for me, I get similar things. I have delusions occasionally and they can be quite bizarre. This year I KNEW for sure that a toxic cloud was going to hit a far away solar system with trillions of life forms on it. The only way for me to stop it back then was to make a certain amount of cuts on my body. I did some of the cuts but failed to save the solar system. Not enough energy released. Then the voices started again. Telling me to kill myself to stop government agents from killing my entire family. The voices told me to overdose, but at the same time I wanted to because to stop the voices in the first place. A lot of my "delusions" (I don't like calling them that... that's why in quotes) involve space, aliens, the government, demons, angels, and just way out there stuff. My schizoaffective is minor compared to others. While I can't function while in a psychotic episode (I can't even do simple tasks, have no interests in my special interests, just not caring about myself anymore, no hygiene, etc.) I can still talk to people. I also have disorganized features when fully psychotic. Luckily its mild.

About the stressors, I wish it was simple as not putting stress on myself. I have many, many stressful things coming up. As I mentioned I have a low tolerance for stress. And these things coming up are not minor stressors. Both my parents need major surgery. I don't know a lot of information right now, but my mom is in tremendous pain and nearly every time that happens then she needs surgery. It is never minor. For example the doctors said a few years ago that her shoulder will need to be replaced. Not just a minor surgery, but a full replacement. While for most people its just a moderate stressor, people have to understand my mom's history with surgeries. She has nearly died several times during surgeries. I mean to the point of doctors telling us, "I don't think she will make it." That has happened not just once as well. Half the time in recent history she has become severely infected. She has had MRSA and some other kind of dangerous infection. My dad we don't know for sure if he will have surgery but he has tried the injections and physical therapy and it hasn't helped.

The other stressor that is happening is that my brother's student loans are coming up (private loans... which no one can do anything about) and this month's turned out to be nothing because it was government loans. He postponed it until next year. My brother doesn't have a job and he is disabled (he's autistic like myself). Also the very thing that was going to save our family is my brother's "business" which is the biggest failure in the entire world. Users? You gotta be kidding. My brother's loans are about $100,000.

Then next year we will have to get a car because of my dad's pathetically stupid decision to lease a car instead of buying it. The lease ends in 2013. This leads me to believe my dad will retire with nearly no money. We will live in poverty, having to move from a 4000 sq. ft. house to a dinky squished experience. No movement. And my dad himself is a stress to deal with. All he does is yell and complain about everything while shooting down everything you hold dear.

So, possible deaths and living in extreme poverty is impossibly stressful and believe me, I bet the other past psychotic breaks will be minor compared to what's coming up. Pills don't work around the stressors, in fact they lose their effectiveness when there is a major stressor like I am not taking anything at all.

Thank you for writing.



I am so sorry about your mum and your dad
I think that and the threat of poverty would send me over the edge as well

Totally agreed that stress makes the pills not work I have had the option of an easy life for 6 yrs and still dread the next episode

Yep those beliefs you had sound pretty out there. My sister had similar stuff to that. She believed that she came from an alien egg that was from the other side of the alien war - which my mum had stolen. Ie 2 species of alien at war and she was with the wrong side
She also believed god was angry with her and was constantly punishing her
She was only really lucid for about one day in about 12 years



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29 Oct 2012, 7:32 pm

greentigress wrote:
hi i have had a mood component to my illness as well but don't want to call it schizoaffective because the last few years i have had more like hebephrenic symptoms - (also i started out in the  90's with mostly paranoid delusions)

I have linked above in my first reply on this thread a link to a video about my illness but actually can say a couple of things

I had violent command delusions which to me have been automatic compliance commands and actions as one.
I have had a lot of soul exchange delusions and also these were sometimes visual sexual and tactile at the same time ie having sex in the car while driving or in hospital with many men in the room - where it was demons people could shoot out of their feet.
I had delusions where i was being asked to be the mother of the second coming of christ . . .

Your video sounds very good and potentially the kind of stuff I really like---something real to life and something largely new to me. I really can't watch it today, but I want to in the next day or two.

It sounds like you have a lot of insight into your life situation. Now, anyway you can just talk back to these various commands? Maybe like, Oh, I think I'm going to do something a little more Gandhian. Or, if that's too direct and confrontational. Maybe something like, 'I wonder what Barnaby would do?' (a fictitious TV detective from the show 'Barnaby Jones' which I liked, of course you'd have to pick your own favorite fictional character, but this might help to deflect it in a more playful direction) Perhaps.



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29 Oct 2012, 9:25 pm

FireBird wrote:
. . . While for most people its just a moderate stressor, people have to understand my mom's history with surgeries. She has nearly died several times during surgeries. I mean to the point of doctors telling us, "I don't think she will make it." That has happened not just once as well. Half the time in recent history she has become severely infected. She has had MRSA and some other kind of dangerous infection. . .

That sounds very serious and stressful indeed. Yes, MRSA means Methicillin-[and other antibiotic] Resistant Staph Aureus. And from my one class and my reading, is nasty stuff. And the doctors need to know this has happened a lot with your mom, and is therefore more than merely an abstract, theoretical possibility. You know, your mom might have these bacteria in her nasal passages or her skin where they are relatively harmless, as I think about a third of people do and an even greater percentage of medical professionals.

A person going into the hospital often needs and really benefits from having family members or friends available to advocate on their behalf. Now, as a younger person you might be taken less seriously, shouldn't be that way, but probably is. When I was younger, I had some success writing things on a piece of paper and simply handing it to the doctor. And I keep it short, I mean like three bullet points of short sentences or just phrases. and/or just print out what you wrote above, including the doctor saying "I don't think she will make it." That is real serious. And future doctors really need to know that, for whatever reason, your mom is more vulnerable to MRSA and other serious infections. And so, any signs of infection, like spiking a temp post-surgery, they need to jump on top of treatment even quicker. By it's very nature is trial and error, if the first antibiotic doesn't work, hit it with the next. So, all the more important to get started sooner.



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29 Oct 2012, 10:39 pm

AardvarkGoodSwimmer wrote:
FireBird wrote:
. . . While for most people its just a moderate stressor, people have to understand my mom's history with surgeries. She has nearly died several times during surgeries. I mean to the point of doctors telling us, "I don't think she will make it." That has happened not just once as well. Half the time in recent history she has become severely infected. She has had MRSA and some other kind of dangerous infection. . .

That sounds very serious and stressful indeed. Yes, MRSA means Methicillin-[and other antibiotic] Resistant Staph Aureus. And from my one class and my reading, is nasty stuff. And the doctors need to know this has happened a lot with your mom, and is therefore more than merely an abstract, theoretical possibility. You know, your mom might have these bacteria in her nasal passages or her skin where they are relatively harmless, as I think about a third of people do and an even greater percentage of medical professionals.

A person going into the hospital often needs and really benefits from having family members or friends available to advocate on their behalf. Now, as a younger person you might be taken less seriously, shouldn't be that way, but probably is. When I was younger, I had some success writing things on a piece of paper and simply handing it to the doctor. And I keep it short, I mean like three bullet points of short sentences or just phrases. and/or just print out what you wrote above, including the doctor saying "I don't think she will make it." That is real serious. And future doctors really need to know that, for whatever reason, your mom is more vulnerable to MRSA and other serious infections. And so, any signs of infection, like spiking a temp post-surgery, they need to jump on top of treatment even quicker. By it's very nature is trial and error, if the first antibiotic doesn't work, hit it with the next. So, all the more important to get started sooner.


She has MRSA infections on her back. In fact even now even though its been awhile since her last back surgery, her back is still having problems. The doctors already know that its MRSA and has been tested several times. In fact its being tested again right now because of the leakage in her back on the wound site. She has had 2 back surgeries and they both failed and required emergency surgery (so a total of 4). On her shoulder it wasn't MRSA, but another type of infection that I don't remember the name of. It might be some other Staph infection, but it happened years ago. She needs so many potential surgeries its not even funny. With past experiences (and how people form future expectations) it is not good. The main place that she has no harmful bacteria present is her knee. But that surgery failed in another way by just not working right and that is so far 3 times with another one in the future... on the same knee. Her other knee also has to be done. She is vulnerable to MRSA because of her Sjogren's Syndrome. Sjogren's basically means that you are dried out completely, your skin, organs and everything. This can cause someone to be very susceptible to infections. There are many conditions linked to Sjogren's including Lymphoma. We had a lymphoma scare earlier this year. As for now she doesn't have it, but her other doctor said there is a huge chance of having it in the future. She is also allergic to most antibiotics that just makes it more complicated. I am honestly surprised that my mom made it this far in life considering that all that she went through.



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30 Oct 2012, 7:10 pm

greentigress wrote:
AardvarkGoodSwimmer wrote:
Hi, thank you for participating and being brave. And yes, I think it is entirely possible for a person to both be aspie and have schizophrenia. And if someone says it's not, they really are uninformed and uneducated.

And if someone calls you a troll, now that is out of line. And I hope if people saw that happening, they would say: Hey, the person is telling their own life story. You don't need to talk all over the person's life story.

People should say something like this. Often they are afraid of getting involved. They should not be so afraid. We just need to be middle-of-the-road and stay middle-of-the-road. The people who are critical are the ones who are engaging in troll-like behavior.

Perhaps you could take this opportunity to educate us a little about schizophrenia. The little I know it's often about the brain's biochem having too much dopamine and it often involves auditory hallucinations, but I suppose neither generalization is a hundred percent.


Thanks swimmer

If anyone is interested in my story please click the link

http://vimeo.com/m/13148262

This is a video by my sister with my lines and voice
It is used in universities in uk as an educational video
Was also short listed for Vimeo awards and has been exhibited internationally

Thank you for your film. I just watched it a little while ago.

Your film is a gift. You tell your story with easy, matter-of-fact confidence and in a graceful, communicative way. Very nicely done.



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30 Oct 2012, 9:03 pm

FireBird wrote:
. . . Her other knee also has to be done. She is vulnerable to MRSA because of her Sjogren's Syndrome. Sjogren's basically means that you are dried out completely, your skin, organs and everything. This can cause someone to be very susceptible to infections. There are many conditions linked to Sjogren's including Lymphoma. We had a lymphoma scare earlier this year. As for now she doesn't have it, but her other doctor said there is a huge chance of having it in the future. She is also allergic to most antibiotics that just makes it more complicated. . .

And honest to gosh, this is why someone goes to medical school, or should be. To help someone who has some complicated health issues. Okay, so she has MRSA infections on her back, needs further back operations, and is allergic to most antibiotics. Okay, so be it. They can either find antibiotic(s) she's not allergic to (might take more than one) or give her one they know she's medium allergic and at the same time manage the allergic reaction with whatever medication is appropriate for that.

I think you probably already help your mom by being a good listener and someone who understands some of what she's going through. You might also undersell and ask in a low-key way, do you think your doctor is a halfway decent listener (doctors, as I'm sure you know, tend not to be great listeners and halfway decent might be about the most a person can hope for). And please don't pressure your mom. That's probably the last thing she needs. But maybe just ask in an open way, what would you think of a second opinion, doesn't mean you're against the first doctor, just someone who might look at it with fresh eyes.