So much help! Thank you!! I am actually going to print this because I am getting my son into a new neuro. so all kinds of test and new ones and trying to get my husband help. We dont have insurance so finding anyone to seriously listen and help is a joke. We will get it though. Thank you for taking the time to give such a detailed answer.

My son has childhood absence and frontal lobe, by the way, and my husband was diagnosed as bi-polar SZ, but I think he has EPS. It just makes more sense of his symptoms.

Glad I could be of some help. I understand completely regarding insurance and its lack as an extreme barrier to basic services.

  I'm confused, however, by your reference to "EPS". I'm assuming you're referring to Extra Pyramidal Symptoms. These are, in fact, a result of long-term treatment with antipsychotic medications, rather than a psychiatric diagnosis of its own.

   Without knowing your husband's original symptoms--those responsible for his diagnosis as schizoaffective disorder, (which is the formal term for the combination of schizophrenia and bipolar), I'm not able to comment more on the legitimacy of his original diagnosis, but suffice it to say that many are the cases of misdiagnosis of schizoaffective disorder--as well as schizophrenia and bipolar--which have resulted in the long term treatment with antisychotics that results in EPS. In other words, it is entirely possible that your husband has neither Schizophrenia or Bipolor disorder, or for that matter, Schizoaffective disorder, and was simply misprescribed an antipsychotic on a long term basis because antipsychotics act as nonaddictive "calmative agents" in general, in order to assuage some severe agitation with which he presented to the prescribing physician who originally prescribed antipsychotics, and made the accompanying diagnosis. Of course, not knowing more of your husband's history and his original complaints that resulted in prescription of antipsychotic medication, it would be impossible to say. Point being, however, that far too many, historically, have been misprescribed antipsychotics on a long term basis, only to develop EPS--also referred to as Tardive Dyskinesia.

   In my view, if these are his only symptoms, its important that he receive another diagnosis, especially if his reliance upon antipsychotics was based on the determination of a single physician initially, and even more especially if that physician was not a psychiatrist--or was a public health psychiatrist (ie, an employee of MHMR, or any state funded psychiatric institution--who have records of extremely high rates of overprescription and misprescription of antispsychotics.

   In short, if he has ever been without medication for long, and without much incident--ie behavioral,mood,thinking changes--and even if he is completely stable and without such issues while medicated...there is a good chance that he has been misdiagnosed and mismedicated. Especially with the diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder, which is one of the most amorphous, subjective and least subject to definitive diagnostic criteria.

     If he is taking an older antipsychotic, the most important issue at this point is to begin a newer one immediately, if as you say, he experiences EPS. Newer antipsychotics have much lower incidence of EPS, and if he continues to take an older one (Haldol, Thorazine, for example), his EPS will worsen to the point that he develops Tardive Dyskinesia, which itself is prohibitive to function and usually even to basic communication.

    I'm curious as to which medications your son is prescribed, and his age, and whether this diagnosis was made by a neurologist or psychiatrist. Only a neurologist should make detailed diagnosis of epileptic conditions and differentiate between their origins. If your son's diagnosis of absence and "frontal lobe' epilepsy was made by a psychiatrist, frankly, it's likely faulty. Both of these forms of epilepsy mimic psychiatric diagnoses--but only a neurologist could determine if in fact the behavior displayed as diagnostic criteria originates in what would be termed epilepsy rather than having a psychiatric root cause.

    There is little more frustrating than seeking out an accurate and definitive psychiatric and/or neurological diagnosis, and treatment, and my heart certainly goes out to you. Especially without insurance, I'm sure it can regularly seem a hopeless fight.

    Try to find a newer antipsychotic (Risperdal is an option), a private consult to clarify your husbands symptoms--many churches and pro bono agencies may offer to pay, considering your circumstances--as well as a neurologist's confirmation of your son's diagnosis, if it originated with a psychiatrist.

   And be careful, frankly, of accepting as gospel the diagnosis/treatment recommendations of state funded mental health officials.

   Best wishes