Trying to stay positive...

[prairierose]

I have an appointment with a new pdoc in Dec. I was to a group with some other ladies the other day and happened upon a friend who is a psych nurse. She found out who my new pdoc is and warned me about her. She is not very sympathetic with people who are depressed apparently, and has said some very hurtful, damaging words to people.

She also said the pdoc may not let DH come in with me. DH has been to all my pdoc appointments. He's my voice of "sober second thought" when we leave. It's actually to her advantage to have him there.

She suggested I have my GP prescribe my medicine if I'm stable. As far as I know I am. I had no idea GPs could prescribe anti-psychotics! Can they? I currently have a prescription for 4 more months of Abilify.

I phoned my GPs clinic when I got home and told them the situation and what I wanted. They suggested I make an appointment to talk to my GP...in January...the soonest appt. available!

So now I don't know whether to keep the pdoc appt. or not? If I see her and then don't go again, is she going to put me down as refusing treatment? Am I better to cut and run now? My psych nurse friend suggested another pdoc she thought would be more suitable for me. But that pdoc is booked solid for 6 months and may not be taking new patients.

Any thoughts/ideas on this situation?

[AJ]

Yes family doctors can prescribe most prescription drugs. Some drugs such as methadone requires special privileges. The question I would be asking is if your family doctor has enough knowledge to prescribe them. Mine was honest and said she didn't.

I would keep the Pdoc appt. Find out for yourself what he or she is like. What do you have to lose? You can always chose to not go back and see him or her.

[prairierose]

Thanks AJ.

[AJ]

You're welcome.

[paul m]

Hello Parrierose. In Ontario it's common for a specialist to ( any specialists , not just psychiatrists) to diagnosis a patient and prescribe medications and once the patient is stable on that medication to send the patient back to their own G.P. for continued treatment. Often with less than satisfactory results, because as AJ has said, often a GP knows little about the medications and/or the illness. MY GP would happily prescribe my psych meds, unfortunately he wouldn't have a clue if I was hypomanic or not.

In regards to your husband coming in with you. Most of my better psychiatrist have insisted that my wife come with me for at least a few of my visits. I don't think any if them would allow me to have her there for every visit.

I sure that while there are exceptions , perhaps such as yourself and your DH, most psychiatrists would worry that if a spouse or a parent attended all sessions then perhaps the full story may not come out.

I know that I certainly wouldn't have talked as freely with my wife present for every visit, because some of the things that I was talking about was how to deal with the stresses of marriage, in-laws and children. However, everyone is different and I'm certainly glad that my wife is allowed to attend some of the sessions.

In regards to bad doctors. Most of get one or two along the way , all you can do is try and fid out how to get the most out of any one doc until you can change doctors. Good Luck with your appt. Take Care. paul m

[prairierose]

Oh! So it's a little unusual to have him there all the time with me? I just did it because, well, quite frankly, I don't trust the doctors and how they might try to manipulate me. Also, I saw my mom (also bipolar) go in without Dad and end up divorced. There seemed to be a lot of manipulation by the pdoc in that case. I am determined that is not going to repeat itself...at least not on my watch! DH and I really love each other, but living with each other and this illness has been a real challenge for both of us. We need support as a couple, not encouragement to be divisive and split up.

I know the full story doesn't come out when I'm there with him, but I am managing to cope other ways. I have other people I talk to about DH/marriage issues and they help me out. My pdoc hasn't been interested enough to ask, to be honest...any of them...and I've been through three now. But maybe it's because DH has always been in with me. I end up talking with lady friends...usually nurses or retired nurses...they have been the most helpful for me.

Course we had a boarder the last three years...a 30-something lady from South Korea. She's been incredibly good for DH and my relationship. Good at nailing us on what we say and how, and on our behaviour. She's trying to figure out our culture and male/female interrelationships. So she could ask the difficult questions and we'd have to answer...something! lol Both DH and I benefited from her time with us.

Anyhow, I guess my pdocs have never been of the counseling type, so I just naturally went to my women friends for help.

[paul m]

Hello prairierose. I can see you being worried about what a pdoc may do after what happened to your parents.

I wouldn't say that having your DH in with you every time is unusual , just different. Sometimes pdocs don't do different(unfortunately) . One of the thing that I have never figured out about a lot of pdocs is how they can be so closed minded over a lot of things. (not all of them, but some) But don't get me started on pdocs because I could go on for hours LOL.

My latest pdoc along with my neurologist actually have insisted with talking just with my wife so that they can get her side of the story without me being there. This never takes up a full appt , perhaps only 5 min or so once every couple of yrs and all they do is ask me to leave early and then ask her if she has anything to add. But then in various files it's noted that I can be an uncooperative patient. Sometimes there is a very small difference between being uncooperative and standing up for your rights LOL.

My pdocs have never done a lot of counselling either at least not in recent yrs(15 or so). The Gov't here just will not pay them to do long term psych counselling any more.

I'm glad that you have someone to bounce things off of because that's important too. Take Care. paul m

[prairierose]

Just thought I'd pop in and update everyone. I saw my new pdoc today. She had no problems with hubby going in with me. She seems very nice. She had a set of five questions to ask me. Basically she determined I was okay. She didn't change a thing. Gave me a new prescription for my current drug and sent me on my way!

As I told Hubby, I think everything will be okay as long as I'm okay. If I go into crisis we may need to reassess the situation, but that's borrowing trouble from tomorrow, so I won't go there. Right now everything is working out fine.

[paul m]

Hello prairierose. Glad to hear that your new shrink seems ok. Hopefully everything will keep working out fine. I hate going to new shrinks. Take Care. paul m