Posted by Racer on July 9, 1999, at 15:01:58
Thank you all for putting up with my saga. You deserve to be among the first to hear the latest, which is better news than anything else for months, though still small steps.
I just got back from seeing the GP. She was understandably leary of me, since I had been hysterical on the telephone on Tuesday, but I told her that while I would like to be able to say that we could wipe the slate clean and start over fresh, realistically, I've been miserable for a year and feel as though I was victimized by the doctor for most of that time. She didn't like hearing that, and when I told her that I'd prepared an oral presentation for her, she told me that she really didn't have that kind of time. I told her that I'd made the notes so that I could be brief, stay on topic, and still say everything I had to say. So, while she interupted me at a couple of times, she listened, and I got the impression that she was ACTIVELY listening, not just planning her shopping while I talked. Right there, I'm feeling better. I don't mind that she didn't fawn over me for preparing for the visit. I don't mind that she didn't agree with what I had to say. I'm thrilled that I felt as though she listened to me, and had enough respect for me to respond honestly. Even if she didn't agree, she was honest about it. So, a perfect round so far.
At the end of the visit, I told her that I had a question. Since I've had good results with SSRIs in the past, but significant side effects because I had to be at a very high dose, and since the Effexor XR is fixing the anxiety with virtually no side effects, and no side effects that I can't tolerate, would it be possible to augment the Effexor XR with an SSRI? She said that she had had a couple of ideas, but she liked that one better and we'd try it first. She looked up Effexor XR and the various SSRIs that she had access to, and found that there was no reason not to try it.
I'm now starting a low dose of Prozac to augment the Effexor XR, and we'll see how it goes.
I'm blissfully happy, or at least enormously relieved. Honest to gonest, just the fact that she listened to me and showed that she listened makes me feel as though I've put down a 50 pound sack I've been carrying around. Maybe that listening thing should be added to medical school curriculum?
Thanks again for listening to me, and for putting up with me. I really appreciate it, and especially the warm supportive responses I've gotten here. The regular members of this board should probably be nominated for a Nobel prize considering all that y'all do to make the world a better place. Ironic, ain't it? On accounta we're the sick ones...
poster:Racer
thread:8493
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990628/msgs/8493.html