Posted by susan C on August 3, 2001, at 11:05:16
In reply to Re: When do you switch Pdocs? » Gracie2, posted by paxvox on August 3, 2001, at 6:53:21
puzzle puzzle puzzle. When I first started with pdoc, over 12 years ago, he was the only one in town who approached 'biochemical' basis of depression. I knew I 'loved myself' and the problem had to be biochemical and somehome attached to my cycle. Bipolar did not exist. No one knew prozac could activate underlying BP, No one knew progesterone, a kind derived from yams instead of pregnant mares urine, made a difference.
The final straw for me, and this is hard, because I wasn't feeling well, was I went to him with a list of areas of medicine I wanted to be sure to eliminate (rhumetology, neurology, immunology) and a second onpinon. He brushed me off, said he had eliminated all the other medical illnesses,didn't explain, and that I could go get a second opinon but the 'world expert' would just say the same thing and suggest the same thing he did, (saying this defensively by the way).
He continued to think my manic times where my good times. That I was chronically clinically depressed. The final straw was he recommended estrogen, again. I had gone through a trial, of over 6 smonths of different kinds and ways and it helped with hot flashes but not with mood.I got enough courage to say, you did that before, and he said, try it again. The appointment was over, I got up, left and made an appointment with a pdoc 2 hours away that had really helped a friend. And I got the second opinion from the 'world expert'. My new doc encourages me to get as many opinions as I want so we can triangulate the problem.
When I was looking in town, I got in touch with manic depression/depression group and the opinions I collected said I was lucky I wasn't dead. Things I overheard in the waiting room (nurses do gossip loudly) was he was having a lot of problems, divorce and clinic relationships.
My new doctor calls me right away, he takes everything I say seriously, though he does have a sense of humor. And, he does not give up.
It is hard to evaluate the care being received when you are depressed or manic. I am trying to train my spouse to be my advocate and be another set of eyes and ears while I try to figure this out. I have heard NAMI is also a good source for who to go see.
> Thanks for the feedback. Although my doc is in his middle 50's, he does seem to be more "cutting edge" in his med use. For instance, I had never heard of Wellbutrin for depression (and how it interacts with dopamine and the GABA receptors)and he does explain his rationale. It's more like because I only see him every 4 months for med refills (he's not a Freudian therapist, and I have had limited success with that type of treatment...it works for a while, then the therapist is just telling me what I already have figured out). My main gripe is that I recently had a really blue week or two that I think was a situationally-related experience, and his "solution" was to put me on 200mg SR Wellbutrin x 2 (after he first told me to take 300mg SR x 2...and it casued bad chest pains) and to add Depakote, which is hardly an innocuous med, to help me sleep. I stopped both, and went back to my 150mg SR x 2 (and Tranzene, which he wants to take me off of) and I have been "back to normal" since then. I have been on this particular med combination for two +/- years with fairly static mood, and I have been OK, except for the aforementioned blue weeks. Why is he so quick to chuck out what has been working as opposed to perhaps just listening to what I had told him about my symptoms? I have been considering asking my GP if he will prescribe me the meds I have been taking, and boot the Pdoc (especially since he provides no therapy). I am currently seeing a Christian counselor to help me with some family problems, and he has been helpful. Is this a unique situation, or do others of you have similar experiences?
poster:susan C
thread:73169
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010731/msgs/73319.html