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highly rec and higly unrec pyschs in Phila area

Posted by nickguy on July 30, 2006, at 10:53:41

highly UN-RECCOMENDED pyschiatrist in the philadelphia area-
Dr. Ralph Fiskin- (operates out of park town place in Phila.)

*refuses to use benzodiazepams for anxiety, and instead prescribes anti convulsants and anti pyschotics, medicines with weak profiles for treating anxiety, while benzodiazepams are almost always effective.
* is not very welcoming. Although polite, I felt unwelcome and that I was just a part of his work. He also talked down on me somewhat as if he was my teacher. He had no respect for my knowledge of pyschiatric meds.
* Is awful at psycho therapy. When I told him I wasn't comfortable enough to try to get a girlfriend, his answer was "Sure you are!" There would be periods of awkward silence for up to 2 minutes, in which I would have to stress myself just to find something to talk about.
* Although I have never had manic symptoms, or anything remotely close to them, he diagnosed me as bi-polar II on the sheer fact that I have a grandmother who was bi-polar. It's been very clear to my pyschologists and new psychiatrist that I have depression and SA, which is also in my family. SInce Dr. Ralph Fishkin believed I was bi-polar on extremely inconclusive evidence, he treated me with lithium and lamictal, which both did nothing for me. Since he believed anti-depressants would make me "manic" he refused to try ad's I hadn't previously tried. When I got off lithium and lamictal and told him I would like to try some of the anti depressants that I hadn't tried yet, (because I was getting no relief from my depression) he refused and said the only thing he could think was left to try would be to go back on lamictal (which didn't help my depression the 1st time I tried it) and gabitril for social anxiety, which did nothing. After this I decided it was time for a change.

Higly RECCOMENDED pyschiatrist in Philadelphia Area
Dr. Steve Weinstein (operates out of Bryn Mawr)

* Dr. Weinstein is an incredibly friendly and warm person. He makes you feel like he'll do whatever it takes to make you feel better. He also has a good humour concerning pyschiatric meds.
* Dr, Weinstein answers or answers back to all of my phone calls. He basically gives free sessions over the phone when you need to talk to him.
* He prescribed me ativan for my anxiety, which has made a huge difference in the quality of my life. We knew there were risks but he trusted me, and I have not abused nor taken regularly my ativan. He also gave me Inderal, a beta-blocker to use for emergencies. It's good knowing I can take this if I'm entering a higly stressful situation and not worry about shaking.
* Because I didnt respond to SSRI's and other AD's in the past, he put me on desipramine, a TCA. Although it didn't work for me, it was still good to know that he would try all possible treatment options. I'm now trying zoloft, one of the few ssri's I havent tried.(By the way, desipramine and zoloft have NOT made me manic, as none of the antidepressants in the past I've taken did)
* Is not afraid of treatment options such as MAOI's, stimulants, and other medicines that are stigmatized. His attitude is if you feel better than it's worth it.


Anyway, you can surely see my two polar views of these guys. I really wouldn't want anybody to waste their time and money on a guy like Dr.Fishkin. I'm sure he's helped some people who were easy to treat, but otherwise he's not a very good psychiatrist and an awful psychcotherapist.
If your in the sorrounding Philadelphia suburbs, or even if you can make the trip from Philly (about 30 mins) I highly reccomend talking to Dr. Weinstein.



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poster:nickguy thread:672005
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060724/msgs/672005.html