Bipolar Disorder Support Group
Bipolar disorder is not just a single disorder, but a category of mood disorders marked by periods of abnormally high energy and euphoria, often accompanied by bouts of clinical depression. This is the place to talk about your experience with bipolar disorder, learn from others' experiences, and find support.
Two years ago I had a major manic episode. The doctor I was seeing told me that it was an anxiety attack and put me on anti anxiety meds.
Well they didn't work. They put me to sleep. By the end of the year I was in agony and so depressed I could barely stand it.
So she prescribed me Zoloft.
I've had a bad back forever. Several times over the years it has flared up. I was sent to a chiropractor (what an experience) then a neurologist who turned out not to be a neurologist who concentrated on my neck rather than my lower back. That took a year because everybody up here has a three month waiting list.
After the "pain doctor" gave me some shots in my neck some of the pain that the chiropractor had caused me went away - not completely but enough that I can deal - I changed my primary care physician and she sent me for MRI's on the rest of my back and referred me to another "pain doctor" who immediately sent me to a surgeon because I have a fractured L5 and need a metal rod put in my back.
She also sent me to a psychologist for a psychiatric evaluation which showed that I am bipolar with PTSD Anxiety and depression. I'm also fairly certain that I have some OCD. My doctor prescribed Lithium. I've been on Lithium since November and she has yet to do the standard blood test.
Well when the new PCP got the psych. eval. she didn't even read it and shrugged it off as being insignificant. When she got the radiologist's report about my back she argued with me about what the surgeon told me (despite the fact that he showed me the fracture).
So I got on the waiting list for a Psychiatrist (the ONLY female psychiatrist in the tri-county area apparently) and after waiting a few weeks found out that she will not see me because I am an adult and they can offer me either a Male Doctor (which is not going to happen) or a Nurse Practitioner. Neither option is acceptable.
I don't know what I am going to do. I have to find a psychiatrist to prescribe and monitor appropriate medications sometime DURING MY LIFETIME!
Of 12 doctors I have seen in the last 2 years the surgeon was the only one that did not make me wait for 3 months just to see them. Most of them were a complete waste of time if not actually harmful. I need help!
Well they didn't work. They put me to sleep. By the end of the year I was in agony and so depressed I could barely stand it.
So she prescribed me Zoloft.
I've had a bad back forever. Several times over the years it has flared up. I was sent to a chiropractor (what an experience) then a neurologist who turned out not to be a neurologist who concentrated on my neck rather than my lower back. That took a year because everybody up here has a three month waiting list.
After the "pain doctor" gave me some shots in my neck some of the pain that the chiropractor had caused me went away - not completely but enough that I can deal - I changed my primary care physician and she sent me for MRI's on the rest of my back and referred me to another "pain doctor" who immediately sent me to a surgeon because I have a fractured L5 and need a metal rod put in my back.
She also sent me to a psychologist for a psychiatric evaluation which showed that I am bipolar with PTSD Anxiety and depression. I'm also fairly certain that I have some OCD. My doctor prescribed Lithium. I've been on Lithium since November and she has yet to do the standard blood test.
Well when the new PCP got the psych. eval. she didn't even read it and shrugged it off as being insignificant. When she got the radiologist's report about my back she argued with me about what the surgeon told me (despite the fact that he showed me the fracture).
So I got on the waiting list for a Psychiatrist (the ONLY female psychiatrist in the tri-county area apparently) and after waiting a few weeks found out that she will not see me because I am an adult and they can offer me either a Male Doctor (which is not going to happen) or a Nurse Practitioner. Neither option is acceptable.
I don't know what I am going to do. I have to find a psychiatrist to prescribe and monitor appropriate medications sometime DURING MY LIFETIME!
Of 12 doctors I have seen in the last 2 years the surgeon was the only one that did not make me wait for 3 months just to see them. Most of them were a complete waste of time if not actually harmful. I need help!
Wishing you luck to keep trying to find a decent doctor. Don't give up, keep looking and searching.
I can understand what made him do that because one of my biggest "symptoms" is this nearly overwhelming urge to get the heck out of here.
As far as doctors in the US - I truly feel that if they paid as much attention to figuring out what is actually wrong with a "patient" as they do to where to send the bill things would improve dramatically. I also feel strongly that medical costs would go down if the doctors would GET A CLUE what they are doing!
I think that there should be a free internet rating program designed so that people can rate and comment on medical practioners (no matter what flavor) so that a person can check to see how good they are but also how they treat people. Maybe find out if they have any excentricities as well - to avoid waiting three months to get in to see a chiropractor who thinks that potatoes are destroying the world...or a doctor that just doesn't seem to know what they are doing.
If you bring your car in for repair and the car does not get fixed you do not pay the mechanic. Why should medical professionals get paid when they cannot even figure out what is wrong? Why should they get paid when they don't even see you?