I saw my pdoc about 2 weeks ago. He said he would be on vacation for awhile and that he wanted to touch base with me before our next appointment (which is November 6th). He asked me a day and time when he could call me. I told him Monday evening. He made note of this and said he would call. I then asked him if there would be a covering psychiatrist while he is on vacation. He said, "Just call my assistant-- she'll know where to find me."

So Monday came and went and he never called.

I increased my dose of Lithium to 600 mg. Since I have a prescription for 150 mg, that means four pills per day. I did not realize how quickly it would run out. Now I only have enough Lithium for tonight and tomorrow morning.

I called his assistant and told her about this and she said, "Oh, he's on vacation. Call his secretary at the office." So I called her and explained the situation and she said, "Well, he doesn't have a covering doctor.... didn't he ask you to call him before went away?" And I said-- no.. actually he was supposed to call me and he never did. So she took down my information and said, "Well, I'll have to make some calls to find out if there's anything we can do."

How on earth do you go on vacation and not designate a covering psychiatrist? I have never heard of such a thing.

EDIT: Ok, about 10 minutes after I wrote this a very nice doctor called me back and he was very concerned when I told him that my pdoc told me that I don't need to get my blood levels checked yet. He was concerned that my pdoc would put me up to 600 mg and then go on vacation without having me get my levels checked. He asked me how tall I am and how much I weigh and when I told him he said to go back down to 300 mg per day (until my pdoc returns) because he is not comfortable with me taking 600 mg without getting blood levels checked. Then he called back again a couple minutes later because he wanted to ask about my side effects and how I've been feeling. I wish he was my doctor. I'm feeling a little scared right now-- why didn't my doctor order my levels to be checked? Why didn't he call me when he said he would? Why do I feel like all of this is not being properly monitored?