I've noticed a pattern in my records, specifically SSRIs and hospital admissions for suicidal ideation. There is definitely a connection that I pointed out to my psychiatrist yesterday afternoon. She admitted that medications can make people sick. Even the attending psychiatrist admitted this during one of my last admissions, but of course nothing was done about it.
After some venting, my doctor asked what should have been done. I told her that I should have been assessed thoroughly and taken off all medications to help figure out what was going on.
Here is the pharmacy I was taking:
MEDICATIONS ON ADMISSION:
Paroxetine 20 mg p.o. q.a.m.
Clonazepam 0.25 mg p.o. q.h.s.
Loxapine 10 mg p.o. q.h.s.
Epival 500 mg p.o. b.i.d. (the patient does not want the Epival).
Kind of excessive!
We talked about possible serotonin syndrome that my records seem to support, but it was misdiagnosed. I mentioned the name of the offender, an attending psychiatrist who I have no recollection of, nor that particular admission to 4 North. She was surprised I did not remember him.
This is turning into a huge project, one of investigation. I requested more records and to consult them in person. The hospital has the paper records I want and offered to scan them for me, which would involve uploading them onto Epic. I refused that offer since TOH's privacy officer has restricted access at my request (the "lockbox"). That action would compromise my privacy and make it harder to protect.
I will not let the hospital upload documents to get around Covid restrictions so they could meet the obligations of PHIPA. No way.