Your psychiatrist or care team ever say anything that made you wonder, like What The Heck!!! ?? Sometimes these things can be funny or amusing after the fact.

I knew I was in good hands when my psychiatrist asked me what a mixed episode was when I came in, in the middle of a mixed mood.

[kindachaotic]

Wow, don't really know how to respond to this one...
Check his credentials, degree's, google him?
Don't know how Canada works but maybe try for another pdoc.

Of all times, when you need someone professional to help , then this. Maybe someone else on your health team could help.

Know you have been feeling pretty rough lately, don't have any answers but know you are greatly loved here.

Ahh Chaotic, this was awhile back. Ya he's quite interesting. Thanks you tho for your kind words. Your greatly loved right back!!

I've had lots of interesting experiences with pdocs. At the time maybe not so funny, but later when I think back I can see the humor, sometimes . He might have been just clarifying. But he did seem dumbfounded.

So I was just wondering what others have experience that's similar.

[BuggsBunny]

Oh, man, you're gonna love this one. One day I called my pdoc to get a refill on a med, and he said,"good thing you called today. I'm moving to N.Carolina tomorrow, and you might want to get your meds refilled." No letter, no call, nothing!

I called my T, stunned, crying, and all those other things you'd be doing. Luckily she knew a local pdoc that she promised wasn't moving anywhere anytime soon. And he didn't - until just before my Dad died after which I landed in the hospital with a brand new - didn't know them - pdoc.

[Confusedinomicon]

when my pdoc convinced me she was not working directly under big pharm and wasn't trying to poison me with pills to make me stupid

I was a little paranoid and probably mixed when this happened x)

[tnlibrarian]

If my psych asked me what a mixed state is I would immediately start looking for a new doctor. That's scary! The only thing that ever makes me wonder about my doctor is when she'll occasionally ask me if I think I need to increase my meds. I always pretty much tell her that she's the doctor and a better judge of that than I am.

[grandmaof3]

My pdoc told me that he was on some of the same meds as I was..at first I thought... this is just great, he's crazy too. Then I realized that he probably really did understand what I go through. He's been wonderful. He calls me to check on me when he knows I've been going through a rough time and he's always been willing to fit me in if I had an emergency. When I didn't have insurance he gave me a break on his fee. I can see that he really cares about his patients.

Bugs that's horrible!! What a shmuck!

[Secretum]

Grandma of 3, I want your pdoc! Haha. Mine's good, but not that good. I want to be a pdoc when I grow up (however long that will take), and I'm hoping that I'll be more empathetic because I've been through mental illness myself.

I once saw a pdoc who confessed that she had some patients on 20 different meds. Another pdoc, who works with my university's health center, refuses to see me because I am "too complex". This really annoys me because I really like her. And I could have seen her for free! My current pdoc sometimes rushes through our appts; though I'm scheduled for 30 min, he's done with me after 15. Oftentimes, I have things that I still want to tell him, but I'm too cowardly to speak up. He also spends a lot of time talking about his own little theories (and he has a theory on everything). Overall, though, he is a good pdoc.

Originally Posted by Anika

I knew I was in good hands when my psychiatrist asked me what a mixed episode was when I came in, in the middle of a mixed mood.

Knew you were in good hands?? Was he seriously asking? Had you been seeing him awhile? Had you had one previously while seeing him? Because the only other thing I can think of is if he was wanting to check what you meant by the term (I've seen it used sometimes in ways that perplex me) or as a rather askew way of asking what your symptoms were. Maybe?? Because if he didn't know the term, that would be mind-boggling!

Originally Posted by Secretum

... Another pdoc, who works with my university's health center, refuses to see me because I am "too complex". This really annoys me because I really like her. And I could have seen her for free! My current pdoc sometimes rushes through our appts; though I'm scheduled for 30 min, he's done with me after 15...

Upside on the health center one? At least they admitted it! Drs can have ego trouble of that front. Still, as a Pdoc, ummmm... (I had a GP who, though a nice person, seriously overestimated her skills in psych (misdiagnosed, saying only 3 words to "screen" for BP ["so, no highs?" Thorough, eh?!). I had no idea what she meant, and she wasn't cognizant enough to realize that in my state (which was obviously very messed up, even to a casual observer) that my comprehension was very compromised. Then to compound, didn't recognize obvious signs that should have sent up red flags -- wow, you're feeling super great after less than 2 days on the AD? Cool! So, proceeded right on upping and mixing ADs with disasterous results and still not questioning that she just might be wrong(!) It seems she just couldn't admit that she didn't know jack about MI. I had to figure it out, realizing I was too complex for anything less than a specialist. Two years of suckage on account of ego. Ugh.

My current (a PHMNP) is so not a clock watcher and takes account of my financial situation, and for that I am truly grateful. She also sees right through it when I like to think that I am covering up how bad things are. And damn if she isn't right every time on that. She strikes a good balance of teamwork and is not too rigid, not too loosey-goosey. I really like her.

[cocoabeans]

The first psychiatrist I saw told me that because I have wealthy parents and university educated (I was a student then) that I am not mentally ill and shouldn't be complaining and that people in India, where he is from, had real problems then he put me on Prozac. When I stopped eating, sleeping, and other manic symptoms and still was very depressed and told him such, he said, "oh that's just anxiety, let's double your dosage."

I was 19, very sick and couldn't know any better. I was horribly ashamed of mental illness and didn't ask anyone else for help so, followed his orders straight to the darkest pits of human experience.

Looking back, I'm surprised I survived.

[interested2012]

Originally Posted by Anika

Your psychiatrist or care team ever say anything that made you wonder, like What The Heck!!! ?? Sometimes these things can be funny or amusing after the fact.

I knew I was in good hands when my psychiatrist asked me what a mixed episode was when I came in, in the middle of a mixed mood.

I agree that that almost seems implausible. Maybe he was trying to clarify how you felt?

I thought he may be trying to clarify, except he seemed stumped. This is just the tip of the ice burg with him. I would post more stories. But I am still under his care. Yes. I am, due to our awesome public health care system, referral process and red tape.

I'll post some more tomorrow, maybe I do need a more objective look at this situation with this particular pdoc.

[cocoabeans]

Did I read you're in Canada? Me too.

Can't you just ask him to refer you to someone else? They do that ya know.

Long wait though...could go to an ER and they'll get you right away but if you just need a refill my meds guy, a GP will do.

[ninjamel1644]

My Therapist and Psychiatrist are wonderful. When I call and leave a message for them they call back within 10 min or so making sure I am ok. When my meds make me dizzy and seen to interact with my heart medications, he slowly takes me off the medications to make sure and then takes me off and switches meds to help me. I can call at any time and hour to the after hours help line tell it is an emergency and he will give me a call back when he gets the message. I never had a doctor like this before. Also the therapist and psychiatrist work together, and exchange notes, so the both know what the other is doing to help me. Good coordination.

[roads]

When my depression was getting worse and a whole series of med changes had me going from bad to worse, I went into my pdoc's office one day for an appointment & stopped in the doorway, hands on my hips. He rushed from his desk. "Are you okay?"

"I'm not happy," I said. "I think I will bite you," & showed him my teeth.

I knew I was in good hands when he said, "I have a better idea. Let me call *Mrs pdoc*, you'll come home, have dinner with us, we'll talk all night. Make a plan."

I didn't bite him, we made a plan, it worked.

[ninjamel1644]

Originally Posted by Roadie

When my depression was getting worse and a whole series of med changes had me going from bad to worse, I went into my pdoc's office one day for an appointment & stopped in the doorway, hands on my hips. He rushed from his desk. "Are you okay?"

"I'm not happy," I said. "I think I will bite you," & showed him my teeth.

I knew I was in good hands when he said, "I have a better idea. Let me call *Mrs pdoc*, you'll come home, have dinner with us, we'll talk all night. Make a plan."

I didn't bite him, we made a plan, it worked.

That sound like something that my pdoc would do! Sounds like you have a good one just like me! I am trying to get a friend of mine to go and see my therapist and pdoc so that she can get the help she needs with people who actually care what happens to us!

[Tsunamisurfer]

My first psychiatrist was a strange man. At my first appointment I explained that I thought I had a history of Bipolar disorder. He agreed that it did sound like it could be, but decided to put me on Prozac alone for starters, then promptly went on 3 weeks leave. I went mixed immediately, but had no idea what to do. 3 weeks later his response was simply - "you could have gone to hospital to resolve it..."
"well you have probably suffered irreversible damage now..."
Some time down the track, I was alarmed at the weight gain I had with Seroquel. His response was "you know weight gain is directly proportional to food intake..." (I have since found that the relationship is not that linear, and even by eating less than I did before drugs, I still gained weight).

With another psychiatrist, I was unhappy on antipsychotics, so she agreed to take me off them. We tapered the dose over 1 week. At the follow-up 4 weeks later, I (stupidly) told her that the voices had returned 2 weeks after stopping the antipsychotics. She took that as proof that I was inherently ill, and that I needed to be on antipsychotics for life. I told her I felt the antipsychotics were making me ill (derealisation). She said they never do that, and my rejection of them was part of my illness. ?????!!!!! Has she never heard of the effects of coming off neuroleptics too quickly?

My pet fish are now my appointed therapists LOL.

Yes I am in Canada, I was under the care of a psychiatrist who had a private practice, but he retired and I was referred to a psychiatrist who works in our health unit. ALL the other psychiatrist in out town work in the health unit. It's not a big place so not many pdocs. I was very upset and had some long conversations about how to switch pdocs with my t who also works in the health unit, she inquired with her boss for details. So apparently I can put in a request, but because they are all so backed up it could take a long long time. We even thought of using that he was male and I'd be more comfortable with a female as a reason. Which is true to an extent. The only female pdoc here tho my t told me is quite gruff and stressed and that it wouldn't be a good fit for me. So my t and her "boss" thought the best solution was to give this guy more time.

OK, so I had only seen him twice, when I became very manic, some of you may remember when I was having psychosis, seeing little people, and had when through 5 antipsychotics and numerous other drugs in a few month period. when I called him while I was very manic, he did not get back to me for three days, even after my t had also called him to tell him he needed to call me. When he finally called he was very rude, " what do you want me to do about it!" " what do you want more drugs!" and basically talked to me for two minutes and hung up. So I called my t and explained, she called him right away, apparently he had the wrong client, he thought I was another client of his. So he sent a letter of apology to my t, and the Community response team at the hospital who I was also in contact with. Tho he did not explain or mention it to me.

During this manic episode that lasted 5 months he never returned my calls sooner than a few days later, did not call in xr's when he said he would without my t hounding him. He switched my antipsychotics constantly before giving them enough time to really work, and he kept starting me out at the highest dose. At one point I was on 3 antipsychotics at one time, I was on 35 mg's of Zyprexa, which is higher than the maximum 30mg dose, fine, ,but I was such a freakin zombie, I am a tiny person, who cannot handle these kind of doses. Seriously, 25 mg of Seroquel and I am down. Now, I am not claiming the meds and doses were terrible on his part, I don't know what to do with me either when I am acutely manic with psychosis. His attitude and not calling me back ever and not calling in xr's is a problem. In one phone call he also told me that I could figure out my own dose Seroquel, just feel it out between 25 mg's and I could go up to 200 mg's. I don't want to decide my own doses, I am not a dr. and if I ran into problems I would not be able to count on getting a hold of him.

Even if he thought I was a different patient on the phone, why would he talk to any patients that way.

Anyways, I do not know what happened between my t and him, but once I started raising a stink over getting a new pdoc, he became nice and more attentive. So I am confused there. Is he going to try harder to be professional, did he get himself in trouble, I don't know.

I can't just see my gp for meds, or rely on the er. I have bipolar 1 with much dysphoric mania and psychosis. My pdocs I have had have had a very hard time with my meds, I don't think my gp would know what to do, he hasn't known in the past. I wish that I could just go to him because we have a good relationship and he is a lot more professional.

Ok end rant, that is my frustration with this pdoc. I did look him up on rate your md.com and he did get the worst score and reviews of all the ones where I live. I thought "Awesome"

Tsunami, They seem to overlook that coming off antipsychotics can have a rebound psychosis effect, I get that, and uggh right back on them you go.

[cocoabeans]

Ah, ya! They're over worked, I think a lot of health care professionals regret going into medicine, not a lot of mental health resources in many places too and if you haven't found your med combo, yup, can't rely on just telling a GP to write a new Rx or telling 'em to increase or lower a dosage here and there. Personally, I'm okay with feeling it out but, I always do my research. hope it works out for you sooner rather than later.

[AniManiac]

My most recent prior pdoc was a nightmare; details in a long, long blog post.

My current one was doing alright - really a PA and not the psych himself - but she has to follow his orders and now things are getting all screwed up because of test results. Clearly the pdoc has been burned by people abusing their prescriptions, because he's not giving me the stuff that I ought to be getting, and has retracted one of the best ones for me. Another blog post on that...

I'm not sure if I'll ever find a good pdoc but hopefully I'll stumble across one eventually.

[nacht]

My current pdoc seems okay so far. The one before her, though, told me that my symptoms struck her as attention seeking behavior and not bipolar at all. She was cold, rude, and unresponsive. I saw her twice before I said "the hell with this" and quit meds cold turkey, because she made a part of me believe that maybe it was true and I was faking it for some reason. I tried to ignore my symptoms for several years, even though it prevented me from getting long-term work or getting my finances in order. I shouldn't have done that to myself, but that entire experience was a bit traumatic for me as I assumed after the fact that no one else would believe me either. It took a LOT of convincing from my boyfriend to get me to go get help and meds last fall.

[MotherMarcus]

Your Pdoc sounds like a major ***-hat. I hope you are able to find someone a little more with it.

[BlackPup]

my pdoc is awesome, he is really smart and I really feel like I can trust him to make the right choices with my meds...
but it took a few false starts to find him...
I had a GP who thought he knew how to treat MI but really didn't and gave me really high doses of an antidepressant without a mood stabiliser and then tried zyprexa but I don't have the enzyme to metabolise it so I turned into a zombie and got really dizzy even at half the lowest dose. Then he sent me to a pdoc who put me on lithium and sent me back to idiot GP to manage - to bad he never got my levels high enough to be effective. Then I put on weight and all he had to say was eat less!!! ever helpful aren't they!!!

[Beebizzy]

My first hospitalisation was because I had cut my wrists - extremely superficially - and the pdoc said 'aren't you being a bit theatrical?'.

My pdoc now is amazing, and he even said that he cannot believe the docs I've had in the past .