Why isn't my GP listening to me?

I'm so angry at my GP right now.
My current councellor has suggested I go to my GP for a bipolar assesment as my mood swings have been very extreme this year. This is the 5th person who has suggested bipolar to me in the past few years and I've only recently been taking this suggestion seriously. I went to my GP for depression a few months ago - I couldnt seem to get out of it after I ruined my exams and my relationship went to pot during a suspected hypo episode earlier in the year. He put me on citalopram (ive been on it 6 weeks now - a lowered dose for the past two) which sent me on a total high - this ended up in an overdose, multiple SH episodes, me not sleeping for a week, a near cheating episode, extreme paranoia and anxiety and hallucinations. Not to mention the extreme irritability which resulted in me attempting to cut an itch out of my arm. Citalopram made me want to die at one point.

My GP promised me it wouldnt set off a manic episode, as I informed him that I had a bad reaction to fluoxetine a few year back - another relationship breakdown after I was physically violent towards him, a week of pure depression where my dad had to book a week off work to look after me because I wanted to die - followed by 9 months of a high in which I started preaching to god, believed that God was inside me, started my own business (which totally flopped), got in a load of debt, quitting therapy, didnt sleep, was high on life and also resulted in me becoming a mother. I was only on fluoxetine for 2 months.

I had a non medicated high about a year or so before that where i ended up jetting off to another country for 4 months, in which the high mood swings got so out of control I used to have blackouts and wake up covered in cuts and bruises. I woke up one morning in the bathroom in a pool of my own blood and I still to this day cant remember how it happened - all I know is how estatic abou tlife I was about 12 hours before the incident. I came back to england 4 months later leaving my friend paying for the house contract (it was for a year) and picking up the rest of my pieces, all because there was a party in england I wanted to go to. Theres much more to this, I had severe mood swings in school but I wont drag it on even more.

Anyway - my GP has passed off the fact that the antidepressants are making me want to die - told me im depressed, and prescribed me sertraline! Im at my wits end going back and fourth trying to get someone to listen to me and I dont know what else to do. I dont want to be here today. I feel like its going to take a hospital admission to get people to take me seriously and im trying to avoid that at all costs, my daughter needs me.

Wow your GP sounds terrible. You have told him your reaction and he has blatantly ignored it. Can you get a new GP? Be very very careful taking this next lot of ADs if you dont have a mood stabiliser. Can you Councillor contact your GP? To back you up?

I am always extremely wary of turning to GPs for psyc meds. I believe it should be left to psychiatrists, they have a much greater understanding of mental illness and medications. Is a pdoc an option?

A lot of GPs aren't actually trained to diagnose mental health issues. I'd highly recommend going to a pdoc. Once you have a diagnosis and they find you appropriate meds... you could probably get refills through the GP.

Thank you for your replies guys, its been a breath of fresh air for someone to even say 'she needs to be taken seriously' so thank you for that!

Im in the UK, and the NHS system does seem to be messed up and unjust due to the financial cuts they have had to make over the past few years. Money is tight at the moment and i would have to take matters in to my own hands to request a pdoc seeing at my GP wont. im going to have a word with my councellor about all of this and see if he can do anything for me, but I wont be seeing him until next week.

Can your councellor perhaps write a note to your gp stating that feel you need to see a psychiatrist. The way your gp is handleing thing now, I wouldn't trust them to be giving me anymore psych meds. The meds are serious business and it takes a really good pdoc even to deal with meds and side effects. I would be weary of taking more ad's if that is your reaction to them, maybe a mood stabilizer will help you tolerate ad's, it never did for me. And that isn't that uncommon for people with bipolar.

My therapist used to advocate for me between my doctors and the hospital, so I am thinking your counsellor might do the same. Sometimes unfortunatly dr's are more willing to do something at the request of another professional rather than just listen to their patient as they should.

Or getting a new gp, I know in Canada that is tricky since we have a shortage of doctors and red tape. Nit sure about UK tho.

I hope you can see a pdoc as soon as possible to help you.
My pdoc went home to India in April 2012, and I had to wait until July 2013 to see a new one. In my province in Canada, we're extremely short of doctors, especially specialists.
My GP is a good doctor but knows almost nothing about psychiatry or psych meds. They're just not taught that. Someone told me that in 7 years of school, they get only one day's schooling on nutrition. GP's are good doctors, but they're not specialists - they have only general knowledge.
My GP faithfully refilled my psych meds for 15 months, but wisely refused to change anything.
Please try to see a pdoc who will take you and your mood disorder seriously, as soon as you can.

My Gp was the same, I tried suicide, sh, and other things it wasn't until I was falling asleep in class that he switched my med and that went really bad I almost ended up in the hospital. It wasn't until I went in hypo maniac (or manic) and I yelled at him "do I look like i need an anti-depressant? No I'm not taking it" did he switched me to a mood stabilizer. It took me going in not responsive to refer me to a psychiatrist.

There's got to be a way to get a new GP or go to a clinic.

Hi , have you talked to your local Mind branch they may be able to put you in contact with people that can make a difference. Gp's can be pretty limited in their assessments. I feel for you. I also went off the rails when prescribed an anti-depressant. You are entitled to a second opinion. How much are you worried that social services may get involved? In my case the only time anyone gave a monkey's was when I had a child. Before that i was fobbed off and met with shrugged shoulders. I hope it won't come to hospital, i had some pretty questionable treatment in the UK but on the other hand there are people that are just diamonds. It must be hard to keep it together after all that and having a little one. I wish you all the best.

As others have mentioned, I think your best bet is getting an evaluation by a psychiatrist (have you ever been evaluated by a pdoc?). Hopefully your GP can refer you; I would think the NHS would cover this?

I see you're diagnosed with BPD --is it possible that at least some of what you have experienced is due to this? It can be very hard to tell the difference sometimes, which is why too a pdoc should be helpful. BPD can be characterized by a good deal of impulsivity and even lead to short-lived psychosis when under a great deal of stress. Your blackouts where you SH without remembering sounds like it might be some sort of dissociation.

As far as the medication, it sounds like you were depressed on them as well as 'up' so it's hard to tell to what extent they were causing this as opposed to just not working (i.e. for the depression).

I hope you can see a good pdoc and get this sorted out. Regardless, mood stabilizers, from what I understand, can help with all kinds of emotion dysregulation, so as long as you get on the right meds (plus your counseling) hopefully things will improve.

I was diagnosed with BPD a few year back, aparently i do not fully fit the criteria for BPD any longer (and i agree with that too).

I have seen a pdoc in the past yes, however i've been stable for a couple of years and havent had any mental health concerns since 2011. So i think my GP is just dismissing me on that basis. He basically said to me 'your not bipolar' after about 30 SECONDS of seeing me, even though I stated to him countless times that past councellors (and my previous ones) have been pushing the assessment on me since I first went in to therapy at 16 (I dismissed the BP off with the 'but i'm not happy?' lol, as I do get elated moods but my suspected mania quickly escalates to the dysphoric, out of control bad mania - I didnt realised these moods were classed as mania until recently).

I know that I am not well, due to the stable couple of years I feel like I now have a bassline to compare both my depressive moods and my higher moods to - and I dont need a patronising ******hole GP right now telling me im fine. I know this is not just depression and I am starting to finally predict a pattern over the years here.

My 6th week of citalopram I had trouble with mild hallucinations and dissociation episodes which have been a struggle - and he just told me to 'stop overthinking things.'

Im thinking twice now about starting the Sertraline (is that Zoloft?), as i know its just not worth it if it send me over the edge again (I ended up taking an overdose on the first week of citalopram because I was so desperate for the agitation, restlessness and sleepless nights to stop, i could not stop moving for the life of me!) and again my GP didnt even take this in to account.

Thank you for your advice guys, i think im going to try and discuss this with my councellor this week and see if he can suggest the best way around this.

Yeah.. I'd steer clear of anti-depressants until after you're on a mood stabilizer that works - and even then, being careful with it. Sertraline and I did not get along all that well.... had no side effects aside from a two-month long hypomanic episode, haha!

You don't need your GP to give you a BP dx. You just need him to give you a referral to a pdoc, who will then give you a BP dx. Just go in there and tell him you want a referral to a psychiatrist because you want a proper psychiatric assessment and diagnosis. Most Gp's would not have enough experience or understanding to dx it anyway. My GP did actually dx my BP, but he has a specialisation in psychiatry. I then followed his dx up with confirmation by a pdoc.
You need a new GP too btw. He sounds like a jerk. You need a good team of medical professionals behind you to manage and treat your mental health issues.
Good luck, take care and keep us posted on your progress and any developments.