[Secretum]

I was really impressed by my pdoc when I first met him. I was too anxious to really explain my situation when I first met him, but he managed to ask the right questions and at the end of the interview I felt understood by another human being for the first time. He also has times when he is really caring and kind, and it just makes my heart melt.

But other times, not so much. Whenever I come in with serious symptoms, he gives me a confused look and tells me that I am on "the best meds there are". He only changes my meds if I am experiencing serious side effects; he seems indifferent to whether they are controlling my symptoms or not.

I talked to my pdoc yesterday because I am a mess-mixed, hallucinating, anxious as hell. He was 20 minutes late, and then he ended the appointment after only 9 minutes. I didn't get to tell him about the symptoms I was most concerned about (sui thoughts and impulsive SI). He told me that I was psychotic and said I should double my zyprexa. The only problem is that I am on Symbyax, which is Zyprexa and Prozac in one pill. I can't up the Zyprexa without also increasing the Prozac, and taking a higher dose of an SSRI might not be a smart thing for me to do when I'm already so manic-y.

Shouldn't he have taken more time with me, allowed me to explain (or heck, even directly asked me about) my dark thoughts?

The last time I saw him in a crisis, he didn't change my meds at all-just told me to come back in 3 weeks. Yet, when I was titrating up on abilify but overall doing well, he wanted to see me every week...

I feel like he is a really great human being, and occasionally he is a really good, conscientious, caring doctor. But other times, I'm not so sure....

Should I look into getting another doctor? I really, really like my doctor as a person, but sometimes I feel like he can't really give me the time and dedication I need.

[Rick7892]

Sounds like there are some red flags with your doctor to consider, and it is great that you are considering them! I have hung on to old cars and medical providers sometimes longer than I should have ... On one hand it is great to have a good personal relationship with a doctor, but on the other hand, the whole point is the medical care one receives (or not). I have found several links with some considerations with a Google search of "when to fire your doctor." Good luck!

[Anneinside]

I have a good psychiatrist and I'm keeping her but I just changed primary care doctors. I had been with one since about 2002 and I also really like him as a person. But several things have happened. The practice put records online so I can access them and there are a lot of mistakes in the reports. A couple of months ago I was having a bad asthma episode and tried to get in to see him. They said I would have to wait eleven days. I ended up in urgent care. I have to have a cursory physical every 30 days in order to have ECT. Over the last six months or so my doctor hasn't been available for a physical over half the time so I started going to a different doctor. Her exam was thorough, she took her time, and had great bed-side manner. I have now switched to her.

[PrairieCat]

Originally Posted by Secretum

I was really impressed by my pdoc when I first met him. I was too anxious to really explain my situation when I first met him, but he managed to ask the right questions and at the end of the interview I felt understood by another human being for the first time. He also has times when he is really caring and kind, and it just makes my heart melt.

But other times, not so much. Whenever I come in with serious symptoms, he gives me a confused look and tells me that I am on "the best meds there are". He only changes my meds if I am experiencing serious side effects; he seems indifferent to whether they are controlling my symptoms or not.

I talked to my pdoc yesterday because I am a mess-mixed, hallucinating, anxious as hell. He was 20 minutes late, and then he ended the appointment after only 9 minutes. I didn't get to tell him about the symptoms I was most concerned about (sui thoughts and impulsive SI). He told me that I was psychotic and said I should double my zyprexa. The only problem is that I am on Symbyax, which is Zyprexa and Prozac in one pill. I can't up the Zyprexa without also increasing the Prozac, and taking a higher dose of an SSRI might not be a smart thing for me to do when I'm already so manic-y.

Shouldn't he have taken more time with me, allowed me to explain (or heck, even directly asked me about) my dark thoughts?

The last time I saw him in a crisis, he didn't change my meds at all-just told me to come back in 3 weeks. Yet, when I was titrating up on abilify but overall doing well, he wanted to see me every week...

I feel like he is a really great human being, and occasionally he is a really good, conscientious, caring doctor. But other times, I'm not so sure....

Should I look into getting another doctor? I really, really like my doctor as a person, but sometimes I feel like he can't really give me the time and dedication I need.

Secretum,
I think that the first thing to tell a pdoc is if you're having sui thoughts. If he doesn't have the time for you that you need to fully express your concerns, it would not hurt to find another and try him/her out. I changed pdocs to get away from an awful one who overloaded me with way too many Rx's and never, ever tried to diagnose me accurately. She treated me as if I were quite retarded, dismissed my concerns and did not believe what I told her. This was horrible for me. It took me a long, hard time to find a new pdoc. He seems great so far. I have not regretted changing. I saw a lot of docs before I found him as I was changing regular doc also. It was hell. One of them ridiculed me and told me to go off a drug and come back in THREE months! That was insane advice. I went off the way she told me to and I felt as if I was dying, never felt so close to death, really scared me. Went back on it, had to. Wouldn't see her again for a million dollars.
It can't be a bad thing to try another just to assess if this is what you need. Good luck!
PrairieCat