[Vivienhoney]

Hi there,
I'm a looong time lurker but this is my first time posting.

Basically I see a general family doctor and I also see my psychologist once a fortnight.

My family doc was the one who referred me to my psyc after I told him some symptoms I was having etc and then my psychologist confirmed our belief that I had bipolar and OCD (intrusive thoughts mostly).

I usually just take 60 of cymbalta for depression which helps but recently I have been hypomanic and I have been struggling with the intrusive thoughts/paranoia and I am worried about going into a full manic episode.

I spoke with both psychologist and fam doc, they also communicate.
They have now referred me to a psychiatric doctor to confirm my diagnosis and decide on medications.

The only thing that worries me about this is: will I have to open up to this new psyc?
It took me a long time to gain trust and gather the courage to eventually tell my psyc about all my experiences...I don't think I can tell another stranger? I don't know what to do?

Thanks for reading and I will try to be more interactive now that I've eventually broken the ice!

-V

"Every so often I bump into stone walls and have to pick myself up and climb over them."
Dx: Bipolar & OCD

Hi! This is what I figured about pdocs, they are med dispensers. They are mostly all about symptoms and drug reactions. They are just brain doctors...at least all mine were.

They can careless about the stories or feelings. Just be honest of cause and effect and they will zero it in. Good luck!

[Edgar's Mom]

Where I live, pdocs are all about symptoms and meds to treat them. I don't go in to the historical intrapersonal stuff... You may not have to open up too much. The pdoc will probably be more interested in patterns of behaviour than any emotional baggage you might have.

[Victoria'smom]

Send your psychologist and family Dr notes ahead of time. That way there's very little you have to actually say. Yes you'll have to open up about your symptoms, give a family history but that's it.

[Mountainbard]

I'm glad you've decided to join. You can get a lot of good feedback here. I am really glad you're going to see a psychiatrist. I think it is important to open up to him, because it's the information you provide which allows him to make a diagnosis. As for your situation-- you say you're taking Cymbalta and it's making you hypomanic. It's been pretty well established that SSRI's and SNRI's cause mania in people with bipolar. I would hope your new psychiatrist would be aware of that fact. I'm guessing it was your family doc who prescribed the Cymbalta. In any case seeing this psychiatrist is a chance to get properly medicated, which is so important. It might help you to write down what you want to say to the psychiatrist. Remind yourself that you need to open up enough to get help-- and that means being thorough about describing your symptoms. I wish you the best of luck with this.