Does your pdoc trust you?

More and more I've grown to dislike my pdoc.

Ever since I met him, he has shown no trust in me. Before I was diagnosed as bipolar, he asked me to describe me my symptoms to him. When I complained about anger and depression, he gave me a bunch of mood disorder questionnaires to fill out. Then after i filled them out, he said, "Yeah, sounds like bipolar, but you don't have anyone in your family with that, so I don't think bipolar is right." Then he gave me an antidepressant without a mood stabilizer, which, of course, made me manic as hell. Only after that happened did he say, "Yeah, you're probably bipolar."

I have a diagnosis for ADHD, but he doesn't believe I have it! It's utterly bizarre. He will NOT give me anything to improve my concentration. He says, "No, you're not ADHD." Err.... what? I literally have a written diagnosis for it by a psychologist. How can you say 'no' to the ADHD diagnosis?

Oh yeah, and my pdoc has known about my GAD for 9 months and only recently prescribed me Ativan. I've been complaining about anxiety problems for 9 months and he didn't believe I had anxiety. I actually have TWO written diagnoses for GAD, from separate doctors.

He also thinks that because I'm 5 lbs underweight I "must" have an eating disorder. What kind of logic is that? My total cholesterol is almost 300! I've repeatedly denied having eating issues, but he keeps saying, "Well, we'll keep an eye on that. I'm going to put down a provisional diagnosis." I've literally had the same body type my whole life! WTH!

Sometimes I wonder why these people don't get any sanctions by their medical review boards.

I've been wanting to get a new pdoc for quite some time, but haven't had much luck. It's difficult trying to get an appointment with pdocs these days.

[pirilin]

Frankly, mine don't care. The "what do you need" kind.

[Skeezyks]

Hello bluebicycle: The Skeezyks isn't on psych med's any longer. As a result, I made the decision, a few months ago, to only see my pdoc once a year... just to keep my foot in the door, so to speak. (As you mentioned, it can be difficult to get in to see one.)

My pdoc takes a pretty laid-back approach to me. I've never asked for anything in particular in the way of psych med's. He just asks me how I'm doing & if I mention something he thinks a particular med might help, he'll offer it. (I pretty-much always decline.)

My pdoc has never given me a diagnosis. I presume there must be something written down in my file, for insurance purposes if nothing else. I think to some extent, because I'm older, he doesn't really think there's much point in getting over-excited about my situation... From my perspective, I'd rather have it that way than to have him trying to control my life... so it's okay...

I am not on psych meds any longer so I haven't seen my pdoc in a couple of years, but he treated me with great respect and trust for the 10 years or so he worked with me. He is an excellent listener, fully worked with me on all decisions -- never just dictating, extremely skilled and knowledgeable with meds.

[lilypup]

same experience as lola....

[BeyondtheRainbow]

Mine trusts me. I get the final say about med changes, what I am willing to risk trying, and what is too much to tolerate. Through the last year she was very good about letting me come to the conclusion I needed to start clozaril on my own time and kept working on other options (that didn't really exist) the whole time.

I wouldn't stay with someone I didn't have this kind of relationship with. I can't explain it very well but she treats me like a person instead of just a bunch of symptoms to be solved and I am 100% a partner in my care.

[fishin fool]

I don't think my pdoc cares much and really doesn't listen very well.
I am searching for a new pdoc right now.
As far as trust goes, again, I don't think he cares enough either way.

[annielovesbacon]

I'm very sorry about your pdoc
Mine is not quite as bad as yours, but I do get the feeling he doesn't trust me. Or maybe just doesn't care about me. When I come in he asks me maybe two questions and then just types away at his computer. I had trouble getting a bipolar diagnosis, too - he would say "Well you don't seem to have hypomanic phases" and I would say "Well I didn't get an opportunity to tell you, but..." and then describe all the crazy things I've done while hypomanic. Then he would just say "hmmm" like he didn't believe me. Like I was lying to get diagnosed with bipolar. Like I WANT to be bipolar?!

[raspberrytorte]

Mine was just awful. She was a horrible person. I could write more, but I'm on break right now and don't have time!

[eclogite]

Dude, ditch that guy like 2 years ago. He sounds awful!

My pdoc is full of himself and a bit of a d***, but he really knows his stuff and takes my input to heart.

[HALLIEBETH87]

I love my pdoc! I guess he trusts me. He was my ip dr so he's seen me at my worst

[SingDanceRunLife]

Yes. If she didn't trust me, she wouldn't ask my opinion on my meds and ultimately let me decide if I'm going to take something or not. If I say I can't handle the side effects, away the med goes. If I say no, I don't want to try that, off the table it goes. A good example would be lithium. I said I would try it only if after a laundry list of other meds didn't do it, and we eventually got to that point...not more than a month later I was off it because I didn't like the side effects and it wasn't even at a therapeutic level in my blood, but I said take me off this, and she did.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

I think another reason mine trusts me is that she knows I really trust her. Because I have failed so many medications (all of them essentially) there was a point in time when we knew that I was going to blow through a lot of options. So I've had to really rely on her to tell me that I could get past a certain side effect or whatever and I've stayed on meds longer than I might have wanted to because I knew that she was being completely up-front about what happened if we ran out of meds (I would need clozaril (on it now so out of med options) and we don't talk about what if Clozaril fails but I think ECT). I've had to trust her a lot about handling weight gain, sedation, etc. when other people might have gotten to just change meds and that has led to a real balance of trust between us.

[MusicLover82]

Your p-doc sounds awful!! I am lucky to have an incredibly good one. Maybe ask around to see who is best in the area (maybe get a referral from a psychologist?)? You seriously need and deserve better care. HUGS!!

What you have went through sounds horrible and I can tell you are very upset. I think I have a harder time trusting my pdoc than he has trusting me. I think if you have a problem, you should put it in writing. This is advise I need to take. Bring it to your doctor and voice your trust concerns. Might turn out you get better communication in the long run. Might not and you may need to switch docs.

[Victoria'smom]

Yes and no, he listens but is a very uptight. I don't complain EVER . He doesn't trust me to take my meds. He just insists I have anxiety and gives me meds for it.