[Kittenwhispers]

I'm astounded, and what's worse, I complied. This was for all sorts of illicit drugs, heroin, cocaine, it's crazy. I live in a medical marijuana state and told her that I hold a card and use meduical cannabis. I'm just freaked out my what I agreed to. My husband saw the same doc, no drug screen & he uses medical cannabis and has a state card, as well. I'm flummoxed and upset.

[Kittenwhispers]

I'm just surprised and feel like a trust was breached - I'm past middle-age and all I do is MMJ & I felt so judged, like I was a criminal.

[gayleggg]

I don't understand why he would require it of one of you but not both. I've heard that more doctors are doing screenings. I don't know if it is to make sure when they prescribe something it won't mix with something else you're taking or not. But I would have wanted to know why. Don't blame you for being upset.
Gayle

[Kittenwhispers]

Originally Posted by gayleggg

I don't understand why he would require it of one of you but not both. I've heard that more doctors are doing screenings. I don't know if it is to make sure when they prescribe something it won't mix with something else you're taking or not. But I would have wanted to know why. Don't blame you for being upset.
Gayle

Maybe it was the fact that I have a chronic pain problem and that's what I treat (along with PTSD, Berevement, Anxiety, Depression) with mmj, along with thus usual suspects: Lexapro and Wellbutrin and Klonopin. She gave a lot of mmj warnings, so maybe that's her problem. I'm just really bothered with myself that I didn't ask why it was requested and why I so easily complied. I wonder if I would have had an opt-out option on moral grounds - that this makes me feel mistrusted, spineless and like a criminal. Not a good starting point to build up trust with a new psychiatrist.

[kaliope]

Hi kittenwhispers
welcome to psych central. my pdoc routinely does drug screening with labs as well. she didn't even tell me she was doing it. I read the lab slip. she has never asked me if I use drugs but it is a routine intake question the nurse asks every time. I felt as if she didn't trust my answer to the nurse by putting it on my labs and not telling me she was doing so. like she was trying to catch me doing something I wasn't supposed to. then I thought I was just being paranoid and it was just a routine lab she ran on all patients and I let it go. I hope you find PC helpful. we have lots of forums you can post to and receive feedback from others. you will get lots of support here. again, welcome.

[eem13]

Wow I thought that any doctor no matter what kind had to explain why they were doing or requesting something whether or not the patient asked, I would feel the same, very mistrusted if a psychiatrist did this to me.

[MotownJohnny]

Kittenwhispers, I can so relate to that, and I feel badly for you. When I went to a psychiatrist last year, she ordered, not asked, me to go check myself into a psych ward. I refused that, then she said "day program" - which was also insane, I was never suicidal in my life - well, until I met her. In fact, about the very first statement I made to her was "I realized I can't live like this any more, I have to change my life for the better." My problem, btw, was extreme anxiety, panic attacks, total insomnia after receiving death threats on the job, which brought up stuff from an abused childhood. I also told her I would only do outpatient treatment. She completely disregarded that. And ordered me to do the other, and gave me an ultimatum to decide in 36 hours. Or else I guess she was going to have the cops get me.

So, I walked out if that office utterly destroyed. I felt the same as you described it, like a criminal. Betrayed. My self esteem was decimated. I walked in there thinking I had made a good decision or my mental health. And one big thing changed in that instant, I walked out truly suicidal.... I didn't obviously, but it was something I contemplated for a few weeks.... I was that destroyed by how this went down.

Furious at this quack MD, still am, but even more so at myself, because I caved under the pressure and did it. And, it more or less has destroyed my life, or at least life as I knew it. And it still really hurts because I was such a weak man that I couldn't handle this and I couldn't fight for myself. But I have used all of that pain to great advantage. I came to the realization I could do one of two things with this, let it destroy me, or use it as the fuel to propel myself forward and get tough, physically and mentally.

If you are getting bad vibes from this doctor, trust your instincts. If you see this one again, I would state, in plain English exactly as you did here, that this made you feel betrayed, like a criminal, and that you don't think you can trust this doctor. I would say he/she would have to offer up one hell of a good explanation with a twist of apology before I would continue to see him/her. Then you could decide how to proceed.

Finally, this cautionary tale - I did NOT check out the doctor before I went. Big mistake, huge mistake. Did after the fact - found licensing complaints with the state board/regulatory agency, horrible, scathing reviews by former patients on this rate-your-doctor websites, and it appears her admitting privileges at one hospital were dropped, because older archived sites list her, newer do not, and this hospital is 5 miles from her office. ALWAYS check out any doctor thoroughly before you see them. For round two, I did my homework and found a different psychiatrist with excellent reviews, etc, and she is terrific. I was dumb enough, plus my world was turned upside down and things were a mess, I saw the quack about 6 times total, and found her to be harsh, judgemental, cruel, a terrible listener, and the most profoundly dumb things came out of her mouth, I had a number of "WTF, am I really hearing this?" moments in her office.

Never again will I allow myself to be blindsided like that. You have to stand up for yourself and be your best advocate.

[Nammu]

Because your husband was not screened and you were I would ask up front what her reasoning is and why she did not discuss this with you. It isn't a routine thing if she did not do the same for your husband. Clearly she had some kind of reason, was she maybe thinking your current medications are affecting you too much and wanted to rule out the possibility of other drugs or was she thinking of changing a medication and wanted to be positive there was nothing to counter act it? The main problem for a lot of docs is that when someone is a drug addict they will lie about it, so a lot of people who don't use drugs get offended when doctors want to be absolutely sure before considering any kind of medication change. It isn't a comment on you but on the thoroughness of a doctor. She might be a really good doc, talk it over with her and then trust yourself to decide if this was warranted or not.

[Sabra]

Originally Posted by Kittenwhispers

I'm astounded, and what's worse, I complied. This was for all sorts of illicit drugs, heroin, cocaine, it's crazy. I live in a medical marijuana state and told her that I hold a card and use meduical cannabis. I'm just freaked out my what I agreed to. My husband saw the same doc, no drug screen & he uses medical cannabis and has a state card, as well. I'm flummoxed and upset.

Good morning,

I think the biggest reason doc's are requiring drug tests is because prescribed pain meds are so often abused. It is a very big issue currently. They are often mixed with heroin and alcohol......people are dying. I know that people enter friends or acquaintance's homes and steal opiates. Real estate agents are telling clients to make sure their meds are not left where they can be found easily.

It isn't about you specifically, it's about abusers. In my state, if you get a narcotic from a doc, it is entered into a state wide data base. That has put a stop to doctor shopping. My sister was addicted to pain meds for years. When she couldn't go from doc to doc, she bought heroin off the street.

I live in a MMJ state and numerous docs will not see people who pop hot for pot. My pdog believes MMJ is helpful for certain issues. However, my PCP's practice does not. I use MMJ infrequently, but if it close to my semi-annual PCP appointment I don't.

Take heart, if you are rx'ed a scheduled drug, you're going to be pee tested.

Regards,

Sabra

[MotownJohnny]

Personally, if I told a doctor I didn't use any narcotics or other illicit drugs, and they couldn't take my word for it, what is the point? If you can't trust them to believe you, why even see them.

I don't know about other parts of the country or world, but there are pages of psychiatrists in the local phone books here. Plenty to choose from.

[Sabra]

Originally Posted by MotownJohnny

Personally, if I told a doctor I didn't use any narcotics or other illicit drugs, and they couldn't take my word for it, what is the point? If you can't trust them to believe you, why even see them.

I don't know about other parts of the country or world, but there are pages of psychiatrists in the local phone books here. Plenty to choose from.

Good morning,

I don't know where u live, but you are fortunate to have so many pdocs. Most in the town where I live aren't taking knew patients. If they are taking new ones, the wait is up to 3 months. The only way to circumvent the system is to go to the ER. Then you have no idea who you are going to see.

Regards,

Sabra

[possum220]

Okay........ So its a new psychiatrist. Maybe she was trying to see if your system was toxic or there was another other problem. Talk to them about the distrust you feel and try and see if you can work with them. You both need to be able to trust each other if the therapy is going to work. Maybe its just standard practice. I dunno. I often misread what my p'doc says and I need to address issues as they arise. So talk to them.

I have seen a number of patients who were trying to fool their p'docs.

I do hope you can work things and put this issue behind you.

[winter4me]

Ask Ask Ask. You need to know What is being done and Why; and then You need to be able to make a choice whether to comply; even if that means saying "I need to think about this first."
But, having said that I was blindsided once by a urine test at work; I did it because it wasn't "a problem" for me BUT, it really IS a problem for me; I truly believe it is an invasion of privacy, and I know damn well the only substance that is likely to show after a day or three is marijuana; so you can be a drunk, coke-head, or just behaviorally incapable of doing a job and pass a urine screen; I also learned, on that job, when the "pee test" responsibility was given to me that they were also testing for SSRIs and other prescription drugs that are Not considered drugs of abuse. So, now I just say no to testing. It cost me once but I just don't feel okay about myself letting people invade my privacy just because it has become the thing to do.