Should I try to get some meds....like TODAY??

I am not okay. I've even had some suicidal thoughts. I really need some help.

I did go to a therapist about 3 weeks ago, but got a bad one....then finally got another one, that I had my first appointment with just this Tuesday. But he's just a therapist, doesn't do meds. He was going to call my OB/GYN doc and explain my situation so she could prescribe the meds.

Well, my therapist is on vacation as of last night, until Monday morning. I called my OB's office and she's all booked up for appointments for today. We don't really have a family doctor - just moved here, all we really have is my daughter's pediatrician and my OB.

My question is...would it help any to try and get some meds like RIGHT NOW??

Where should I go?

Or is it just going to take a month for them to work anyways??

I'm on the waiting list fo a psychiatrist but she can't get me in until May.

I still don't really know if I'm just depressed or if I could possibly be bipolar. That's why I've been somewhat hesitant to get back on meds (it's been 2 years since I was in any treatment). And that's why I was hoping to get to someone who really knows mental illness...not just a regular doctor.

I'm really not okay. I'm still sane enough to know that I'm not okay...but I can tell I'm in that downward spiral again.

What should I do??

is there a local health center you can stop by and talk to someone?

Can you get into see a family practioner or ob/gyn today? Or a emergency care center. If you feel that strongly about it then you really need to get ahold of a doc and get in ASAP. Hope you can get some relief, i have felt like that lately too. Maybe you can get away and go to the beach and have some quiet time or just take a long bath with no interuptions, that doesn't usually happen at my house though, due to my son trying to knock the door down to get in.
Hang in there, keep posting.

There are some 'urgent care' clinics but they only do medical issues...I don't think they do anything with mental health.

I guess I could always call and ask.

There is a hospital. That's my last resort. I really don't think I'm THAT bad, though. And I don't have TIME!! That's the worst. I'll be working 10-12 hours a day from now until the 15th...weekends included. If I can just make it to the 15th then I'll be okay, I think, but I'm not so sure I can even make it to 10:00....

that was my reasoning for waiting to get help. if ur in the US look into FMLA. if you need help, contact ur employer and they will understand u have a medical issue that needs attending t.

Razzle, any medical doctor can prescribe meds for you. Start with your family doc then when you do get in to see a pdoc you can have them adjust what you're taking.

Oh, and going to an emergency room doesn't mean you'll be put into in patient care (unless you mention suicide). I've gone and was just prescribed meds.

Cyran0

Please see my response to your other recent post. It is about the value of a hospital in times of crisis.

I just can't remember what I wrote or I would write it here again.

doc john had a blog entry on how hospital can be a place that isn't terribly helpful for people who are suicidal.

er... just wondering... has anyone considered borderline personality / rapid cycling bi-polar? just wondering because the distress seems to be intense emotion rather than a flattening / loss of them. sometimes hospital staff can be rather unsympathetic to people who express INTENSE distress... unfortunate... but thats the way things are sometimes.

are you trying to do little things to nurture and care for youself? some nice self talk and some inner hugs? bubble baths and reading novels and going for nice walks etc? hang in there... this too shall pass.

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alexandra_k said:
er... just wondering... has anyone considered borderline personality / rapid cycling bi-polar? just wondering because the distress seems to be intense emotion rather than a flattening / loss of them.

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Yes. Which is a HUGE reason why I've been trying to find a doctor who actually knows something about mental health before I get meds again. I might be Bipolar II. I don't fit the classic Bipolar I symptoms, but I do have a lot of stuff that could either be Bipolar II or Borderline. The impulsiveness. The mood swings. Binging. Sometimes I just get really irritable and angry at the littlest thing. But I never really get the 'happy' side of Bipolar. Just extremes - like one minute, I want to reach in the phone and kill the receptionist who won't give me an appointment....then I'm crying and nearly suicidal the moment I hang up the phone.

And yes, my moods change within the minute or the hour. Not weeks or even days. At one point I thought it was maybe partly hormonal, but it doesn't always seem to follow that kind of cycle.

But I've never had an official diagnosis, that I know of. Except postpartum depression, which is what they all assumed I had 2 years ago. None of them listened to me when I explained some really irrational and impulsive behavior, that at the time, I didn't know was relevant (but now I do). They all just assumed that any woman who walks in feeling depressed and happens to have a 6 month old child, well of course its postpartum! They didn't even really get my history. Not a single one of them ever mentioned bipolar to me. And back then...I went to 3 therapists for at least a month each...plus nearly a dozen others. (long story there too)

But that's just it. If I wait a month or two to get in somewhere...by then, who knows what I'll be like. I could be crazy and impulsive, I could be nearly suicidal, I could just be numb. Or I could magically be over it all and think I don't need help anymore and I'm just wasting their time.

If I can just make it thru this weekend...maybe I'll be okay. Heck, if I can make it to the 19th...i'm taking some weekend classes in another bigger city. I've been in contact with a therapist up there who might be able to see me on Saturday afternoons. That is, of course, if I make it to the 15th without completely self-destructing...

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alexandra_k said:
doc john had a blog entry on how hospital can be a place that isn't terribly helpful for people who are suicidal.

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Actually in this case, the hospital would be a perfect choice. She would be treated with meds and the hospital staff could titrate the meds as necessary to stabilize her. In addition, they would set-up outpatient services for her before they released her. This is pretty standard if you are not in treatment already.

Perhaps if she was already in treatment with suicidal thoughts, the hospital can not change those thoughts....they could medicate. But she has no medication, no treatment, nothing.

I think hospitalizing someone is an individual sitiuational thing. I have seen people suicidal in the hospital that were helped once their meds were fixed (manic or depressive). It is a safe place where the p-docs can alter medications quickly in a controlled setting. Disorders like bipolar or schizophrenia that need medicine wil be helped when in a setting where meds can be given. Personality disorders, maybe not so helpful.

But as of now, she has no idea what is wrong with her, diagnosis wise.