A little help please

Hello all,

I just wanted to say first that I came here yeterday and so far everyone has been so nice and supportive.

That being said, I wanted to get some opinions:

I just recently reached out to a therapist, who sent me to a psychiatrist.
The Psychiatrist refused to put me on any medication because I am 37 years old and have never had a blood test. She did mention Lithium and Saphros as medications that she may consider though.

I went to my doctor yesterday to get the script for the blood tests. He asked me how I was, so I proceeded to tell him. He knows about my family history and such so he gave me two weeks of Zyprexa to take until I can get back to the psychiatrist.

Being the way that I am I did a lot of research on ZYprexa. People do say it works, but I cannot help but take the forums of how bad it is for you seriously. People have lost loved ones over this medicine and they say it makes you gain weight and also high blood pressure and diabetes (which I do not have yet, but runs in my family as well).

There is also an active class action lawsuit against the company that makes Zyprexa because they downplayed the side effects.

I am not sure if I should take this or wait until I see the psychiatrist again in 11 days. But now that I am starting to become self aware of my disease, I cannot help but think, is the disease dwelling on the negatives of the medication and putting it in my head that I should not take it?

Any sort of advice would be appreicated. And yes, I know that none of you are doctors.

Zyprexa is a pretty stout med for a GP to be prescribing. I'd see if I could manage until bloodwork is done and I've seen the psychiatrist if I were you.

Thanks for the reply.
I think I am going to hold off, I have read one too many bad things about this drug.

But here's the thing......I wonder if I will do this once my psychiatrist prescribes me something......

Zyprexa is a good med. Works well, but has the side effect of excessive weight gain. I found it curious that your GP would jump to zyprexa for a prescription rather than something else. Seems like an odd choice.

You can't run scared of every med. You'll find bad and good about every med out there if you look long enough on the web.

The bloodwork is a responsible thing to do before starting medication therapy. I personally would wait to start anything for these results, if you can hang in there. Hopefully you go back to the pdoc soon.

It was nice of the GP to try to relieve your symptoms in the meantime, they are helpful but the pdoc is more knowledgeable about psych meds.

The pdoc may choose to continue Zyprexa if you start it, but if you are not feeling that comfortable with it, it's best to talk further with the pdoc before starting. Also, with starting the med, the pdoc might have chosen something else, it could delay / impact your care if he/she wants to change it.

The question is whether you can hang in there until you see the pdoc again or if need to start something now for relief and to stay safe. Getting the help you need and staying safe are what is most important!

There are a lot of meds out there, all have side-effects to varying degrees, but b/c of our unique chemistry, how one affects us may not affect another and some you will find work better than others. It depends on your individual chemistry. Do your research, listen to the doc, trust in and advocate for yourself with what is right for you given all of the above.

Best of wishes as you start medication therapy.

you might try a little anti anxiety med if your doc will prescribe it. It can take the edge off temporarily

Thank you for your replies, Fresia and cautious hope.

I would like to be able to hang in there and take what the pdoc prescribes, but I am so worried about losing everything in the meantime. I would not have the courage to waltz into my family doctor's office and "ask" for something to take the edge off.....I would be too worried that he would think that I am exhibiting drug seeking behavior....That's me, I do this kind of thing to myself.

I just hope I can hold out. My wife and I were out with another couple Friday night. We were getting ready to leave and my wife went to the bathroom. The woman from the other couple looked at me and said "go get the car". I asked "why?" She said, "can you just go get the car, Brian (her fiancee) will go with you. I stopped and stared at her and said "something else must be going on. Why do you want me to leave and go get the car so bad?"

The next three minutes was spent with the other couple looking at me confused while I refused to go get the car because, in my mind, they had some sort of plot that they must have had my wife involved in planned and I had to get to the bottom of it.

I wouldn't have even noticed that I did this, if it wasn't for the psychiatrist visit that I went to last wednesday.

I'm so messed up....

I think you are getting good advice.
I am on zyprexa and LOVE it. I am trying to figure out the weight gain thing and how to better manage that. I do blood pressure readings at home and have not seen a difference (been on zyprexa since November or December I think). Lilly did downplay the side effects when it first came out...hence the lawsuit. The current info out there is more accurate.
All the psych meds IMO are scary at first when you look into them. I try to keep in mind something I learned in a marketing class... The only times you get word of mouth advertising is when someone is extremely satisfied or extremely dissatisfied. So both the good and bad opinions out there are usually the far ends of the spectrum. Also, not all people have all side effects on meds... everyone is different in how they respond.
Also... psych meds are an art, not a science... be ready to try lots of different meds and combination of meds to find what works. tweaking until they get it right is a sign of a good and conscientious Pdoc not an inexperienced one.

Thank you, Omers. Your marketing class analogy makes a lot of sense.

I'm sorry you are having trouble right now. I know how hard it can be to hang in there while your meds get sorted out.

Speaking only for myself, I will never let a GP prescribe psych meds again. I've done that twice in the past six years, thinking it would save money. Really bad result both times. I mean, alarmingly bad.

You know yourself better than anyone else, and what's right or wrong for me might not be the same for you. But if it was me, I'd wait on the blood work and the psychiatrist.

It can take awhile to get the right meds, but once you get there it's worth it. Conversely, the wrong meds can have really scary effects. GPs aren't really schooled in how to do this. Sometimes it comes out OK, but other times a little knowledge is a dangerous thing...

Good luck to you!

Kaygee747,

I'm not sure I see what happened either that you needed to leave so abruptly and without explanation is inconsiderate. However, it's not for me to understand but I do know that we've all had moments like this regardless of mental unwellness. If it was something that I have said or done, I will find out to see about repairing the damage for that moment; that's all we can do. If she is upset over the current state of how you are doing, you are taking steps and these things unfortunately can only move so fast.

If your pdoc appointment is not for some time, call them to see if you can get in sooner. You can also ask to be put on a cancellation list if that fits into your schedule. Not sure how much notice you'll have but it might be an option for you to get in sooner rather than later. If you've done the bloodwork already, you should be good to go once your in.

I don't know if you have considered or are seeing a counselor or therapist, not just medication therapy alone for help; they can be beneficial as well in conjunction to help you through this.

Please hang in there and know there is help around the corner.

I am going to try to get the bloodwork done first thing tomorrow morning. Even then though, it'll be hard to get an appointment sooner with the way my schedule at work is. THe psychiatrist is only available during the day and I work during the day. She stuck around for my first appointment last Wednesday and she said she has no problem doing it again on Wednesday, but I will not have the results from the bloodwork by wednesday so it's looking like I am going to have to wait another ten days or so.

I am about to come out of my frikkin skin!