[deliquesce]

i had a rather poor session with austin-t the last time i saw him, but one good thing that came out of it was he encouraged me to keep trying to find a GP who would take my health concerns seriously.

i've been having problems for a long time now but any GP i've seen has done a routine blood test & dismissed me when they come back fine. doctors are ok at listening until they find out you've been seeing a psychiatrist and are on a rather last-resort antidepressant. so heart palpitations are interpreted as a panic attack, stomach cramps & nausea/vomiting = IBS, bruising/bleeding/blackouts are the result of everyone's suspicion that i have an eating disorder . bottom line: it's all in your head, just stress less and you'll be ok. pdoc is guilty of doing this also, but i can forgive him for it a bit more because he has seen me in periods of great distress.

anyway, austin-t told me to start being more assertive and just to keep looking for a GP until someone starts listening to me. so i went to the uni health service and found a doctor who is LOVELY and she sent me off for all these tests, but she was really good about explaining what everything involved also & drew me diagrams and stuff so that i could understand what she was looking for and why those specific tests were necessary. and i saw her again yesterday & she spent 40mins with me going through some of the results, which show i have a certain disorder but she thinks there's a 2nd one mixed in also which she needs to confirm. so i'm off for more tests next week.

but she was really lovely and treated me like an "interesting case" to puzzle over rather than a nuisance hypochondriac. the disorder i've got is easy enough to treat & i'll just need to monitor it in the future, but it goes a huge way to explaining some of my mood swings which even the antidepressants couldn't stabilise. so i'm super, super excited about that . she's not starting me on treatment though until we can figure the 2nd thing out, because she's worried treatment for one might mask the other (and the other is potentially serious).

but i'm just like YAY finally someone who is listening & taking me seriously, and also YAY for finding validation for what i've been complaining about for years now. it's nice to be seen as a person separate from my depressive disorder.

[imapatient]

Great news that you kept at it until you finally got a great GP and she has some explanations!

[sunrise]

What tremendous news!

[Perna]

Oh, what a relief for you!

Originally Posted by deliquesce

it's nice to be seen as a person separate from my depressive disorder.

OMG that is HUGE!!! I feel like I should frame your post as inspiration to me whenever I want to give up on doctors & therapists. Deli this is proof that there are good docs out there...we just need to find them!

Thank you! And I'm very glad you have someone who listens to you now. Take care

*Willow*

[mixedup_emotions]

WOW!!!! Like, WOWWWWW.....

I am sooooo happy for you!!!! That's awesome that you persevered and are finally getting somewhere!! I am crossing my fingers that you will get some relief from this next course of treatment.

((( HUGS )))

[deliquesce]

Originally Posted by WeepingWillow23

OMG that is HUGE!!! I feel like I should frame your post as inspiration to me whenever I want to give up on doctors & therapists. Deli this is proof that there are good docs out there...we just need to find them!

Thank you! And I'm very glad you have someone who listens to you now. Take care

*Willow*

aww, i'm glad my little steps can encourage you too, willow. i've definitely given up a number of times, but sometimes we just need the extra little push to start trying again.

Originally Posted by mixedup_emotions

WOW!!!! Like, WOWWWWW.....

I am sooooo happy for you!!!! That's awesome that you persevered and are finally getting somewhere!! I am crossing my fingers that you will get some relief from this next course of treatment.

((( HUGS )))

thanks, MUE. treatment is going to be interesting because pdoc will have to be involved to monitor my moods - there's a possibility that i'll get more depressed due to treatment, but that the other stuff will get cleared up instead. but it's only a possibility at this stage, and i'm glad there's an opportunity for me to try it out without worrying about uni work etc.

now just to get through the next two weeks...

[unico]

I'm glad you've found a good doctor to work with