[Martina]

Yesterday, I had an appointment with my therapist. She decided to bring in my psych nurse whom I fired last week. They work in the same office.

Before she brought her in, she said that they had been discussing me (she has a release) and that the pnurse thought I was cycling into a depression and that I would go off all my meds because I'm non-compliant.

I am so...well, happy that I'm never going to see her again for meds & therapy. She wonders why I never tell her how I'm feeling about her - this is why! I simply ask to be taken off ONE medication and she thinks I'm going to quit taking them all! I simply tell her a few things she's done wrong and she thinks I'm depressed. I can't possibly just be in a stable mood but upset about the way she's treating me. I'm not allowed to give her my point of view without her psychoanalyzing me and blaming everything on me.

I don't want off ALL my meds I want off ONE med. And I'm not depressed, I'm sick of being overmedicated and I want to FEEL something.

[venusss]

Good luck finding somebody who actually listens.

Honestly, I think all the avid pill pushers should try that stuff on themselves, if they cannot understand WHY so people don't want to take certain meds.

YOu have every right to have word in your treatment. It's YOU who has to carry the concequences, not them.

[Omers]

I am very fortunate that my Pdoc is REALLY flexible... they are out there! If you can keep looking some of them DO get it. And most Pdocs IMO are just plain arrogant.

[lastyearisblank]

Oof jealousy in a doctor is never pretty. Hope it goes good with the new one

[Dr.Muffin]

ive always had a huge problem with the term "non-compliant." i would be pretty pissed off too, if i were in your position.

[embracinglife]

sorry, that sounds bad. You hopefully know yourself well enough to know when you are depressed or not.

[sleepless in SC]

I wish there was a way for these docs to experience the effects of some of these meds. Maybe then they wouldn't be so glib about compliency (is that a word?).

[sunrise]

Originally Posted by Martina

Before she brought her in, she said that they had been discussing me (she has a release) and that the pnurse thought I was cycling into a depression and that I would go off all my meds because I'm non-compliant.

"Non-compliant" is a very distancing word. It means "doctor knows best" because patient won't do what he says. It is very top down and not in line with a more modern patient-doctor team model of doing medicine. I am not surprised your nurse might use that term when talking to your therapist, as they were having a clinical discussion and using the clinical lingo. But I am surprised your therapist would use that word to you, even if she is just passing along what your nurse said. That word should have been kept between them, IMO. Sharing that word with you was damaging, as evidenced by your reaction. An easier way to say the same thing would be, "your nurse told me you want to stop one of your medications and she's worried about that." To me, your therapist's sharing that word with you would raise a bit of doubt about her judgment. I wonder what she hoped to accomplish by that?

Originally Posted by Martina

I don't want off ALL my meds I want off ONE med. And I'm not depressed, I'm sick of being overmedicated and I want to FEEL something.

You are very clear on this--good. I guess it doesn't matter what your therapist or pnurse think, since neither of them are prescribing for you. Make sure to share this desire to stop one of your meds and to feel again with your prescriber. I think Ts aren't really qualified to judge what meds a person should or should not be on, and that keeping detailed meds discussions out of therapy might not be a bad idea.

Sorry the transition to new practitioners is turning out to be such a rough one.

[WikidPissah]

ugh...I hate that phrase "non-compliant" it's been written in my records a few times. "patient has been non-compliant on her anti-psychotics"...well DUH! You try taking those dang things and see how you like it. Stupid P-docs.

Sorry...obviously it hit's a chord with me. You have a right to decide which meds work and which ones don't. You have a right to decide if the side effects are too much for you. Your pnurse should be happy that you are honest instead of labeling you with a yucky phrase.

[elliemay]

Yeah, non-compliant is bad, but I gotta say it not as bad as the infamous "patient failed to respond to treatment"

I mean WTH? The treatment failed to help me!

[Martina]

Unfortunately I'm in a small town without many options. The only psychiatrist isn't accepting new patients....maybe ever....and there is only one other pnurse that doesn't work with my previous pnurse. I have an appointment with the last one remaining in July - that's the earliest I could get in.

This does make me think a little more about making the move to Arizona. There are over 200 psychiatrists and 200 psychologists in the Phoenix area. I'm bound to find someone good, and not just settle for the only one left.

I even figured out that if I could find a job part-time at 30 hours a week, at the wages I've seen posted there, I could make the same or more as what I'm making now at 40 hours a week. And our housing would be cheaper, and we'd own it.

Starting to sound like a no-brainer, huh. But the heat....

[Suratji]

Originally Posted by Martina

Unfortunately I'm in a small town without many options. The only psychiatrist isn't accepting new patients....maybe ever....and there is only one other pnurse that doesn't work with my previous pnurse. I have an appointment with the last one remaining in July - that's the earliest I could get in.

This does make me think a little more about making the move to Arizona. There are over 200 psychiatrists and 200 psychologists in the Phoenix area. I'm bound to find someone good, and not just settle for the only one left.

I even figured out that if I could find a job part-time at 30 hours a week, at the wages I've seen posted there, I could make the same or more as what I'm making now at 40 hours a week. And our housing would be cheaper, and we'd own it.

Starting to sound like a no-brainer, huh. But the heat....

Lots of people re-locating because of economics. but, yeah, the heat...

[Dr.Muffin]

Originally Posted by Martina

Unfortunately I'm in a small town without many options. The only psychiatrist isn't accepting new patients....maybe ever....and there is only one other pnurse that doesn't work with my previous pnurse. I have an appointment with the last one remaining in July - that's the earliest I could get in.

This does make me think a little more about making the move to Arizona. There are over 200 psychiatrists and 200 psychologists in the Phoenix area. I'm bound to find someone good, and not just settle for the only one left.

I even figured out that if I could find a job part-time at 30 hours a week, at the wages I've seen posted there, I could make the same or more as what I'm making now at 40 hours a week. And our housing would be cheaper, and we'd own it.

Starting to sound like a no-brainer, huh. But the heat....

awww, but the heat is the best part!

signed,
freezing east coaster

[Martina]

Guess what? I just got an email from her. She NEVER uses email (and never reads my emails...)

She listed the meds I'm on and told me to keep taking them and not discontinue any of them. Specifically mentioning the Wellbutrin, which she f'd up the prescription on giving me too many pills and costing twice as much because she didn't read the fax.

I guess I made the right decision to leave her...

I don't want to go off ALL my meds only ONE. She doesn't get it.

[Martina]

To make it clear, the one I wanted off of was the antipsychotic - both Saphris and Invega, she was trying to switch me to the Saphris.

[Dr.Muffin]

that is a really crappy situation. she is basically forcing you to do something that is clearly dangerous. meds like that shouldnt just be discontinued....its up to the psychiatrist/prescribing physician to ASSIST people in titrating down and stopping a med.

that is a little insane to me. she cannot force you to take these meds and taking a hard line like this is really just begging you to just flush what you have left. that is bordering on malpractice, IMO

[sunrise]

Originally Posted by Martina

Yesterday, I had an appointment with my therapist. She decided to bring in my psych nurse whom I fired last week.

I'm confused about why the psych nurse is continuing to send you emails about meds and be involved in your care if you fired her?

Originally Posted by Martina

The only psychiatrist isn't accepting new patients....maybe ever....and there is only one other pnurse that doesn't work with my previous pnurse. I have an appointment with the last one remaining in July - that's the earliest I could get in.

Since you have fired your pnurse and won't be seeing the new one until July, who is handling your meds until then? Are you going to your GP?

Originally Posted by Martina

She listed the meds I'm on and told me to keep taking them and not discontinue any of them.

My guess is that since she is no longer working for you, she is being conservative and counseling not to make changes for now. Since you fired her, she can't design taper plans for you, monitor as you slowly get off the drug you wish to quit, etc. It could be she is just trying to be responsible until you have a new prescriber who can help you change your meds. There may be some liability involved, so she is giving this written advice on how to proceed until you are under someone else's care (hence the communication by email, which is unusual for her). If you harm yourself by stopping meds cold turkey, she will be able to document that she advised that you not discontinue by producing the email she sent to you. I agree with Dr. Muffin about not stopping suddenly. Wait until you have the advice of your new prescriber, even if it is your GP. You need someone who can check up on you if you should suddenly quit or taper your antipsychotic. Best of luck with this transition.

[Martina]

My psych nurse is still handling refills for 60 days. She did allow me to go off the Invega, I took it every other day for a few days and now I'm off it. Only withdrawal side effect has been insomnia.