How often do you contact your T? What about your pdoc?

I feel kinda bad. I really want to get rid of my worthless pdoc, but I contact him on a weekly basis and I feel like I'm annoying him... a lot.

Do you think it's annoying to contact every week, or even 2x a week? I get little problems here and there, such as nausea and diarrhea caused by med withdrawal, or scary psychosis. Though typically, we have to make med changes/tweaks due to depression or worsening side effects, so we have to keep in contact for that too. I try my best not to contact him if I have a potential mood swing because I don't want to annoy him more than I am already. If I have a mood swing, I keep it to myself and then I talk about it during our next appointment, whenever that will be.

What I'm saying is that I don't want to come across as a complainer. And I think I'm actually starting to have an upswing right now due to Seroquel withdrawal. I don't even want to mention that because I feel like I'll come across as even more annoying. It's like the Little Boy who Cried Wolf.

BTW, I've never contacted *any* of my T's outside of appointments with the exception to schedule or reschedule, so this problem I have is specifically a pdoc problem. Although I dislike my current pdoc, I don't want to annoy my new pdoc when I get one!

[DodgersMom]

I dont have a Pdoc but I have contacted my T a few times. He has actually emailed me 3x first... about scheduling and when he was sick..he also has called me a few times. Every time he emails me, I reply.

Same for him, if I email, he replies. I feel like I am annoying him too but I always feel this way about this kind of thing. He has told me time and time again it is ok to email and call. He will let me know if its too much. I never do it more than 1x a week. Maybe ask this specific doctor what their boundaries are for this? I imagine all are different

[ScarletPimpernel]

I don't usually contact my Pdoc. Her nurse contacts me when we do a medication change to make sure everything is going okay. I have emailed my Pdoc saying the pharmacy needs a prior auth. My ex-Pdoc I called twice in an emergency, but that was to the clinic, not her personal number.

I contact my T via email once a week. Sometimes more if I really need to. I only call her if I have a breakdown (well try to before actually breaking down).

It does sound like you're contacting your Pdoc a lot. Why so many med changes? Maybe you should be in the hospital while all the withdrawls are occuring?

[20oney]

I don't have a pdoc, but I contact my T via email 1-3 times a week.. I try not to, and I hate doing it, but it appears to be the only way that I can communicate with her. Without email, we would literally get nowhere in session. And she's okay with it for this reason. Doesn't make me feel any better about emailing her, but I still do it. And I think that it is an okay thing to do, especially if they say it's ok. If it bothered them, I think they would say, or set some boundaries.

[toomanycats]

I only contact them for scheduling appointments. (Or med refills for PDoc)

THAT SAID... with my last T, I emailed/texted daily.
But we had zero boundaries.
I don't recommend that.
At all.

[DodgersMom]

Originally Posted by toomanycats

I only contact them for scheduling appointments. (Or med refills for PDoc)

THAT SAID... with my last T, I emailed/texted daily.
But we had zero boundaries.
I don't recommend that.
At all.

Did it make it harder when you left?? As it felt more like a friend?

[junkDNA]

too much!!!

[junkDNA]

Originally Posted by toomanycats

I only contact them for scheduling appointments. (Or med refills for PDoc)

THAT SAID... with my last T, I emailed/texted daily.
But we had zero boundaries.
I don't recommend that.
At all.

same..... now he wont respond to me , haha

[junkDNA]

i rarely contact my NP, in fact i havent seen her in 6 months. im supposed to see her in a week.... i ended up calling her emergency line the other day when i was in severe distress and she was VERY unhelpful.... she told me to take a freakin' nap! UH OK LADY, THANK U.

[LonesomeTonight]

Have you tried asking your p-doc about the e-mailing? Like when you should contact him? I've only contacted my current p-doc a few times, but both were due to reactions I thought I was having to meds. (My T and marriage counselor...I contact a lot, but I've also talked to them about e-mails/texts, so I generally know what is/isn't OK.) So I'd say talk to him about it, and when you get a new p-doc, talk to them early on about contact. Like when should you do it--only if symptoms are severe? Then define severe? Maybe keep a mood/symptom log in between that you can bring to appointments?

The other thing is, if you're having this many issues with meds, maybe you need to seem him more frequently (if possible) just until you get more stable and find a med combo that works for you. Or if you can't see him more regularly, maybe you could set up a regular (say, weekly) check-in call? And then contact him if something major comes up in between?

[LonesomeTonight]

Originally Posted by junkDNA

i rarely contact my NP, in fact i havent seen her in 6 months. im supposed to see her in a week.... i ended up calling her emergency line the other day when i was in severe distress and she was VERY unhelpful.... she told me to take a freakin' nap! UH OK LADY, THANK U.

She told you to take a nap, seriously? Wow. Hopefully she'll be more helpful in person...if not, sounds like you need to find someone else.

[junkDNA]

Originally Posted by LonesomeTonight

She told you to take a nap, seriously? Wow. Hopefully she'll be more helpful in person...if not, sounds like you need to find someone else.

yeh shes a really crap treatment provider, always has been. unfortunately i am stuck with her for now because my insurance is provided thru the government thru my SSDI (medicare, medicaid)

however when i become employed with a real adult job i can obtain health insurance thru my job , and find a real psychiatrist!!! and pay my therapist more to put up with my crap

this NP was the one who kept pushing and pushing me to take benzos. i told her 500 times, i caNNOT take benzos because i am a drug addict. she even said "well that was a long time ago, youre different now"

i said ummm that is not how that works.

she kept pushing them on me and one day i was feeling vulnerable and said OK ILL TAKE IT. she wrote me a script for 90 klonopin, i raced to CVS to fill it and took 3 or 4 of them

i felt bad about what i did, i texted my therapist and confessed. he made me bring him the bottle with all the pills in it and give it to him. then he wrote her this long scathing e-mail which , the next time i saw her, she seemed annoyed at

[captgut]

I see him fortnightly and I can't contact him between sessions.

[velcro003]

Originally Posted by junkDNA

yeh shes a really crap treatment provider, always has been. unfortunately i am stuck with her for now because my insurance is provided thru the government thru my SSDI (medicare, medicaid)

however when i become employed with a real adult job i can obtain health insurance thru my job , and find a real psychiatrist!!! and pay my therapist more to put up with my crap

this NP was the one who kept pushing and pushing me to take benzos. i told her 500 times, i caNNOT take benzos because i am a drug addict. she even said "well that was a long time ago, youre different now"

i said ummm that is not how that works.

she kept pushing them on me and one day i was feeling vulnerable and said OK ILL TAKE IT. she wrote me a script for 90 klonopin, i raced to CVS to fill it and took 3 or 4 of them

i felt bad about what i did, i texted my therapist and confessed. he made me bring him the bottle with all the pills in it and give it to him. then he wrote her this long scathing e-mail which , the next time i saw her, she seemed annoyed at

omg, she should NOT be a pyschiatric nurse.

[junkDNA]

Originally Posted by velcro003

omg, she should NOT be a pyschiatric nurse.

Yeah she's not cool peoples

I've never contacted a T out of session. It's never been allowed and I've never needed to. I'm pretty self-sufficient. And I think if you're seeing a T weekly, there really isn't long to wait between appts.

I think once or twice a week contacting a pdoc out of session is a lot. I also think nausea and diarrhoea are not side effects that need a phone call, but psychosis, yes. Most meds I've taken have given me nausea and GI upset and headaches and postural hypotension and tremors etc so maybe that's why I don't feel they're worth a phone call over? I've never called a pdoc myself, but have had my mum ring their secretary for an earlier appt 3x in 10 years for severe SI, and once by a MH support worker because I'd stopped eating for 12 days. I guess I'm just not big on reaching out for support *shrugs* Most of the time there's nothing they can really do anyway.

I don't suggest being as extreme as me, but I think you're on the other end of extreme and so I agree with others who suggest talking to them and defining what they consider an emergency so you agree upon when it's appropriate to phone them.

All the best,

*Willow*

[InnerPeace111]

I have never contacted my T between sessions unless it was to reschedule an appointment (and even that's rare) --- but never for a therapeutic issue. I have no idea what her policy even is regarding out of session contact. I guess it's that I've never felt I needed to contact my T. I find myself really needling the time between sessions to be my own time for self-reflection and self-care. Contact more than once per week would feel too intrusive to me. I don't feel that my T needs to know or understand everything about me or my experiences. I would say I am independent, self sufficient, self reliant, introverted, determined, and resilient. Maybe to an extreme. It works for me. And I truly get that it's not for everyone. I would just say to work with your provider to determine which types of situations warrant a phone call / email / text and which do not.