Posted by alan on November 30, 1998, at 12:19:10
1. Thanks Toby for the info on stopping lithium. I do
indeed feel somewhat strangely normal, mood partially
excepted; even my students (such is my job) are happy
to be able to read my writing, much of it math symbols!
2. My second question is probably better posed to my fellow psychiatric patients. Do you have any understanding with your doctor about calling between appointments. My doctor seldom responds to my calls, which are not all that frequent, I think. I do not tthink any of my calls were over trivial matters, and one was quite important: my desipramine level was much (?) too high (checked with internist who faxed psycDoc-no, internist did not tell me); but PsycDoc took several days to respond. In another case I ended up getting colonoscopy for side effect of Wellbutrin.
(Admittedly, therre was some occult blood and a hemmorhoid (sic?)--my $3000 hemoroid. But had my internist been informed, had I stopped the Wellbutri.... In all other respects, I think my psyDoc is good; certainly, his reputation is.What experiences
have others had in this regard? Are there any tacit conventions governing this aspect of the doctor-patient relation? Personally, BTW, I think being billed for calls would be quite reasonable; a doctor's time IS a valuable commodity, and I understand that.
poster:alan
thread:1398
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19981101/msgs/1398.html