Posted by Hattree on October 17, 2001, at 9:41:36
In reply to Flakey patient image? How to overcome this?, posted by AnneL on October 17, 2001, at 9:18:19
I don't think you sound so flaky, the pdoc might not think so either. I'd go with the truth. On the other hand, seems like you could leave out that 1st pdoc without omitting much useful information.
> Hi,
>
> I am currently without a formal pdoc at the moment, although I can access care through my wonderful gp at any time. When I started having a major bout of depression in February I went to my trusted gp who agreed that I needed an AD and started me on Effexor XR and gave me literally "tons" of samples. My follow-ups were at one month, 3 months, 6 months, etc. At the one month mark I decided that maybe I should get a
> "formal" diagnosis and saw my child's pdoc (not knowing where to go). He gave me a standardized test (I suppose it was a HAMM test) and after he scored it and spoke with me for a "few" minutes diagnosed Major Depression, single episode. He said I was on a "good" AD and that was that. Since my gp is located in the building where I work, my gp upped my dose at my suggestion and then I saw the pdoc one more time. I stopped seeing him because I felt he was very conservative with his use of Effexor and I wasn't getting results.
>
> In July I became very depressed (later found out it was exacerbated by the Pill) and was desperate for a new Pdoc (IMHO, not an easy thing to do) so I went to a colleague of the physician I work with (on the DL).
> I found out quickly why the doc I work with dosen't refer many patients to this Pdoc. He is a nice man, but is ready for retirement and does not seem up to speed with new research,etc. In order to help him save face since I work with someone he truly admires and has a friendship with and to find someone that my insurance will cover, I asked him to help me select a Pdoc on a list of in-network providers. He did so and now I have an appointment next week with the Pdoc he helped select.
>
> My question is this. . . I really want to get a consistent treatment plan going, but haven't had much success with the 2 Pdocs I have gone to. How can I start out on the "right" foot with this new one and how do I deal with what I see might be construed as a
> "flakey patient" image? I feel like I look like a "doctor shopper" and do not want to give this new Pdoc the wrong image, thus getting on the wrong foot.
> Any ideas on how to address my "jumping" around and inconsistant treatment? Thanks so much, Anne :)
poster:Hattree
thread:81473
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20011015/msgs/81475.html