Posted by sid on February 13, 2002, at 22:50:19
In reply to Re: depression, etc. » sid, posted by Elizabeth on February 13, 2002, at 18:21:29
> This is pretty confusing! Here's our system:...
Here, we don't have APs, and nurses can't give prescriptions, although that will change in a few years I think. We see general practitioners (GP), who are sometimes called family doctors. They give us referrals to specialists when needed. Or we can see specialists without referrals, but it takes longer, since patients with referrals have priority.
> > No resistance (except my own resistance to take meds for a long time!). I've responded to therapy, acupuncture and now to Effexor XR.
> Ahh, okay. I don't think that PCPs here typically do talk therapy or acupuncture, but I wouldn't expect you to get referred to a psych if you were seeing a PCP here.My GP treats me for dysthymia and anxiety: some CBT (suggests that I do things that may help) and talk in order to figure out how I'm doing. She prescribes meds.
Therapy was done with psychologists and acupunture with an acupuncturist. Neither were medical doctors. I saw these specialists while in the US, where I lived several years. I decided to see a medical doctor recently, in Canada, to get meds and attempt to finally (I hope!) be free of mental illness. I have not found an acupuncturist to treat my depression here, I really miss the one I had in the US. And I've dome all the therapy I care for, for now at least. Since I had trouble dealing with stress (anxiety) and I still had dysthymia, I went to see a GP. Had I had access to my US acupunturist, I would probably have continued with her. But no luck finding a replacement.
> Ack. How come there seem to be so many people who have/had awful relationships with their families? Is this just to be expected, or is it a societal problem, or what?Don't know. I feel like Lisa Simpson: I look at my family, and I can't believe I'm one of them. Family reunions are very stressful for me. That was the good thing about living in foreign countries for several years: I never saw them! Actually, I get along well with my mom; it's my sister and my in-laws I can't stand. My sister's husband especially since he has sexually harrassed and molested me since I was about 8 (he's 20 years older than me). And many other things that bother me, but his behavior towards me is what bugs me most.
> Huh. Weird that something like that would start in your 30's. I do get bad cramps, but that's on day 1 (occasionally day 2 as well), not premenstrual, and there aren't any associated mood symptoms.Don't know why... I was told by 2 doctors of mine and some older women who had PMS that it's worse in one's 30's. It's certainly true for me so far.
> Do you ever find that your mouth hurts from clenching? I've never had bruxism myself (at least, not that I know of), but I have had jaw pain a couple of times and it was very distracting/irritating. I think if I had that problem often I'd want to be able to do something about it. A mouth guard does help with most of the problems that are usually associated with bruxism, though, and it's certainly a better choice for nightly use. (Kind of unsexy if you happen to be spending the night with somebody, though!)My jaw hurts sometimes, the joints on both sides especially. Although these days that's OK. But I have bruxism during the day too! The other day I bit my tongue while watching TV!!! I try to keep my mouth open a bit in order to avoid clenching my teeth all day. A custom made mouth guard is supposed to last about 2 years, but mine will barely last 1 year... the other night I was dreaming that I was chewing something. I woke up and I was trying to chew my mouth guard! :-) Sometimes I have to take it out though because it makes me nausceous (sp?) from time to time. Anyway, if you have bruxism, I think it's a good investment. And regardless of the pain in the jaw joints, it does protect you teeth. I must say I had bruxism before though; it's just worse with Effexor XR. I even broke a tooth during my major depression in 1995 - that was the worse bruxism I had.
> That sounds dreadful. Please spare me the details. :-} Seriously, I hope you're feeling okay now.Yes, I did not suffer much allergy reactions this time. Last time I had mussels (before I knew I had become violently allergic), I thought I would die. Thank God I ran to a pharmacy and saw to it that my body was put on "neutral" for a few days. It worked; I wasn't sure it would. I never had allergies before, it's weird.
> How are vitamins different, effectively? I don't take any vitamin or mineral supplements unless I have some specific need for them (like anemia or something) -- those pills are huge.Different from meds? Well, for one thing I have no side effects from them! I just take Centrum each day, especially in the Canadian winter, which is dang tough on our bodies (and minds too!).
Take care.
- sid
poster:sid
thread:75408
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020208/msgs/94080.html