Posted by JohnX2 on March 7, 2002, at 18:22:48
In reply to Re: Unusual doctor, posted by Billyzw on March 7, 2002, at 9:38:33
Hi,I started seeing my current pdoc around
last September. He has been my best pdoc to date.
I met him through an outpatient crisis center at
a hospital in my town. After an initial consultation,
he decided to take me on as a patient.Before this, I had seen 3 different pdocs. Mind
you I moved cities back and forth, which caused
a few changes, and 1 passed away.The 1st pdoc was surprisingly out of the oridinary
from most pdocs. He was very receptive and attentive
listening to my concerns, etc. And was actually very big
into therapy. But he was very anti-medication. This was
VERY unusual for a psychiatrist (I didn't know at the time).
He misdiagnosed me as Major Depression. He did allow me to
take many anti-depressants and I clearly had responses that
were consistent with Bipolar disorder, but he never rediagnosed
me and I remained ill despite therapy. Eventually I stopped
seing him after 6 months.My next pdoc was more medication oriented, but he was a very
nice old man. I really like him. He helped me out a lot, got
my mood stabilized. Didn't quite get my diagnosis correct.
But got me on my feet indirectly with some OK medicines.
Would return my calls, etc. Unfortunately he passed away of
bone cancer. I saw him for 3 months before moving out of state.My 3rd pdoc was a sterotypical horror story. Fortunately I knew
how to handle the situation at the time. He wanted me to take
medicines I already failed at. I insisted he put me on good
bipolar medicines, so he did. I recovered nicely, eventually
built up an OK report, although he wasn't all that great. I more
or less called the shots on what medicine scripts he should write.
I can't imagine he would have written the correct medicines for
me if I didn't know better. I then moved back to my
current state.My 4th pdoc is my current guy. He was the 1st to give me a
good diagnosis. I've seen him since Sep. He's worked with
me very well. He's recommended some medicines. Sometimes I
don't want to take some because of side effects, so he lets
me take others. Other times he pushes back and makes a good
argument that I will not do well if I don't go with his
long experience, so I usually go with his judgement. I leave his office feeling confident that he
is giving me good treatment, which is important for psychologic
boost. If i have a problem with medication, I call him and
he always returns my call the same night. He has over 500
patients, but always has every detail of my treatment handy
and can usually remember exactly where I was at the last
time I say him. He likes to go slow with changing meds to
not overwhelm my body and to minimize the risks of my
remitting into major depressive or manic states.
He dresses a little dorky, but I don't care.
Maybe I'll see if he can do some handstands for
me at my next appointment. ;)Hope this overload helps.
Good luck. Do you feel you are getting good
treatment?-John
> Just out of curiousity, how long have you been seeing your current doctor? Has he or she helped you, Just curious?
poster:JohnX2
thread:96745
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020307/msgs/96931.html