Posted by Ritch on April 19, 2002, at 10:39:24
In reply to help! (rant; advice?), posted by Elizabeth on April 19, 2002, at 1:52:57
> This new pdoc wrote a prescription for Xanax as-needed, but she only gave me 10 doses per month (keep in mind that Xanax is a short-acting drug -- I think it wears off in about 4-6 hours for a typical adult). This month I ran out early and had to ask her to call in a refill. When I saw her the other day, she asked me if I'd been "overusing" the Xanax. (She said this in a way that strongly implied that she felt that I'd "overused" it the month before. The way I see it, the amount she'd prescribed hadn't been adequate.) I tried to explain that I'd been having problems with insomnia and back pain that had contributed to my need for more Xanax than the amount prescribed. Then she got freaked out and accused me of abusing it -- it's "not indicated" for those problems, and so forth. I explained that insomnia and muscle tension can be symptoms of anxiety. She gave me the generic heard-it-a-thousand-times lecture about how I should find other ways to "manage" chronic pain. (I've tried all that stuff, and besides, I don't want to "manage" it, I want to treat it!) In the end, she wrote another 10-dose prescription for this month.........
....... How am I supposed to deal with this woman??? I want (and need) her to trust me, but she seems bent on mistrusting me. What can I do/say?
>
> Any ideas?
>
> -elizabeth
Elizabeth,She *doesn't* trust you. I can tell by all of her replies. You are going to have to just tell yourself: "She doesn't trust me, now what do I do?" She has made up her mind already and she is being chincy on the quantities purposefully to get your reaction. And it appears that she feels that your "reaction" is "drug-seeking", and of course that is bad. My pdoc plays that game to some degree as well-except I get plenty of Klonopin (i.e.), but the qty's I am using are carefully checked out (through need for refills, etc.) Only when it was plain as apple-butter that what I *said* I took was what I *actually* took, then I see some refills. Sometimes they are just hyper-paranoid about diversion. They think you are selling your meds for $10 a pop or something and then they get their ass in a sling for facilitating that. The trust thing could improve with time, but you might be better off with a different pdoc. I wonder if she already has a *plan* for you that doesn't involve bupe or Xanax and you will either follow her plan or you will be seeing somebody else (and that's probably fine with her-whew!-no paranoia!). I bet she is just scared.
Mitch
poster:Ritch
thread:103496
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020416/msgs/103533.html