Posted by finelinebob on August 30, 2006, at 1:40:36
In reply to Re: Just a very quick response, posted by jealibeanz on August 30, 2006, at 1:24:24
> I really don't think I'm able to get a pdoc, I went to the only one possible, and won't/can't see him again.
>
> Do you think it's pointless to see my GP? EMSAM is way over his head?Only your doc can answer that.
For instance, I shared with my GP about how my HMO wouldn't pay for 10mg of Focalin 2x per day. He pulled out his little med book and got rather angry (which he tends to do wrt HMOs) and said that is the standard dosage and they were screwing me.
So, he can look up meds in his book, read about indications and contraindications, but whether he'll know about the subtleties involved is a different issue.
For my current PDoc, these sorts of subtleties include:
-- given my response to Zyprexa (goods and bads), giving me a trial on Abilify ... why Abilify over any other atypical anitpsychotic and why he didn't try any other when it didn't help
-- my description of my anxiety, why he felt klonopin was right for me but quadrupled my dosage, and why he felt a stimulant as strong as Focalin wouldn't be a problem.-- his knowledge of how much HMOs are willing to pay, and writing up scripts that will last me 2-3x what I need so my co-pays are half to one-third of what I should be paying. Plus, it let him figure out how to get me back on Focalin when the HMO said no to it the second time he prescribed it on my first trial for that med.
I'm not saying every PDoc will be that "crafty" or that GPs won't. The question is how knowledgeable your GP is outside the "book". Mine knew he was limited, so way back about 10 years ago when I started up on meds as soon as there was an "anomaly" he got me to a specialist.
poster:finelinebob
thread:681286
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060825/msgs/681408.html