Posted by yxibow on May 7, 2009, at 4:23:23
In reply to Anyone seen an expert for consultation?pls. advise, posted by Roslynn on May 6, 2009, at 16:11:26
> Hi everyone,
>
> Has anyone gone to see an expert for consultation on meds or for a diagnosis clarification? Did you find it helpful?
> I am thinking about seeing an expert for a consult and just wanted to see if anyone else had found it helpful. It is expensive.
>
> Thank you,
> Roslynn
Yes, I've gone to several consultations -- they're generally called second opinions or to see if there is any additional advice for your condition from another point of view.
I have a rare -- please, anyone be the first to describe a somatoform NOS / psychosis NOS disorder that amplifies ordinary visual phenomenon, plus a set of other unrelated and odd things.
So I guess my experience is that I gathered some information both through associates of my doctor, including yes, some notable people in their field (although unfortunately one has moved on), and also someone I wanted to be completely separate from my doctor, who was recommended by another therapist I see --- but I still feel alone in the world having gone through an awful lot of medication combinations.There were some suggestions made, some had already been thought of, some were tried or put on the back burner -- but not everything can be waved away unfortunately by medicine alone, therapy work is really important for complex conditions.
That being said, I don't want this to be a downer for you -- I think when you're in a position where you have something that may seem or possibly be "treatment resistant", a second opinion from a reputable / recommended doctor is worth the cost.It is probably best not to have everything from your doctor sent, but at your choice, a small summary of medications tried, not necessarily diagnostic information, should be sent because otherwise the other doctor has nothing to work with.
You may or may not have to sign a waiver between your doctor and the other psychopharmacologist of personally identifiable information, which is just a common legal practice -- e.g. I have ties between my GP and my psychiatrist, etc, so medications are kept up to date every so often, etc.
And with HIPAA, depending on where your doctors work, this may be a definite requirement, and a long form of signatures and the like, some of which is overkill, but some I believe is important to keep prying noses out of what is not relevant. Thank goodness for that legislation as per insurance. Anyhow, that's just a soapbox.
So -- I guess I've been lengthy, but I would say, if you can afford a private consultation, which may be one or two sessions (followups are sometimes done), then go ahead and get some different clues if you think it is valuable to your condition.
-- tidingsJay
poster:yxibow
thread:894496
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090505/msgs/894618.html