Posted by Simcha on January 10, 2002, at 8:00:36
I just wanted to tell everyone about the wonderful experience I've had with my pdoc.
I was afraid that when I went to him Tuesday that he might want to taper me off of meds because I was feeling better. Now that was my fear and it really was not based on evidence. I think that is an old tape that plays in my head, "Now that you are feeling so good, Watch out! You will pay for this and the rug will be swiped out from under you!!!"
Well during our conversation, while I was explaining my latest side-effect (teeth grinding--bruxism), I told him how wonderful it was to be emotionally stable. He looked at me very seriously and said, "Make sure you keep taking your medication!" He said that he had seen that patients who stabilize tend to believe that they do not need the medication anymore so they take themselves off and then they relapse. He affirmed for me that I need the meds and that it is no cure. I still have the illness and the treatment gives me a reprieve.
Then I told him that research here showed me that Klonopin was a standard treatment for SSRI induced bruxism. To that he said, "Of Course." And he immediately wrote a prescription for Klonopin and renewed my Celexa and Wellbutrin. He said that he trusts that if the Klonopin dose does not work correctly that I will call him, as I have before when I've noticed start up issues.
The last time we met he told me that he was giving me control of the amount of Celexa I was taking because I wanted to have better sex. He told me that I could try to go down to 20mg from 40mg to see if that would work. He also told me that I could take a med vacation on weekends if I wanted to. He also said that if I noticed that I was relapsing that he trusted that I would put myself back on the 40mg. Well, I was feeling goofy on only 20mg so I went back up to 40mg.
This relationship has been built on trust and communication just like any other good relationship. I trust him and he trusts me. We have an understanding. I'm so very grateful to have a pdoc that will try anything to make me feel better and who trusts me to evaluate the results while adjusting accordingly.
I just wanted to report on a case of finding a good pdoc. So many posts in here are about bad pdocs.
So if you have a bad pdoc, keep looking. Good ones do exist.
Take Care,
Simcha.
poster:Simcha
thread:16598
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20020102/msgs/16598.html