![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 25 of 83. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Maxime on September 10, 2010, at 12:33:00
I am always looking for the right med. Maybe I will go 6 months without changing one. That doesn't mean that I am not depressed for those six months, but it means that I can live it even though I am in pain.
Later, I do need changes to my cocktail. Try this, or try that. I do what I am told, except with the lithium. And then a whole bunch of side effects have to be taken care.
I pain and side effects that doctors say are the result of meds, depression, or hormones. They never test to see which hormone ...
Maybe I don't need to be on all my meds. Maybe I need hormone replacement. Or maybe I have adrenal fatigue.
I just want to feel well. I am 41 years old and I feel like sh*t more of the time. Despite feeling this way, I have accomplised a lot ... I wonder what I would be able to do if I was well and not on pills ...
Posted by Phillipa on September 10, 2010, at 13:49:02
In reply to sad and frustrated, posted by Maxime on September 10, 2010, at 12:33:00
Maxie you must have a doc that will do testing of hormones somewhere. Yes would probably be out of pocket like mine. But I agree with you. The pharmacies will do it online send a saliva testing kit but need a doc's prescription. There must be a way. It's so frustrating. Love Phillipa
Posted by PartlyCloudy on September 10, 2010, at 15:00:23
In reply to sad and frustrated, posted by Maxime on September 10, 2010, at 12:33:00
Maxine, I feel for you.
I take a bunch of meds for more than just psych conditions. In addition to my depression and anxiety, I'm taking hormone replacement therapy (hallelujah!), high blood pressure suppression, migraine preventative, and supplements that I've established over the years do me no harm, and probable good.I became concerned a while ago that I was receiving treatment from all sorts of specialists - neurologist, allergist, GYN, pdoc, and therapist; and I didn't really know if all these treatments were working in concert or perhaps against each other.
For me, the eventual solution came in finding a family physician, not to prescribe these myriad pills and tablets, but to evaluate whether all my health and overall well being were being properly addressed with what I now refer to as my "bandaid" medical care. I see specialists for EVERYTHING. The doctor I chose listened to ALL of my concerns; ran an extensive set of blood work tests, and (since I'm feeling pretty good overall these days, amazingly), was able to reassure me that the cocktail that I take every day was not only not harming me, but that I'd been able to make good choices along the way to arrive at my present state of health.
Is it great? Nope. I live in fear every day that one or more of my psych meds is going to suddenly poop out on me and plunge me back into suicidal ideation. Or that my hormones will decide to take a romp through some troughs and mountains and leave me sweating or bearded or begging for release.
For me, it was important to find the doctor who was willing to take a look at the entire medicine cabinet, and have the conversation about whether all of my concerns were being properly met. I think the danger of seeing specialists for our care is that each one is concerned ONLY with their own realm of expertise.
Your endo doctor, for example, sounds like she/he wasn't listening, or dismissed the possibility that your symptoms could have been due to your thyroid condition.
Hang in there, and maybe try having your family doctor,if you have one, do a review of your overall care and condition.
((((Maxine)))
pc
Posted by Maxime on September 10, 2010, at 15:33:08
In reply to Re: sad and frustrated » Maxime, posted by PartlyCloudy on September 10, 2010, at 15:00:23
Thank you. I think I should go back to GP and see what specialist I could/should see. I need to find an endo who listens to me. For instance I told that her I am gaining weight despite not eating very much and she said "well you are eating enough to make you fat!" I wanted to cry. She said that it's simple math. Sigh. No it's not. Nothing is simple when it comes to my health.
Thanks again for sharing your story.
Posted by bleauberry on September 10, 2010, at 16:15:07
In reply to sad and frustrated, posted by Maxime on September 10, 2010, at 12:33:00
Sometimes I think the pills make us sicker than we would be without them. Sometimes. Because they keep us in a closed world where we have no ambition to explore anything other than psych drugs. Well, not the meds themselves, but the whole idea of succumbing to a "psychiatric disorder", which effectively blocks out any further investigation. Complete healing might be right next door in open minded GPs office, but we'll never find it as long we are only focused on the psychiatrist. Depression is cured or helped by a whole lot of other meds besides psych drugs. I say that with absolute certainty from personal experience and those of hundreds of others.
You mentioned adrenal fatigue. Bingo. If that were the case, you would definitely feel like crap and there would be very few if any psych drugs that would help, many would make it worse. Unlike many things, it is easy to test. You need four samples...either blood or saliva...spread out evenly in a 24 hour period. You want a view of the entire 24 hour period, not just a random one-time snapshot.
But then, adrenal fatigue doesn't just happen. It has a cause. Drugs, psych meds, chronic undiagnosed or undiagnosable infections (fungal, bacterial, or viral), lead and mercury, the typical American diet, too much sugar.
I'm just using adrenal fatigue as an example....the point is, yeah, something is wrong, and with your history I doubt the final answer is going to be found in the psychiatrist toolbox. IMO.
Other than the adrenal 4-sample test and a provoked urine challenge test of metals, and complete thyroid panel including antibodies, I would tend to forget testing anything else. Most of the other tests give too many false negatives, or just aren't reliable in telling you anything. They keep people sick. The best thing to do is....try stuff! Diflucan. Doxycycline. DMSA. T3. Forskolin.
Hormones. That's tricky. We can measure what is in the blood at some random time, but we cannot see whether their receptors are blocked or not, or what is actually going on. T3 supplementation competitively displaces anything blocking thyroid receptors. Forskolin competitively displaces adrenal receptor blockage. Despite the best testing, I think there is a fair amount of "try and see" with hormone treatments. My spouse tried a few OTC things and found Dong Quai to be very good at mood balancing and good mood for her. Probably due to the female age. Now imagine her scenario and future if she had instead gone to a psychiatrist?
It's not the disease that makes us sick, it's the "poop and pee"...talking about unsuspected infections. Those are powerful toxins that block thyroid receptors, block adrenal receptors, and contaminate your serotonin and dopamine....so no matter how much you try to increase serotonin or dopamine with meds, it won't matter...it's filthy.
I'm just sayin, open the mind to things that really cause depression. The only real way to find them is through challenge tests and blind guesses....no different than a psychiatrist prescription. At first it sounds overwhelming to someone not up to speed on the stuff, and that's ok, because many doctors are not up to speed either. It really is actually quite simple and follows an easy organized plan that anyone can do. Basically we're trying to rule things in or rule things out by trial and error to see what happens.
Very common example: You start something like Tetracycline or Diflucan. The first or second day you feel better than you've felt in a very long time. By day three you are feeling like death. That whole pattern just told you something....you got a serious infection nobody considered. Forget about testing it or identifying it....you already know what is killing it whatever it is.
"But my doctor already "tested me" for this or that and says I don't have it. Yeah. I could right a whole book on that fallacy. People are basically sentenced to life in prison when that happens. It doesn't have to be that way.
I only go into these things because:
1. They are more common than people suspect.
2. If depression persists despite all the psych meds, then logic says very clearly something else is causing it that psych drugs don't target.
Posted by Maxime on September 10, 2010, at 19:22:34
In reply to Re: sad and frustrated, posted by bleauberry on September 10, 2010, at 16:15:07
Thank you for your reply. I think that what you wrote makes a lot of sense. I used Diflucan (sp)
once for a yeast infection. I don't remember how I felt afterwards. I was just glad the infection was gone. Actually, I think I have another one but I am not sure.I have Hashimotos so my thyroid and function are tested every 6 months. I take Synthroid and Cytomel.
I am so tired all the time and my body aches like I have the flu. I just want to sleep, but when I go to lay down, my mind races and I can't relax.
And there is weight gain that I cannot lose. My BMI is obese right now and a few months ago it was on the low end of normal.
I feel like something is really wrong with me but not mental ... physical.
Posted by weatherfreak on September 10, 2010, at 19:54:03
In reply to Re: sad and frustrated » bleauberry, posted by Maxime on September 10, 2010, at 19:22:34
> Thank you for your reply. I think that what you wrote makes a lot of sense. I used Diflucan (sp)
> once for a yeast infection. I don't remember how I felt afterwards. I was just glad the infection was gone. Actually, I think I have another one but I am not sure.
>
> I have Hashimotos so my thyroid and function are tested every 6 months. I take Synthroid and Cytomel.
>
> I am so tired all the time and my body aches like I have the flu. I just want to sleep, but when I go to lay down, my mind races and I can't relax.
>
> And there is weight gain that I cannot lose. My BMI is obese right now and a few months ago it was on the low end of normal.
>
> I feel like something is really wrong with me but not mental ... physical.If you can get to your GP for a blood test, do so ASAP. It could be anything from influenza to epstein barr virus. It might not be either but ask for infections and viruses to be checked so you can rule them out first. If they come back clear, maybe one of your meds isn't playing nice with another. You just never know.
Posted by Phillipa on September 10, 2010, at 20:27:43
In reply to Re: sad and frustrated » Maxime, posted by weatherfreak on September 10, 2010, at 19:54:03
Maxie google Mary Shoman her thyroid newsletter will shed some light. A lot of what you feel are lovely side effects of hasimotos. Got them myself. No fun. Phillipa
Posted by bleauberry on September 11, 2010, at 16:23:36
In reply to Re: sad and frustrated » bleauberry, posted by Maxime on September 10, 2010, at 19:22:34
It is precisely descriptions like the ones you presented below that point very clearly...to me anyway...of something very wrong that has nothing to do with psychiatry or hormones. Hashimotos doesn't just happen. I guess doctors are too busy and overwhelmed to really dig deep and put the detective hats on.
I'm not at all saying you have lyme, so don't get me wrong. What I am saying is, if you interviewed 100 people who have had it real bad, almost all of them would have stories and descriptions nearly word-for-word exactly like the ones you wrote. Viruses and fungi can look identical as well. Hashimotos and a prior yeast infection that required diflucan tell me the immune system is confused and erratic. Depression according to my doctor is often times a result of an immune system in disarray, not anything to do with serotonin or dopamine or whatever. With chronic infections, it is the norm. He gets better depression results with antibiotics than with antidepressants. Go figure. I guess it will vary wildly depending on how well versed a particular doctor is on the big picture.
>
> I have Hashimotos so my thyroid and function are tested every 6 months. I take Synthroid and Cytomel.
>
> I am so tired all the time and my body aches like I have the flu. I just want to sleep, but when I go to lay down, my mind races and I can't relax.
>
> And there is weight gain that I cannot lose. My BMI is obese right now and a few months ago it was on the low end of normal.
>
> I feel like something is really wrong with me but not mental ... physical.
Posted by Conundrum on September 11, 2010, at 19:57:47
In reply to Re: sad and frustrated, posted by bleauberry on September 10, 2010, at 16:15:07
>is....try stuff! Diflucan. Doxycycline. DMSA. T3. Forskolin.
I thought the last one said "Forskin" when I first looked at it. lol
Posted by Maxime on September 11, 2010, at 21:52:12
In reply to Re: sad and frustrated, posted by Conundrum on September 11, 2010, at 19:57:47
> >is....try stuff! Diflucan. Doxycycline. DMSA. T3. Forskolin.
>
> I thought the last one said "Forskin" when I first looked at it. lolI can see how that might happen! Made laugh!
Posted by Vincent_QC on September 15, 2010, at 17:30:51
In reply to sad and frustrated, posted by Maxime on September 10, 2010, at 12:33:00
> I am always looking for the right med. Maybe I will go 6 months without changing one. That doesn't mean that I am not depressed for those six months, but it means that I can live it even though I am in pain.
>Hi Maxime,
Can I know what is your diagnostic exactly?I think we all looking for the right meds but it's hard to find the good one... So I really understand your frustrations and sadness, I feel the same as you... same situation as you, and often hopeless, but i'm working on those bad emotions... i'm not depress but very anxious (panic, social phobia, agoraphobia as well as many chronic anxiety symptoms who just make my life miserable)...
> Later, I do need changes to my cocktail. Try this, or try that. I do what I am told, except with the lithium. And then a whole bunch of side effects have to be taken care.
>I also understand that... side-effects suck... and try too many meds can be also destabilising and worse the initial problem, that's what happen to me...
> I pain and side effects that doctors say are the result of meds, depression, or hormones. They never test to see which hormone ...
>
> Maybe I don't need to be on all my meds. Maybe I need hormone replacement. Or maybe I have adrenal fatigue.
>Oh boy, My Doc think the same, adrenal fatigue... too much cortisol, too much adrenaline... but can't RX test to see what happen to my adrenal glands, I think X-Ray can be done to see those glands no??? I only had blood tests for testosterone hormone level and it was higher than for a man of my age!!! lol I never understand that since I have no sexual life and no libido since more than 4 years... lol
> I just want to feel well. I am 41 years old and I feel like sh*t more of the time. Despite feeling this way, I have accomplised a lot ... I wonder what I would be able to do if I was well and not on pills ...Ask you that question... What is for you "feel well???"... We all have a different definition of "feeling well" or "well being"...
41 yo or 20 yo, what is the real difference...?
I'm 34yo, i'm on the wellfare since 3 years, didn't finish school, have no money, return live with my parents... and I can told you that I feel the same than you, I feel dependant from the others, I don't feel like i'm 34yo, I feel like i'm a child or a teenage, who is not normal for someone of 34 yo... I also feel sick every day...
Being anxiety free for me is something that I never live... And I often think about how it will be great to be able to go where I want to go, when I want to go, ALONE, and have fun and enjoy the other peoples, make friends without any anxiety symptoms. I dream of a normal life since a while...being free, travel, have a good work, have my house, having a normal life... the truth is that everyone is different and I think that a part of the psychological disorders are genetic (who can be treat with meds) and the other part come from the life experiences (good or bad), from the childhood to the adult life...and not well understood emotions, frustrations and other bad thoughts...
Anyway, good luck Max! ;-)
Posted by Maxime on September 15, 2010, at 18:15:14
In reply to Re: sad and frustrated » Maxime, posted by Vincent_QC on September 15, 2010, at 17:30:51
You wrote some things that I could have written myself. It's sad.
My diagnosis is Bipolar Type 2 and ED-NOS (eating disorder not otherwise specified)
I know that it is really hard to get off Welfare. I finally got off this week when I started a new job. But then I worry if the job will be too for much etc. All the little nagging worries.
I want to be able to have energy and go out with friends. But anxiety and depression keeps me from doing it. Also, I have lost a lot of friends over the years because of my deprssion.
I also want the physical pain that comes with my depression to ease up or go away forever.
Do you live in Quebec City? I am in Montreal. Psychiatric services are AWFUL here, they really are.
Thank you for you post. It made me feel not so alone in this sh*t hole.
Posted by Vincent_QC on September 16, 2010, at 6:55:20
In reply to Re: sad and frustrated » Vincent_QC, posted by Maxime on September 15, 2010, at 18:15:14
> You wrote some things that I could have written myself. It's sad.
>
> My diagnosis is Bipolar Type 2 and ED-NOS (eating disorder not otherwise specified)
>Sorry to hear that Maxime. Which drugs you use now?
Yes i'm from Quebec city and YES the Psychiatric services suck here also, more than in MTL I guess. In Qc we don't have a lot of Psychiatric hospital, we have Robert-Giffard, Roy-Rousseau (That's where I go)and that's it. Both of them don't take inpatient who are treatment resistant for depression or anxiety disorder. They take as inpatient only bi-polar or Schizo peoples who commit suicide or are dangerous for them and the others peoples around them.
I'm dealing with very severe anxiety problems since more than 9 months now (panic disorder, social phobia as well as chronic symptoms like chest pain, numb left arm and hand, slow or too fast pulse rate, dizziness, chronic tension headache, depersonalisation and derealisation, agoraphobia, legs pain, neck pain, jaw pain, teeth pain, eyes pain, decrease cognitives abilities...). I'm always on the panic mood with 10000 chronic symptoms but nothing to do, they don't take me as an inpatient. They don't seem to care and my PDoc always told me it was not good to put anxious peoples in Hospital because when they return outside, they relaspe!
I wanted to be take as an inpatient to start again the Paxil, since I developp an hypersensibility to antidepressants meds and regular meds as well, don't know why but can't start them again, even at very low dose, i'm actually trying to be back on the Paxil on my own and i'm stuck to 0.5 mg only, who is 2,5% of the dose I need to stop the panic disorder and worries... It will be so easy to take me as an inpatient and adjust my medication... but they don't want.
Also, Health Canada is not very smart... My PDoc wanted to import into the Canada the liquid Paxil, to make it more easy for me to start... so he send the papers to Health Canada to the SAP (Special access programm) for drugs not approve in the Canada and we wait 6 months before having an answer and of course they refuse.
The main reason why I wanted to be take as an inpatient was because the Hospital is a safe place for me, and since i'm a lot concern about my heart and have a lot of chronic anxiety symptoms, it will be more easy for me to increase my Paxil dosage and will feel more safe with Doctors around me in case something happen to my heart... Anyway, now i'm stuck on my own and have to take the Paxil at home and will have to increase the Paxil very slowly... so slowly than in 1 year I will probably didn't reach the therapeutic dose of 15 mg I need...
In Qc the services are so bad, you go to the emergency and you can't see a PDoc, you need a reference paper from your family Doc, that's so stupid... and of course, they centralised all the psychiatric services at the same hospital and if you want to see a PDoc, you need first a reference paper from your Family Doc, you have to call at the CLSC (Guichet de la santé mentale), then you wait 3-6 months before meeting a Social worker, than you wait 1 year before having you first appointment with a PDoc... and if the PDoc suck or you don't like him, you can't change because if you complain and ask to see another one, they ask you do do the same process again, mean the CLSC, the Social worker and then the waiting list.
Same for Therapies, At the Psychiatric hospital where I go they have a special individual therapy for anxiety disorders... I was put on a waiting list and had to wait 1 year before I meet the Psychologist... after 6 appointments with her, she show me the door cause I did not answer to the exposure therapy... before that, I was send in an intensive group therapy ( 5 days a week for 2 months) whereI learn a lot of things but it was not individual and it was not useful for me.
If I had money, I will pay to see the Psychologist I want but on the wellfare I can't afford it, so I had to call again the CLSC (Guichet en santé mentale) and I had to wait 4 months for a free Therapy, a Therapy that it's not working very well, my anxiety increase since i'm going there.
I ask my parents to help me for the money and I just start another Therapy, it's a private one and cost 95 $ for one hour... that one seem to be good... but can't go every week because it's too expensive...
Also I don't know if you notice but on the wellfare you don't pay your meds and they always give to you generic meds, and most of them are not as good as the real stuff... for the Paxil the APO generic version is awful...anyway, enough complaints for today! lol
I also have bulimia problem who are sometimes trigger by antidepressant meds, especially the Zoloft and the Effexor-XR... I think morbid obesity with too much diets as a teen and young adult age and the gastric by-pass I had back in 2001 lead to that kind of eating disorder.
> I know that it is really hard to get off Welfare. I finally got off this week when I started a new job. But then I worry if the job will be too for much etc. All the little nagging worries.
>Yes that's hard. I don't work since the end of 2003 now, almost 7 years. I can't imagine returning to work after all those years. I will be so afraid and will don't have the energy to do it. I think it's a part of my anxiety problem. I fear the moment I will have to be back at work... the more longer I wait and the worse it will be of course...
I took 1 year off from work back in 2004 because I had a surgery to repair a hernia and I returned to school in 2005 at the UQAM university in Urban planing and I was in great shape mentally...the Clonazeam worked 1 year for my social phobia, after that period, I start having social phobia again and Montreal turn out to be a big nightmare for me. I was not able to walk on the streets alone or take the metro...was not able to deal with the pressure at school, I was surrounder by bad peoples (most of them was alcoholic or on drugs), I had also an alcohol problem at the time...after 2 years I drop out the University and return live in Quebec city with my parents.
At the time I was thinking that it will be for only 6 months, the time to meet the PDoc and be back on the Paxil to treat the anxiety and social phobia but things turn out to be very different, the waiting list was very long before I had my first appointment, the first PDoc I had was good but not used to old meds and not open minded... I try a lot of meds with him but it was not very helping... That PDoc stop working at this Hospital so I had another one, the new one was used to work with old meds and we start trying meds that turn out to be very bad for me (Parnate and TCA's mostly...), we almost try every meds use on and off label for social phobia and panic disorder and I ending in a worse mental state than before I meet the first PDoc. End of the story... lol
> I want to be able to have energy and go out with friends. But anxiety and depression keeps me from doing it. Also, I have lost a lot of friends over the years because of my deprssion.
>Same here... don'T have the energy to take my shower, I force myself to do it... 3 years ago I was used to take 2-3 shower a day... it was an obsession... I don't have the energy to get out with friends, cant deal with the anxiety, panic attacks while I drive, can't deal with the noise and too much peoples around me. I also loosing now my best friend because of the agoraphobia and the fact that I stay at home most of the time since 2 months and can't drive my car anymore.
Social phobia is not helping also, making friends is really hard for me since the others see me as a problem person because of the anxiety and the agoraphobia.
> I also want the physical pain that comes with my depression to ease up or go away forever.
>Same here... before 2009, I had only social phobia with sometimes a panic attack (once in a while) but nothing else. I didn't realize at the time that the social phobia was not a big problem, I was thinking that it was the worse anxiety state that I will reach in my entire life... but I was so wrong... Before 2009, I was able to have a "normal life", I mean going out, drive the car, go to the shopping center alone and things like that, I was not happy and was anxious and was not able to have a work but didn't had chronic anxiety symptoms 24h a day like now... it's seem to just get worse with time...sometimes I feel hopeless and think I will end my life in that mental state... other days I feel ok, I can sit and watch TV or surf the web but it's making me a lot tired...
May I ask you what kind of pain you have? And did you see a PDoc from the Hôpital Louis-H Lafontaine? I hear it is a good Hospital...
> Do you live in Quebec City? I am in Montreal. Psychiatric services are AWFUL here, they really are.
>Already answer to that ! lol
> Thank you for you post. It made me feel not so alone in this sh*t hole.
Oh no, you're not alone for sure...
Posted by Conundrum on September 16, 2010, at 8:06:55
In reply to Re: sad and frustrated » Vincent_QC, posted by Maxime on September 15, 2010, at 18:15:14
How do psych services operate in canada? Do you have to pay out of pocket at all. What makes them so bad? I will use this information so I can go comfort my Fox News loving family and tell them they were right about Health Care reform all along.
Posted by Vincent_QC on September 16, 2010, at 13:10:35
In reply to Re: oh canada! » Maxime, posted by Conundrum on September 16, 2010, at 8:06:55
> How do psych services operate in canada? Do you have to pay out of pocket at all. What makes them so bad? I will use this information so I can go comfort my Fox News loving family and tell them they were right about Health Care reform all along.
I can't talk about peoples who live outside the Quebec province, but I think it's different for every provinces in the Canada.
For the Quebec, we don't pay to see a PDoc...in one way, we pay tax on incomes, if you work of course... and if you don't work and are on the wellfare and disable from work because of a disease you receive not a lot of money each month, it's around 680$ month... and if you live with your parents because you are disable and can't afford to pay for an appartement alone and need some help they cut you 100 $ each month, so you ending with only 580$...
The main problem is that if you work for the a private compagny and not the Governement, you will have private health insurance and most of the time, those private health insurance will only cover a small part of the services like the dentist or the meds...
The main problem is that it's a public health service, public mean LONG WAITING LIST!!! So you don't have to pay to see a Doc or a PDoc or to have a surgery or cancer treatment...but if for example you go to the emergency, it will take forever to see a Doctor, because they lack of nurses and Doctors, if you need to see a PDoc, it's really complicated, long process, and you have to not forget that if you ask your Family Doc to see a PDoc, it's because you have already a psychological disorder to treat... but they don't care... you need a reference paper from your Family Doc... with that paper you have to call at your local CLSC (a kind of small medical clinic) and then they put you on a waiting list to meet a social worker who will fulfill a request to see a PDoc... around 3 to 6 months of waiting before seeing the social worker...
Then they put you again on a waiting list and you wait for the phone call from the psychiatric hospital, who is around another 6-9 months of waiting... And don'T forget that you wait already 3 to 6 months so you add another 6 to 9 months and you get more than 1 year minimum before having the first appointment with the PDoc...
If the PDoc is not good, or if after 1-2 years you don't get better, you can change to another PDoc but you need to redone all the process and you will be wait again for a long time...
The same thing occur for peoples with cancer or cardiac peoples or other peoples who need urgent surgery... they are put on waiting list and some of them die in the meantime... That's horrible I know but it's the reallity...
Welcome to the Canada... or to the Quebec to be more specific...
Posted by emmanuel98 on September 16, 2010, at 18:56:29
In reply to Re: sad and frustrated » Maxime, posted by Vincent_QC on September 16, 2010, at 6:55:20
I know there are problems with the Canadian health system, but here in the states it is also true that you will not be admitted to a psychiatric ward/hospital unless you are a danger to yourself or others. Insurance companies simply won't pay otherwise. Anxiety disorders will not get you admitted to a hospital. In fact, I was in withdrawal from opiates and my insurance company would not pay for inpatient treatment, since opiate withdrawal, hard as it is, is not life-threatening.
Posted by Maxime on September 16, 2010, at 20:00:27
In reply to Re: oh canada! » Maxime, posted by Conundrum on September 16, 2010, at 8:06:55
> How do psych services operate in canada? Do you have to pay out of pocket at all. What makes them so bad? I will use this information so I can go comfort my Fox News loving family and tell them they were right about Health Care reform all along.
It's an awful system when it comes to psych services. We can use our health card to see psychiatrist because they are medical doctor. But you can wait up to a year to see one. That happened to me when I returned to Montreal from the States. I waited 10 months to see someone and what was his cure for me? "You should have an intimate relationship and you will feel better". Hello! Did I just wait 10 monthes to hear that????
Luckily I was able to find a psych who works out of his home. Thing is that he is 88 years old and I am scared he is going to die soon. Silly fear. but not out the realm of possibilities. In fact I have been trying to get in touch with him and he is not returning my calls or emails which is VERY unlike him. I hope he is okay.
Another thing about Quebec is that you are supposed to see the psychiatrist that is in your postal code. Someone once told me to find a pdoc that I like, and then move to that postal code! Can you imsgine telling a cardiac patient the same thing? It would be all over the papers. But we are just psych patients.
So that is just some of the problems with the system. And they are critical. I hope that they can do something to fix them, but there are not enough pdocs in Quebec to go around. Same with GP and specialised doctors. I think there are over 2 million people in Montreal who cannot get a GP. I am lucky, I am seeing the same one since 1991.
It's not a great system, we just have to deal with it. I think we put with a lot because we have no other choice. The system in England is similar. I don't know if they have long waits that we do to see specialists, or problems finding a GP
Posted by Conundrum on September 16, 2010, at 23:22:09
In reply to Re: oh canada! » Conundrum, posted by Maxime on September 16, 2010, at 20:00:27
Maybe all the Pdocs are moving south ;-)
That sucks, but I am paying out of pocket. My pdoc is nice in that she lets me get a lot done in a short phone conversation. I couldn't afford it otherwise.
Posted by linkadge on September 17, 2010, at 8:19:24
In reply to Re: oh canada! » Conundrum, posted by Vincent_QC on September 16, 2010, at 13:10:35
I'm in Ontario. The system has been marginal, I guess.
It can take a while to see a psychiatrist, if your case qualifies as needing it. The appointments are often short (for me at least) (15 min or so).
The drugs are expensive, and if you don't have private insurance (or aren't needy enough for government coverage) you end up paying out of pocket for drugs.
I take ritalin, but I would benefit from ritalin CR. Ritalin CR would run me over $250 a month out of pocket. Because of my situation, theres nobody to pick up that tab.
Oh, and the drugs don't really work :) But I guess thats pretty much common to all countries :)
Linkadge
Posted by Conundrum on September 17, 2010, at 22:27:33
In reply to Re: oh canada!, posted by linkadge on September 17, 2010, at 8:19:24
So thats $250 for a whole bunch of nothing. :)
Posted by Conundrum on September 17, 2010, at 22:29:01
In reply to Re: oh canada!, posted by linkadge on September 17, 2010, at 8:19:24
BTW that sounds horrible. I guess I'm gonna have to vote for the Repugnantcans this november.
Posted by Maxime on September 18, 2010, at 9:58:15
In reply to Re: oh canada!, posted by Conundrum on September 16, 2010, at 23:22:09
> Maybe all the Pdocs are moving south ;-)
>
> That sucks, but I am paying out of pocket. My pdoc is nice in that she lets me get a lot done in a short phone conversation. I couldn't afford it otherwise.I think many do go to the states to practice. Another thing about the Canadian System is that it takes us longer to have meds approved by Health Canada. Abilify only became available this year in Canada.
Posted by linkadge on September 18, 2010, at 11:26:02
In reply to Re: oh canada! » linkadge, posted by Conundrum on September 17, 2010, at 22:27:33
>So thats $250 for a whole bunch of nothing. :)
What do you mean? I said SSRIs were overhyped.
Linkadge
Posted by linkadge on September 18, 2010, at 11:26:56
In reply to Re: oh canada! » Conundrum, posted by Maxime on September 18, 2010, at 9:58:15
And some meds we havn't got at all. I don't think emsam is available.
Linkadge
Go forward in thread:
Psycho-Babble Medication | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.