New Doctors

The Great Battle For A New Psychiatrist started last January when my clinic "did not renew the contract" of my last one. They pulled out of retirement my previous psych for six months part time, but he wasn't willing to keep working forever, and in that six months, they failed to hire a new doc. So, since June, I've been without a psychiatrist and they haven't hired yet.

As a result, I've been actively looking for someone who is taking new patients and will see me in under six more months. I need prescriptions, and the clinic won't refill things written over six months ago, so this was getting to be a crisis. The last time I took my ADHD son in to see HIS psych for med checks, I asked his psych's office if he was taking new patients. He isn't: he's retiring at the end of the year. But another doc in the office IS. Fine; I scheduled an appointment with him.

I was nervous last week when I went in; I admit it. I have a very long psych history though it isn't very interesting. I take narcs for chronic pain relief, and this doc's intro letter said he likes to treat "the whole patient" not just use meds, so I was afraid that he would start off by trying to take me off my meds.

He didn't, at least in the first 2-hour intake visit, which was supposed to be 75 minutes. However, I had already signed a release for my psych records and in addition, he DID want records from my PCP, my pulmonologist, rheumotologist, and dermatologist! I'm surprised, but it's ok with me. He can check and see if my stories are true; they all are.

Also, over the years I've found that I virtually always have to carry information between my specialists. They don't communicate with each other. If this doc is willing to read my health history, it's that far to the good. I doubt he will (he doesn't know what he's asking for), but if he does, bully for him. What won't work is if he starts second-guessing my other docs.

So we'll see. He's a counselling psych -- an oddity -- but that's ok with me, too. For over a decade I've been limited to 15 minutes every 3 months for med checks, even when I was in crisis. I'd rather have someone I can actually talk to enough to tell him where I really am in this weird process called living. Assuming he doesn't just look at my records and tell me that I need to be on fewer drugs and imagine myself lying on a warm beach, feeling my toes relaxing as I sink into the sand ....

Been there, done that. I need meds, thanks.

Have a nice day.