BusynMember
Well-Known Member
Anyone have a scary story about a time when a doctor refused to listen to you or somebody you know about medication? Or anything? I have such a story and will share it. Don't know if anyone is interested, but heck then it's a vent This is about a friend of a friend (got it?) that I tried to help because friend doesn't drive. So I got to know HER friend.
This poor lady had been put on depression medication. According to my friend, who had gone away for the cold winter, when she had come back, she had visited her friend, and friend had deteriorated to an alarming degree. They were thinking she shouldn't live alone anymore and could be suffering from Alzheimers. I went to the psychiatrist with her and my friend and the doctor dismissed my comment that her shaking, forgetfulness, bad stomach and weight loss could be related to the medications he'd prescribed (she was taking Prozac and Lorazapan.) She was in the ER every other night with "shakes" and was barely coherant and everyone from the ambulance drivers to the ER staff to the doctor was treating her as if she were just a nutty old lady who was losing her marbles.
Having had horrendous experience on certain medications myself, Prozac being one, I kept after her to get her doctor to wean her off the medication. My friend told me that she had been normal before the medications had been started. The doctor wouldn't do it. He upped the dose. She kept shaking, vomitting, going to ER. She was incoherent. We took her to a GP just to make sure she was healthy. The GP was nice, but also treated her like a dotty old lady and said she was fine and that she couldn't c hange the medications and to go back to her psychiatrist. So we took her back to psychiatrist. He agreed to change her antidepressant to paroxatine. She felt a little bit better, but still shook. The psychiatrist wanted to send her for a test for Parkinsen's Disease. I kept telling her maybe she should find somebody to wean her off the medications, but she wasn't in any shape to make any decisions. She ended up taking a bottle of pills, trying to kill herself, and ended up in a psychiatric hospital. Didn't hear about her for a long time.
Fast forward. My friend called me about a month later saying this friend of hers had stopped over. She was off all of her medication. She was not shaking. She had no stomach cramps. She was totally lucid. She was calm and collected. She spoke to me on the phone and thanked me for helping her. Literally, there were no symptoms of her complaints when she had been on Prozac at all.
I get really angry at doctors who treat those who have had depression or other mental health issues like idiots who don't know their own bodies. This lady was well on the way to a nursing home, her life destroyed. I have had this happen to me (not being believed) but I'm the type who will walk away from a doctor who isn't helping me and find another one. Not everybody is like that. We are taught to trust our doctors.
One last little story. This was about Sonic and a goofy therapist we saw when he was about four. Sonic wasn't speaking yet and was very hyper. We were told, "You can't help him. He will ALWAYS be like this. There is nothing we can do for THESE kids." I still am so angry when I think about what he said that I feel like sending him a letter about how Sonic is doing today. I don't have room to talk about the doctor who insisted Sonic had bipolar...lol. He didn't believe he was wrong even three years later when I told him that, off medications, Sonic was happy as a lark.
I worked for doctors. It is really a crapshoot whether or n Occupational Therapist (OT) you get one who is good or who is dismissive. And when it comes to psychiatrists and therapists, well, this is NOT an exact science. So many of them, however, are POSITIVE that they have nailed the problem and often prescribe bad medications. Then they blame the patient for getting worse or they INCREASE the doses or ADD medications. I've a veteran of psychiatrists and therapists since I've been 23 (I will be 59 on Tuesday). medications saved my life, but the RIGHT medications only. And many psychiatrists and therapists do treat you like you are just plain nuts if you tell them that their medication of choice or their therapy of choice isn't working or is making you worse. Experience talking. OK, rant over Sorry!
This poor lady had been put on depression medication. According to my friend, who had gone away for the cold winter, when she had come back, she had visited her friend, and friend had deteriorated to an alarming degree. They were thinking she shouldn't live alone anymore and could be suffering from Alzheimers. I went to the psychiatrist with her and my friend and the doctor dismissed my comment that her shaking, forgetfulness, bad stomach and weight loss could be related to the medications he'd prescribed (she was taking Prozac and Lorazapan.) She was in the ER every other night with "shakes" and was barely coherant and everyone from the ambulance drivers to the ER staff to the doctor was treating her as if she were just a nutty old lady who was losing her marbles.
Having had horrendous experience on certain medications myself, Prozac being one, I kept after her to get her doctor to wean her off the medication. My friend told me that she had been normal before the medications had been started. The doctor wouldn't do it. He upped the dose. She kept shaking, vomitting, going to ER. She was incoherent. We took her to a GP just to make sure she was healthy. The GP was nice, but also treated her like a dotty old lady and said she was fine and that she couldn't c hange the medications and to go back to her psychiatrist. So we took her back to psychiatrist. He agreed to change her antidepressant to paroxatine. She felt a little bit better, but still shook. The psychiatrist wanted to send her for a test for Parkinsen's Disease. I kept telling her maybe she should find somebody to wean her off the medications, but she wasn't in any shape to make any decisions. She ended up taking a bottle of pills, trying to kill herself, and ended up in a psychiatric hospital. Didn't hear about her for a long time.
Fast forward. My friend called me about a month later saying this friend of hers had stopped over. She was off all of her medication. She was not shaking. She had no stomach cramps. She was totally lucid. She was calm and collected. She spoke to me on the phone and thanked me for helping her. Literally, there were no symptoms of her complaints when she had been on Prozac at all.
I get really angry at doctors who treat those who have had depression or other mental health issues like idiots who don't know their own bodies. This lady was well on the way to a nursing home, her life destroyed. I have had this happen to me (not being believed) but I'm the type who will walk away from a doctor who isn't helping me and find another one. Not everybody is like that. We are taught to trust our doctors.
One last little story. This was about Sonic and a goofy therapist we saw when he was about four. Sonic wasn't speaking yet and was very hyper. We were told, "You can't help him. He will ALWAYS be like this. There is nothing we can do for THESE kids." I still am so angry when I think about what he said that I feel like sending him a letter about how Sonic is doing today. I don't have room to talk about the doctor who insisted Sonic had bipolar...lol. He didn't believe he was wrong even three years later when I told him that, off medications, Sonic was happy as a lark.
I worked for doctors. It is really a crapshoot whether or n Occupational Therapist (OT) you get one who is good or who is dismissive. And when it comes to psychiatrists and therapists, well, this is NOT an exact science. So many of them, however, are POSITIVE that they have nailed the problem and often prescribe bad medications. Then they blame the patient for getting worse or they INCREASE the doses or ADD medications. I've a veteran of psychiatrists and therapists since I've been 23 (I will be 59 on Tuesday). medications saved my life, but the RIGHT medications only. And many psychiatrists and therapists do treat you like you are just plain nuts if you tell them that their medication of choice or their therapy of choice isn't working or is making you worse. Experience talking. OK, rant over Sorry!