3%er primitive has an outrageous experience

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1151721

Oh my.

One of nadin's staunchest supporters in her bullying of primitives who don't think she's God.

The BeHereNow primitive's not quite a 1%er, but she's well within the top 3%, and probably posting this from the side of her swimming pool in an affluent area of Los Angeles:

BeHereNow (15,940 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore

Outrageous experience with my daughter's PD's office...

Until Friday last, as you know I had extreme confidence in my daughter's PD.

Briefly, let me describe what happened and please share your thoughts on the matter-

The PD prescribed Risperidol for her insomnia.

It was a miserable FAIL.

He switched her to Abilify-

Again, a disaster.

Increased insomnia and heightened agitation.

I called his office on Friday- told the person who answered the call that I had an urgent situation and needed to speak with the doctor about what to do.

Waited, no return call.

I called again- repeating the emphasis on "URGENT."

I was assured by the same person I spoke to earlier that the doctor had the message on his desk.

Hours roll by- no call from the doc.

I call again at closing time and learn that the doctor has left for the day.

I also learn that he never received my messages.

As in, the receptionist LIED to me.

I ended up calling our pharmacist to get advice on getting her off the Abilify safely.

Finally heard back from the PD yesterday- told him I found it totally unacceptable that my message/plea for help was not conveyed, and furthermore that I had been lied to.

He was apologetic and agreed with the validity of my complaint.

FORTUNATELY- My GP, who specializes in BP agreed to see my daughter during my visit with him about blood work.

He gained her confidence, after an initially BAD first meeting months ago, and gave her a script for Zanax to sleep.

For the first time in THREE weeks, she finally got a full night of sleep. 12 hours actually.

My instinct is to dump the PD and put her under the care of my GP.

What say you?

Tuesday Afternoon (34,232 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore

1. I am inclined to say DUMP ... no excuse for lying, at all ... I hate to say this but, that receptionist should be fired for that breach. That is totally unacceptable. If she is lying to patients she will lie to the Doc and if he is dumb enough not to see that then he would be too dumb to treat my daughter....ymmv

BeHereNow (15,940 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore

2. She is actually a he- and by my gauge, not playing with a full deck.

Normally, I always hear back from the doc within a few hours when we are having med problems.

He does have another person in his office who is the best of the best as far as taking care of urgent calls for help.

I'm not sure why the guy has a job there- he is a royal pain in the ass, rude and now we know, dishonest.

It is so painful to watch your child suffer on the med merry-go-round.

To not be able to reach the doctor under extreme ADR circumstance because a member of his staff is negligent is just WRONG!

I love my GP- he swooped in and relieved her suffering.

Seriously, she had not slept a full sleep cycle in three weeks!

I think I call the PD tomorrow and have her records transferred to my GP.

I trust him FAR more at this point.

fizzgig (15,169 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore

3. i think your instincts are right if your gp has the knowledge and your daughter's trust, it seems like a good move. the receptionist's behavior is simply unacceptable.

eta: i'm glad your daughter finally got some sleep. the lack of sleep makes it so much worse.

BeHereNow (15,940 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore

4. She is sawing logs at the moment- second night in WEEKS.

1 mg of zanax- not my favorite drug, but hell, if it lets her get some sleep-I'm all for it.

She is a wreck from the Risperidol and Abilify faliures.

What REALLY bothers me is that the doctor was aware of the "Fail" on getting my messages on Friday night- he did not call us until Monday afternoon.

Does that sound right?

I'm thinking, not so much.

On edit: shouldn't a patient be able to reach a psych doctor 24/7?

Don't most of them have emergency access numbers for a crisis?

Or did I dream that...

fizzgig (15,169 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore

5. if he knew friday night, then definitely dump his ass and, yes, they should be reachable 24/7, i know all mine always had an emergency number on their voicemail.

BeHereNow (15,940 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore

6. He knew Friday night and his response, through the one GOOD receptionist he has was...

She can safely take up to 30 mg of Abilify.

Hello? This drug was proving to be a catastrophe at this point and his response through his ONE good secretary was to increase the dose?

HMMMM.

NOT GOOD! NOT GOOD AT ALL, upon reflection.

Fact is- the pharmacist I ended up calling was FAR more helpful than the prescribing doctor.

What's wrong with that picture?

elleng (28,950 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore

7. What's wrong is the Doctor part; what's right is the helpful pharmacist.

Happy to hear she's gotten some sleep and now will have a good doc, whom both of you trust.

HuskiesHowls (596 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore

8. Trust in a doctor is most important

When my daughter was a minor, and I had a say in what therapist she saw, I interviewed them. Even when she was handed off to a different therapist at the same practice, I went with her to her first appt, to find out what they were like. If I didn't trust them, she didn't see them again.

Later on, after she turned 21, she had a problem similar to yours. The difference was, she wound up in the psych ward of a local hospital. After she got out, her mother and I both did some research, found out who was the top person at the office, and had personal meetings with that person, explaining (calmly) the lousy service my daughter had gotten. The end result: two months later, that doctor was gone.

If you and your daughter trust your GP, and that person is equipped (either personally or through good referrals) to handle the situation, it would seem to be a good solution to lousy service by a specialist.

And it's going to be better under 0bamacare?

Odd, that only primitives think that.

[jukin]

Wait until Presidebt 0bama's HellCare kicks in and you won't have a choice of whom is you doctor. 

It will be glorious future korades, GLORIOUS!!

[USA4ME]

BeHereNow

Outrageous experience with my daughter's PD's office...Until Friday last, as you know I had extreme confidence in my daughter's PD... The PD prescribed Risperidol for her insomnia... Finally heard back from the PD yesterday-... FORTUNATELY- My GP, who specializes in BP... My instinct is to dump the PD and put her under the care of my GP.

What say you?

FU.

.

[BEG]

How old is this girl?

[Evil_Conservative]

How old is her daughter?  She must be a minor.  Are minors suppose to be taking sleeping pills?  I'm terrified of that kind of stuff.  If I ever had trouble sleeping, I'd just deal with it.  Dealing with it is better than the side effects.

[Chris_]

Another liberal with mental problems.  What a surprise.

If I had an asshole call and talk to me like that, I'd probably lie to them too.

[BEG]

How old is her daughter?  She must be a minor.  Are minors suppose to be taking sleeping pills?  I'm terrified of that kind of stuff.  If I ever had trouble sleeping, I'd just deal with it.  Dealing with it is better than the side effects.

Try saying that when you have to take 60 mg of prednisone for months, then get back to me. 

[Freeper]

How old is her daughter?  She must be a minor.  Are minors suppose to be taking sleeping pills?  I'm terrified of that kind of stuff.  If I ever had trouble sleeping, I'd just deal with it.  Dealing with it is better than the side effects.

I recently took Ambien and had no side effects.

[Chris_]

I recently took Ambien and had no side effects.

Did you ask your wife for a second opinion?

I've heard scary shit about Ambien.

[Evil_Conservative]

I recently took Ambien and had no side effects.

Some people don't, but the side effects of (any) drugs just aren't worth it to me personally.  I hated taking my pain killers after my daughter was born.  I couldn't even finish the whole prescription.

I can't speak of side effects for sleeping pills because I rarely have sleep problems.  My problem when I can't sleep is too much caffeine during the day.  Self inflicted.  So I can just deal with it.  One day I might learn my lesson and stop drinking so much caffeine.

[BEG]

Did you ask your wife for a second opinion?

I've heard scary shit about Ambien.

I take Ambien when I cant fall asleep because I have tinnitus. At night it is on high when everything else in the house is quiet. I try to use a sound device to cancel it out but there are a lot of nights that it doesn't work. It also doesnt help when I'm taking prednisone which makes it extremely hard to get to sleep. Because its fast acting I can try to fall asleep first on my own and if I can't I take it and fall asleep fast. When I wake up I feel like I haven't taken anything at all so I'm not groggy the next morning.

I have talked to my husband on the phone after taking it (when he was out of town) and don't remember it (and I called him). I haven't done anything freaky though.  

BUT when we were moving from CA back to Texas we had to sleep on the floor the night they took all of our furniture. My husband was exhausted but couldn't sleep because his back hurt. I gave him one and he did do something weird. We left the new owners the wall mounted TV in our bedroom and we were watching the TV after I gave him the Ambien. I thought he was awake but he wasn't. I was talking to him and all of a sudden he got really strange. Had a really weird look on his face and did something I'm not going to repeat  on this board. I smacked him and told him to lay down and go to sleep. He did. The next day I made fun of him.  He has taken it since a couple times and has fallen right to sleep with no "funny business".  

[GOBUCKS]

1. PD?? That acronym has to be either Plain Dealer, or Public Defender, both of which operate exclusively in the interests of DUmpmonkeys and other ethnic 0bamaites.

2. If there's such a thing as a miracle drug, in my experience Ambien qualifies. I've used it countless times since it was first approved it in the early 90s. For me, it's a nearly perfect cure for jet lag on trips to or from Europe and Asia, with zero hangover or any other side effects. I also use it to go asleep very early in the evening when I need to be up and alert at 3 or 4 am. With just 5mg. I can quickly fall asleep for six hours or so. I'm sure some people have bad reactions, but I suspect most of the real horror stories are people looking for a lawsuit, or who took it while drinking.

[Freeper]

Did you ask your wife for a second opinion?

I've heard scary shit about Ambien.

Other than being loopy at bed time, there weren't any.  

Some people don't, but the side effects of (any) drugs just aren't worth it to me personally.  I hated taking my pain killers after my daughter was born.  I couldn't even finish the whole prescription.

I can't speak of side effects for sleeping pills because I rarely have sleep problems.  My problem when I can't sleep is too much caffeine during the day.  Self inflicted.  So I can just deal with it.  One day I might learn my lesson and stop drinking so much caffeine.

I only took it a couple of nights, I hadn't slept in 3 days because when I laid down my neck hurt just enough to keep me awake all night and pain killers didn't help.

I'm not suggesting that you or anyone take any drugs I was just mentioning that I didn't have any side effects.

[Chris_]

The only thing I have is melatonin.  If I take too much, it makes me groggy in the morning.

[Evil_Conservative]

Other than being loopy at bed time, there weren't any. 

I only took it a couple of nights, I hadn't slept in 3 days because when I laid down my neck hurt just enough to keep me awake all night and pain killers didn't help.

I'm not suggesting that you or anyone take any drugs I was just mentioning that I didn't have any side effects.

No, you're fine.  I felt like I was coming off kind of rude about drugs.  It's not like I haven't had to take them, I just HATE them so much because I always get the nasty side effects.

And Chris, that's true about melatonin.  I've found only 3 mg is good for me if I need it.  Anything more than that makes me stay awake longer, which is weird.  I took melatonin more often when I had to be up at 4am for work.

[JakeStyle]

I take Ambien when I cant fall asleep because I have tinnitus. At night it is on high when everything else in the house is quiet. I try to use a sound device to cancel it out but there are a lot of nights that it doesn't work.

Hey BEG , can you provide a little more info IRT the sound device you use?  I also have tinnitus, and I just plain can't sleep unless I am exhausted or have a vodka helper.  Thanks in advance.

[Freeper]

No, you're fine.  I felt like I was coming off kind of rude about drugs.  It's not like I haven't had to take them, I just HATE them so much because I always get the nasty side effects.

And Chris, that's true about melatonin.  I've found only 3 mg is good for me if I need it.  Anything more than that makes me stay awake longer, which is weird.  I took melatonin more often when I had to be up at 4am for work.

I didn't think you sounded rude at all. I just wanted to clarify just in case you thought I was telling you what to do.

[cmypay]

Hey BEG , can you provide a little more info IRT the sound device you use?  I also have tinnitus, and I just plain can't sleep unless I am exhausted or have a vodka helper.  Thanks in advance.

Not BEG, but we used one of these with our middle child. He had night terrors when he was younger and for some reason, the white noise helped to stop it from happenning. We bought it at Bed Bath and Beyond. It does several different sounds (wind, rain, something that sounds like static hiss to me, etc), so you can find the one that works best for you.

[Ballygrl]

I've had insomnia only a few times, I'm pretty much the type who when the head hits the pillow I'm out, and I mean anywhere, a chair, a couch, a bed etc. but the few times I've had insomnia I thought I was going to go insane, it was horrible, and I can't imagine anyone going through that on a daily basis.