This post is based off a questions one of my readers posed, when I asked if there was anything anyone would like me to discuss. I really enjoy these posts as I can share what I learned over the years of therapy and doctors etc.
The questions is:
I’ve just decided to start getting medication. Do you have recommendations on managing my doctors so that I get what I want out of this experience?
Keep in mind I can only answer this or any question off my experience. I am not a doctor or a therapist.
When I first started seeing a psychiatrist I had no clue what I was doing. I was relying on him to remember me, and the medicines we had tried and not tried. Boy was I wrong, this first guy couldn’t keep me straight and I noticed he didn’t pull a file or anything when I came for my visits he didn’t take notes etc. If this happens to you I suggest you think carefully about changing doctors. Red Flag! This taught me that I needed to take a bit more control of my appointments.
I began to research depression, as that was the major symptom, along with rage and mood swings. The doctor was smart enough to mention Bipolar II. I went online read and read and searched and read. I went to bipolar chat rooms, and different sites that were set up to support people with mental illness.I didn’t do much talking in those chat rooms but I did a lot of observing conversation and learning what others were going through and what medicines they were taking. Then I would research the medicines a bit and gather even more information. In the chat rooms they talked a lot about the side effects of certain medications and that was really helpful. Continue reading »
