Melancholya

Yeah. I get that it's stressful for the public hospital staff. The system is under resourced. But it's so awful being treated like a piece of dirt just because someone is feeling stressed. Even the receptionists are horrible sometimes and when you're already feeling sensitive it's horrible to be spoken to unkindly. Private is definitely something I'll try if it doesn't work out with this new pdoc. Unfortunately I quite like my psychologist (she takes me seriously and has been helpful to me) so if I go private I won't be able to see her anymore. But that's life I guess. I'm not sure the therapy is helping me enough, but I do like her. I emailed her yesterday to ask about having bipolar 2 ruled out, and she's made time to see me on Monday, to discuss it before I see the new pdoc. So I super appreciate that. She felt it would be useful to discuss it in detail before I see the pdoc as the pdoc appointment is shorter than psychology appointments. I'm rambling, lol. But there's a private psychiatrist who is apparently very good. Unfortunately, he's the ONLY private psychiatrist in the area. Insurance providers here don't cover ongoing mental health issues (as far as I know), so I'd have to pay myself for a private consultation. I think initially it'd cost 300 for an assessment and consultation, and then 150 for follow-up appointments. Costly, but hopefully the quality of the service and care would be better.

I could check my doctor records to help me out, but I don't think they're complete. I've had about 5 different doctor clinics and pharmacies in the past 12 years, due to moving around frequently.

I know there are private psychiatrists but I didn't know you could privately get access to medications that aren't covered by Pharmac. Interesting to know. There is one private psychiatrist in my area who I'm considering going to if it doesn't work out with the hospital psychs (but so expensive 😢). I'll keep this in the back of my mind as something to ask about if other things don't work - mirtazapine is not my first choice cos I already have overeating problems and I'm just toooo scared of it making me eat 😅 I hadn't thought about that side of it. Truthfully, with my last pdoc, I didn't trust him, lol. I'll wait patiently for my new pdoc appointment then. It's in just a week. JUST A WEEK ARGH. I am feeling very uppity and agitated lately, I am just so anxious to try something new. Just wanna get it done!! Unfortunately, the hospital psychiatrists are not very receptive to being contacted between appointments. the last time I tried contacting my old pdoc to ask a question, he told me he was too busy and he'd look at it sometime. He never got back to me and it's been weeks. Meanwhile they just expect people to suffer until the next appointment when things aren't working?!

Thank you both. Unfortunately I have NO IDEA how long I took each med for or when. I mean I know them roughly. But I don't know exact dates and some of them I can't remember all of the side effects, but I can remember the main ones.

Sending you some love ❤️

You're right. I tend to "catastrophize" and convince myself things are going to be awful. Thank you, my psychologist suggested taking a list of past and current meds too so I have already started that

I feel uncomfortable in my soul. A little agitated. Mostly down. Was wired this morning and now I'm a zombie.

I'm a pretty passive person and I have social anxiety too which puts me a bit on edge with people. My previous psychiatrist was a middle aged man who was not very warm, and quite expressionless. I don't do well relating to these types of men, they make me so anxious it's hard to talk to them. I was displeased with him from the first meeting, and it's taken me a year to finally ask to have a new one. So I requested a new psychiatrist a few weeks ago and have my first appointment with him next week. With my previous psychiatrist, I didn't feel he was really taking into account my specific problems, and was just trying me on different meds without giving me full information about them and the side effects. He kind of shrugged and said "all antidepressants have these side effects" when I told him what I was not tolerating; I often went away and did my own research and brought suggestions to him, rather than him looking into appropriate options for me and presenting them to me. I'm a little worried the new pdoc will be similar, again he's a man in middle-age. I asked my psychologist if he's nice and she kind of hesitated then said "Yeah, well I think you would have had trouble getting on with the other two available, and (new pdoc) is very open minded". I'm so worried I'm going to find it hard to be honest with him and be assertive about what I need. I'm also VERY self conscious about appearing to be one of those people who does 'internet research' and then thinks they know more than the doctor. I don't want to put him off taking me seriously. Does anyone have tips? And is a psychiatrist the person you would ask to rule out a particular diagnosis with? (I'm wondering if I might be affected by bipolar 2, but I don't want to just walk in and say "I think I'm bipolar". I want to rule it out as a possibility before trying new medication.)

Yup, I don't believe pets (or anyone for that matter) should ever be hit. There are much better ways of changing problematic behaviour, especially if you address what might be causing the behaviour in the first place (for example cats often spray or mess in inappropriate places when they are stressed).

Lol, I know right?

Yep

No I'm also in between pdocs at the moment because I requested a new one. Am having my first appointment with him on 3rd July.

Yeah I know. It's just awful having to wait weeks to see someone when you're feeling terrible. I'm desperate to feel better. I have SR bupropion, and am taking just 150 now because I can't handle 300. But tbh I'm not sure I'm handling 150 either. I'm super wired every morning and then I crash every afternoon. And last night I slept much less than usual and woke up anxious. I feel awful. Might end up stopping bupropion and letting the sertraline carry me through until I see the pdoc.

Hey @Darthnox how are you doing now? I realise it's been a while since you made your post. Please let us know how you're doing?

I regret posting this, my apologies. I can't figure out how to delete it.