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Can a GP prescribe psychiatric medications?


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Your medical care (psychiatric care) is complicated. Your GP is not qualified to handle your psychiatric care; though she can prescribe psych meds. You have the appt with the new Pdoc in what??? 15 fucking days?? c'mon Andy I predict she will not want to touch your psyche meds with a ten foot pole.

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Guest Vapourware

This is absolute lunacy. Andy, you really need to deal with this obsession to constantly change your medication in therapy.

This is unbelievable. Really. I have no other words.

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Let me tell you a few stories.

My grandmother was prescribed lithium by her GP. She went toxic, because the GP didn't order blood tests (Grandma isn't very assertive).

My husband went to his GP for a physical. He came back with a 'script for Celexa. After a ten minute appointment. No screening whatsoever. No referral to a psychiatrist. No referral to a therapist.

I went to my GP due to fatigue. GP wanted to lower my Abilify dosage to combat the fatigue (even though I had it raised just a few months prior due to spring time hypomania). Went to psychiatrist, he prescribed a sleep aid because after talking with me for a few minutes, he figured out that I can't fall asleep before midnight. Prescribed me a sleep aid, now I feel great.

I was also told by a GP to try Effexor after failing one antidepressant (I like Effexor, but IMO you should try two or three before going that route as it's a bitch to get off of - a few shrinks would probably agree with me). And speaking of the antidepressant I failed, I went from 0 to 20mg of Lexapro.

Moral of the story: Most GP's shouldn't prescribe psych meds. It's too damn complicated. Their psych rotation is minimal. Few know what they're doing. It's not worth it.

You have access to a psychiatrist. Consider yourself lucky. Most people don't. I drive forty minutes to see mine, because options in my town are minimal. Waiting lists are ridiculous. Appointments are ten minutes at the most. Double bookings. Turnover. Bad reputations. You're in a good spot. Go with it.

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I haven't been around very long but even I can say that you should know better.

Don't med shop to a GP for all the reasons mentioned by others, but especially since this sort of thing got you in trouble at your program last time.

Try to not focus on your meds so much, and just try to wait for your pdoc appt.

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I am going to see my medical doctor tomorrow and was wondering if she is allowed by law to be able to prescribe the medications Abilify and Cogentin?

I hope she is smart enough to see this for what it is and says "NO"

Andy I agree with everyone here ..you are doing "it" again ..you had a nice break for a few weeks.. done so well ... but well is obviously not good enough and now here you go wanting to screw with your meds again ..you need to let your Pdoc handle the medication ..be patient as mentioned above ...instead of ruminating about how to change your meds up again ..when you have barely given them a chance...take that energy and go lean a new task for your future survival...cooking ...cleaning...shopping ..whatever ....a goal for you to set is to stop screwing with your meds and find a way to stop thinking about screwing with them ..you give yourself no peace on this and no time for things to work out ..

now is the time to do that!

good luck

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Well I went to the medical doctor this morning and I did my physical and I didn't ask her anything about medication. I just let her do the physical and I signed a release so that information can be sent over to my psychiatrist.

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That was probably the right thing to do - I've found generally GPs refuse to tamper with your psych meds. I'm switching all my doctors at the moment too (I moved 200 miles away) and my new GP will only renew the prescription that I have (it's Effexor, so if she didn't I'd be fucked), not start me on anything else or alter the dose and I think that's the way it should be.

My old GP was the guy who, when Citalopram (Celexa) made me hypomanic, switched me to Sertraline (Zoloft) which, I've discovered, is even more likely to make you hypomanic, and lived up to said reputation. He was pretty good about giving me some low-dose diazepam (Valium) to deal with the after-effects though.

It's probably worth figuring out exactly how much your GP does know about mental illness just in case you have problems and can't reach your psych doctor. I figure GPs on MI come in three categories:

Knows some, takes a particular interest in the subject and is useful (frequently found on University campuses and other practices with more than their fair share of us nutjobs. You can tell this doc because she gives helpful, informed advice prefixed by, 'Obviously it isn't my area', or 'You need to talk to a specialist, but...')

Knows enough to know she doesn't know shit, passes everything on to a specialist (my current GP, for instance)

Doesn't even know enough to know to leave well alone. Dangerous. (my old GP, who thought it would be fun to prescribe typical antipsychotics to a 19-year-old guy with BPII who had never tried anything stronger than SSRIs in the past. I was freaked out to hear this story from the guy in question, and even more freaked out to learn we shared a doctor.)

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