Sick and tired

[DamselODistress]

You know how people decide that they know better than your doctor does? "Oh honey, you don't have bipolar!" and suggest that I exercise, change my(vegetarian) diet to something healthier, sleep regularly, don't drink caffeine, and oh, why don't you try yoga?

I'm in the exam room at the labs waiting for my lithium blood draw, and mention to the tech that I'm feeling really woozy, and I'm not sure if I'd pass out during the draw. I know, I know, three little vials, miniscule amounts of blood, but I've been feeling really sick lately and I'm horribly afraid of needles, so I just thought I'd warn her. She PATS MY HEAD and says it's alright, she knows how to take care of a patient if they slip consciousness, and asks if it's because of the meds I'm on. Which she then proceeds to tell me I don't need. Blood draw over, she walks me back up front because I'm more than a little unsteady, and she tells me to be careful with the meds, because they can really mess me up.

Her coworker jumps in, asking how long I've been feeling sick, what meds I was on, and how long I was taking them. A little personal, but when I was diagnosed I made a promise to myself to be open to fair questions, so I told her. "Oh sweetie! You were on it for three months and no change? You weren't letting it work!" Letting it work. Because being fanatical about taking everything at the same time every day without fail isn't enough to let the meds make me healthy. No, I have to do a little dance, plant a flower, and sacrifice a virgin every time I take my damn pills. There's my problem. I've got the dancing and the flowers, but the virgins? A little hard to come by in my neighborhood.

Where do people get off deciding it's within their right to tell you you DON'T have this disease, and even if you do, you're not taking care of yourself right? Yes, I was being nice and chatting a little bit, but that doesn't allow them to step in and tell me how to rule MY life and MY disease.

[opieisop]

I'm so with you on this one. I HATE when people do this to me. I'm sure it happens to all of us. I dated a girl once who was a pharmacist and I told her what I was on for my bipolar. She freakin tells me I should not be taking anything and that I just need to be stronger .... wtf

[lysergia]

that was so inappropriate, DoD. if you're feeling well enough, i'd actually write up a little note to the clinic they work for explaining that it is inappropriate to comment on ANYONE's medication. i mean, someone might actually take their advice (they do look medically authoritative, kinda) and not take whatever meds and then... yikes.

at any rate, that sucked. sorry.

[enlightened_plutonian]

I hate people like that so much. Why can't they just take your blood and stop being so judgemental?

I had a situation that was kind of similar. I went to my GP to get my AP added to my repeat prescription, on the orders of my pdoc. On this appointment I took in the box that my pills came in, and explained to him what dose I was on and when I took it. He decided to respond (and consider that it was this doc who referred me originally to pdoc) with something like 'oh, what are you on them for, why are you on so much for?'. I was so frustrated with this, and just thought to myself 'errm, because that is what pdoc told me to take!'.

I feel your frustration here.

[Anna]

Oh, that is just so fucking messed up.

I don't discuss my med regimen with anyone except my boss occasionally, when freaking NEEDED like if I could potentially have a side effect that is problematic and DANGEROUS and what to do if it happens (call the paramedics, whatnot). I keep her casually updated as to my STATUS, but she is open to my BP dx. So it's cool. Even she went a little over the edge with "maybe you shouldn't take that med" but I kinda forgive her because we are talking potentially fatal interactions.

Still, the only person allowed to TELL me what to do with my meds is pdoc, and even then, it's going to be with my fucking consent, damnit.

Anna

[gizmo]

The last time I looked, a phlebotomist only had to have an 8 month training class to gain certification. Maybe those people who were paid $11.00 an hour in the lab coats need to be reminded that no pharmacology was taught during these courses. And to STFU.

I personally no longer have no problem telling people my meds (in a medical situation) that I have bipolar (in a medical situation) and that I discuss all medications and med changes with my pdoc and no one else. But it took years to get to that point.

[BIMBO]

When you said she patted you on the head, my jaw dropped. How condescending can you get?

I have a family member who is a psych nurse. She actually knows very little about the variety of psych meds out there, I'm much more (self) educated about them than her but she thinks she knows everything. She's always trying to get me to take what she thinks I need. She is not a doctor and her patients have very different flavours of crazy to me. I've also had various other people in medical professions question my meds. I have no problem in being rude to them as they are crossing the line. And I agree that you should make a complaint.

[DamselODistress]

I didn't mind so much her asking what I was on, especially after I'd told her I was feeling dizzy already, it was the telling me I don't need them that got to me. I know what I was like off-meds. No thanks! And patting me on the head...I nearly bit her, since she was inclined to treat me like a puppy. I would have punched her when she was done, if I hadn't been so dizzy, for tracing one of my SI scars near my elbow and saying she liked it. MY heart scar, dammit.

A lot of my female relatives are various flavors of nurses, and only three of them know my situation. One, because she went to visit my mom at work the day after she dropped me off at the hospital for my first inpatient stay, and mom was red-eyed and teary from the situation. The second, because my idiot grandmother told her son(the woman's husband), and he told her. The last, because she's married to my other uncle and they've got four kids and I discreetly let her know that I was getting treatment just in case any of her kids started showing signs of depression, since they always ask if there's family history.

Of the three of them, only the last hopes that my treatment helps, and offered to help me find another doctor if ever I felt the need to switch. She works in a hospital, it would be easy info for her to find. The second....bought me a damned dvd of some religious nut about how if I only pray hard enough, I'll find the strength to overcome this demon inside me. I sent her a thank you note, then gave it to a friend who uses such things for coasters. I was insulted by that one, because she knows I'm not religious. And the one who visited my mom doesn't quite understand, worries because she knows about how a lot of these meds have some pretty strong side effects, doesn't think I really have a problem, but sent me a card hoping I 'feel better soon.'

I know a lot of my friends don't understand and most of them have written me off, but it really does seem that the people involved in any kind of healthcare profession are the most vocal about how we 'should' be treating our MI.

[Cattitude]

When pissed off by armchair pdocs, especially in a clinic of some sort, I tend to glance around at the walls and sweetly comment that I don't see any diplomas marked "MD" here. That's usually effective for shutting their pieholes.

When it comes to family and friends, sorry but I can't advise you. My family pretends my MI doesn't exist, and I don't have any friends. But, I do sympathize with your situation anyway.

[BIMBO]

Nearly bit her ... I have a mental picture of that now, would have been hilarious.