calling dr. love

[hiddenmuse]

While I think that my internist is a good person, I've come to the realization that perhaps I should have a psychiatrist to handle my antidepressants, since that can be a rather tricky matter in and of itself.

Sure, an internist can intially prescribe them - even help me out by giving me an additional script in between visits, or increasing the dosage between doctors - but, when it comes to the "3000 Mile Oil Change", as I call the medication maintenance visits, I've found that it's easier to have a psychiatrist do that for me.

This involves looking for a doctor. After going through the lists of providers on my insurance company's website, it's making the calls. In the past, I would call the doctor and end up speaking with his or her secretary/receptionist. This time, I call the doctor, and end up speaking with the doctor personally. It feels kind of weird, really. But, it's what has to be done.

I'm still making calls - one doctor is mainly child/adolescent psych, another was going out of town - but said that I could call her if I didn't find a doctor in a couple of weeks, left a voice mail for one, and another - I was unable to leave a message.

So, I have a few more doctors to try and call. I just think it would be helpful for me to find a doctor to discuss the antidepressants - how they're working, my concerns, if anything can be done about PMS making me feel seriously horrible ... no matter how good I feel any other time of the month.

Comments

[livinginoctober.livejournal.com]

Anti depressants can be SO tricky, and you can end up in a lot of trouble if you are taking the wrong thing. I was misdiagnosed and ended up on the wrong meds and just got way worse until I stopped taking them.

[mace-acme.livejournal.com]

I'm playing catch up right now.

How goes this issue? Did you find someone? Have you ever went without the Lexapro for any period of time, and if so, were there any issues physically? I ask because I had run out, and was trying to get my new insurance info to my Dr. ... well, I took more time than I should have, and started having a minor reaction that made me worry a bit. Nothing huge, but enough to make me notice.

Anything for you?

[hiddenmuse.livejournal.com]

With the Lexapro, I didn't really notice physical reactions so much as emotional/mental reactions - from being off medication for more than a week. My mood seemed to crash pretty quickly, though - so I think I was more focused on the emotional/mental effects from going off.

If it were an instance of missing a dose because I was rushing about doing 300 other things and it slipped my mind, then one day isn't usually enough to cause any noticeable side effects. Several days would be when I'm really starting to notice the difference.


As for a doctor, I haven't found one yet - but I think this week, I will have more time to be able to work on calling doctors. In the meantime, I still have a few more refills on my existing prescription, and several weeks of samples left over. But, the next time I go in, I will get more samples, to at least keep me medicated!

Hopefully things are going well, and getting better, for you. I'm thinking of you - and hoping that life is treating you well! :-)