Trying to cope

[Lydia2600]

Hi everyone,

I feel rather nervous about posting here but after reading through the forum a little more, I thought I would share my experiences with you.

At the current time I am trying to win a DLA appeal and fighting with my doctor and what feels like the whole NHS to get a proper diagnosis and treatment.

I have suffered from severe panic attacks, agoraphobia, social phobia and periods of self harm since I was 11 years old and I am now 27.

The local NHS has just told me because I am unable to travel across a busy city centre to meet total strangers for treatment, that they cannot help me. I have just stopped taking Cipralex after 6 months because the side effects were crippling me and it really wasn’t helping.

Luckily I have a wonderful partner who is trying his best to help me through everything.

I guess I am posting here today to find some friends who know what I’m going through. Plus I am desperately in need of some advice as to how to make the NHS give the treatment I so greatly require? It feels like the only way my doctors and psychologists will take me seriously is by badly hurting myself. I have spoken to the local Primary Care Trust and they just won’t budge from their rules.

Hope someone has some advice for me?

Thanks in advance!

Lydia...

[bluebottle]

Find a advocate from a mental health charity to speak up on your behalf and who will go with you to any meetings you have to go to.

I use LAMP in Leicester and they are very good, but busy.

--
Blue -
"Your truth is better for you than someone else's. Just get to know what it is, so you can finally own it, and speak it."

[Lydia2600]

<b id="quote">quote:</b id="quote"><table border="0" id="quote"><tr id="quote"><td class="quote" id="quote"><center> Have you asked if there are any local therapists that will come to your house? It might make you feel safer in your own house. </center>

<div align="right">Originally posted by Hiddy - 25 August 2006 : 16:10:12</div id="right">
</td id="quote"></tr id="quote"></table id="quote">

Thanks for replying!

This all started by me seeing a local psychologist, I could walk with my partner there, but the centre was still a really oppressive place for me to be. They said they would arrange for someone to visit my house every week and put me on a waiting list for a proper psychiatrist.

All that turned out to be lies, I got sent a letter two weeks later saying they couldn’t help me and referring me back to my GP. You can imagine how angry and upset I was about this, so we complained to both the psychologist and my GP for referring me there in the first place. That’s when the PCT got involved and basically told me that it was too expensive to treat my problems and that I just had to cope by myself.

Lydia...

[Lydia2600]

<b id="quote">quote:</b id="quote"><table border="0" id="quote"><tr id="quote"><td class="quote" id="quote">Find a advocate from a mental health charity to speak up on your behalf and who will go with you to any meetings you have to go to.

I use LAMP in Leicester and they are very good, but busy.

<div align="right">Originally posted by bluebottle - 25 August 2006 : 16:31:22</div id="right">
</td id="quote"></tr id="quote"></table id="quote">

Rethink and the CAB have helped me in the past with benefit appeals. Rethink tried very hard to get me a solicitor, but the only local one that deals with mental health cases is always too busy and never answers the phone.

I think I’ll have to go and talk to the CAB again, but I just hate having to sit in there offices for hours on end surrounded by strangers.

Lydia...

[polly daydream]

Hi Lydia and welcome to the forum. You will make plenty of friends on here who know exactly what you are going through, me included.

Take care,

Polly

[scoobygirl2005]

Hi.

Welcome to the forum. You will find lots of help and support here and make some new friends too!

Scooby2005
x x

[Lydia2600]

<b id="quote">quote:</b id="quote"><table border="0" id="quote"><tr id="quote"><td class="quote" id="quote">What did your GP say when you complained? Is there another doctor at your clinic that you can speak too? maybe a different doctor might be more understanding and willing to find you the right treatment.

<div align="right">Originally posted by Hiddy - 25 August 2006 : 17:00:39</div id="right">
</td id="quote"></tr id="quote"></table id="quote">

So far my GP hasn’t said anything; I’m going to make another appointment and try to get him to do something. I have already changed doctors once in the past year as my old one used to shout at me and was about as understanding as a brick.

This new one is nice enough just completely useless. Every time I complained about side effects (from the Cipralex), he would just read off the leaflet and tell me they were normal.

I don’t know what to do next regarding GP’s, I’m not sure I can cope with explaining all my issues to yet another doctor, but I guess it might have to be done?

Lydia...

[net]

hi lydia
i had a friend with exactly the same trouble with the nhs she had to appeal 6 times and when she finally got help she was told they make you go through all that to test whether you really need the help. when i was really bad with agoraphobia i phoned the cab and explained my problems and they arranged for someone to come to my house.

netty

the dreams of the future are better than the history of the past

[fisher]

hi lydia my names joanne i have been a member for 2 weeks i suffer from anxiety, i have just read your story and i am appalled with the way you have been treated, i work in a hospital on a respiratory ward and whats so funny is i have got a health anxiety, it is mainly with myself, i am with no panic aswell which are very good i am in a telephone recovery group at the moment with them what would be good for you maybe, have a look at their website which is www.nopanic.org.uk and there telephone number is 0808 808 0545, i hope you get some joy, if you ever want to talk my email is buttonsj@3mail.com x

[nomorepanic]

Hi Lydia

Welcome aboard and lovely to see you here.

Hope we can be of some help.

Nicola