amaryllis_celladine
29-08-13, 18:30
Hey everyone.
So, I saw my first psychiatrist in years on Monday. After half an hour or so of asking about my symptoms and my treatment history, he decided to get me to change my medications.
I'm on 20mg of Lovan. For over ten years now it has worked fine. It was only last September, when my cat got ill, my nephew got ill (mentally) and my aunt's condition (cancer) started to deteriorate and I was expecting the phone call to tell us she was in a bad way was to come at any moment, that I started to worry excessively.
He has prescribed me escitalopram. I have looked online and I've noticed that its efficacy is not an open and shut case.
I'd be willing to try a new drug if I didn't feel so fragile right now (my cat isn't well and my boyfriend is having a depressive dip so he's going through a thing and when this happens I'm always worried about our relationship) and what he is suggesting seems highly reckless to me.
He wants me to stop the Lovan, cold turkey, and switch over to the escitalopram, and to start on a low dose but increase it over two weeks. He wants me to try it out.
Now, the last time I tried something new, I went absolutely mental. I was fine for a week and then I was shaking, my libido was dead, it was HELL. That was the mirtazapine.
I was kind of angry, because - hello. He's seen me barely an hour and he wants me to switch? From what I've read, escitalopram is supposed to be a last resort drug, like the mirtazapine. No intense CBT therapy? No BAC therapy? I *am* responding really well to the CBT, I just need a programme that will help me absorb the new cognitions. I need help reprogramming my danged problematic thought processes. I know the CBT will help me immensely in the long run, and will help me change the mental thought patterns that are causing my anxiety in the first place.
The other thing that made me angry was that the last time my meds were changed or messed with, I ended up in the emergency room TWICE over one weekend. And he just expects me to change? Just send me on my way, no support, no help, no options if I lose my poor mind?
I'm upset, I'm losing hope in my treatment, I don't know what to do. Thankfully I have health coverage now that will cover psychiatric care. So I'm considering calling around and seeing if I can find one that specialises in CBT.
I really don't want to change my meds unless I absolutely have to. They've worked so well for so long. They have a nil side-effect profile on me. Lovan takes the edge off the depression and Endep makes it so I don't have migraines all the time.
Life is just *really* tough for me right now. Am I being foolish, not listening to this psychiatrist, or should I trust my instincts??
So, I saw my first psychiatrist in years on Monday. After half an hour or so of asking about my symptoms and my treatment history, he decided to get me to change my medications.
I'm on 20mg of Lovan. For over ten years now it has worked fine. It was only last September, when my cat got ill, my nephew got ill (mentally) and my aunt's condition (cancer) started to deteriorate and I was expecting the phone call to tell us she was in a bad way was to come at any moment, that I started to worry excessively.
He has prescribed me escitalopram. I have looked online and I've noticed that its efficacy is not an open and shut case.
I'd be willing to try a new drug if I didn't feel so fragile right now (my cat isn't well and my boyfriend is having a depressive dip so he's going through a thing and when this happens I'm always worried about our relationship) and what he is suggesting seems highly reckless to me.
He wants me to stop the Lovan, cold turkey, and switch over to the escitalopram, and to start on a low dose but increase it over two weeks. He wants me to try it out.
Now, the last time I tried something new, I went absolutely mental. I was fine for a week and then I was shaking, my libido was dead, it was HELL. That was the mirtazapine.
I was kind of angry, because - hello. He's seen me barely an hour and he wants me to switch? From what I've read, escitalopram is supposed to be a last resort drug, like the mirtazapine. No intense CBT therapy? No BAC therapy? I *am* responding really well to the CBT, I just need a programme that will help me absorb the new cognitions. I need help reprogramming my danged problematic thought processes. I know the CBT will help me immensely in the long run, and will help me change the mental thought patterns that are causing my anxiety in the first place.
The other thing that made me angry was that the last time my meds were changed or messed with, I ended up in the emergency room TWICE over one weekend. And he just expects me to change? Just send me on my way, no support, no help, no options if I lose my poor mind?
I'm upset, I'm losing hope in my treatment, I don't know what to do. Thankfully I have health coverage now that will cover psychiatric care. So I'm considering calling around and seeing if I can find one that specialises in CBT.
I really don't want to change my meds unless I absolutely have to. They've worked so well for so long. They have a nil side-effect profile on me. Lovan takes the edge off the depression and Endep makes it so I don't have migraines all the time.
Life is just *really* tough for me right now. Am I being foolish, not listening to this psychiatrist, or should I trust my instincts??