Went to a psychiatrist today...

[chemlabrat]

I've been on an 8 month battle going from doctor to doctor, specialist to specialist, and ER to ER. I'm having missed heartbeats for days at a time, dizzyness, panic attacks, etc. I've had more than the normal amount of tests done, including MRI, all the heart tests, adrenal tests, autoimmune tests, metabolic panels, all the blood work, etc and everything checks out fine. My doctors have dismissed it all to anxiety and panic disorder.

So today I decided I would break down and finally see a psychiatrist (who was also a MD) to try to get some help for anxiety. I explained the whole situation to him, and the 1 hour session I paid for up front was cut down to a 30 minute session by him. He told me I didn't have any mental issues and that my anxiety was probably stemming from what he diagnosed as chronic fatigue syndrome. He advised no prescriptions, and wanted me to take a multi-vitamin, meditate more, and drink more water, and sent me on my way.

I feel really let down because I'm not able to live a normal life. I left there and went to Target to try and do a little shopping and was only able to walk around the store for about 5 minutes before the dizzyness and head pressure made me have to leave and go lay down. Back to square one.

[Anxious_gal]

oh my god what an *******! (word whited out)
wow i am shocked he took your money! gave you nothing in return! please dont let this person stop you from getting better, try a different doctor or maybe a psychologist.
i really think he took advantage of you by charging you for a whole hour, how can he know whats wrong with you in half an hour!
I have been to some bad psychologists in doctors who just wanted to put me on meds or just told me i will always have anxiety.
hope your ok x

[LeeBee]

hi chemlab, sounds like this guy isn't the right therapist for you, but if he says he thinks you have CFS, you might want to go back to your GP about it to see what he/she thinks because CFS is becoming more widely recognised by the medical profession as a physical health problem rather than a purely mental or emotional one. Although the those things are all interlinked, obviously.
Perhaps you could read up a bit about CFS (books not google), find out more about it? That might give you an idea of therapies or lifestyle changes that might help you. Good luck, hope you're on the road to recovery soon :yesyes:

[chemlabrat]

Thanks for the advice! I'll look into CFS and see what I can find out about it.

I should have done my research on this psychiatrist before I went. An online search revealed that he got his medical degree from a university in Nigeria, and came over here to practice. He isn't board certified here in the US. He didn't even speak the language very well. I just felt like he wasn't listening or really trying to help.

[CrazyAndy]

wow. if that would have happened to me the first time i saw my guy, i would have never had the courage to go see another one. First off the 30 minutes thing? let me guess he made you fill out some paperwork, take a survey, he looked at it and said ok lets talk. Dont worry you should go to a psychologist, not a psychiatrist. i have noticed that the psychologists are more caring, and want to help more. the one i go to is 145 an hour, but he has been helping from day one, and if i need an extra 10 minutes, he will give it to me. (he better for 145 bucks) youll figure it out though, just get the courage to see another one and let him help you. good luck.

[gary_2.0]

I would have thought a less scrupulous man would have you coming back week after week and put you on a course of over-priced drugs.

It sounds more like this chap gave you the common sense option to try before possibly complicating things with drugs.

Your comments regarding Nigeria also seem less than a little reactionary and off-target, not to mention racist.

On a more personal note I do hope things have improved for you since.

[chemlabrat]

Seems like this post struck a nerve.

To be more clear, he does want to come back on a weekly basis. Why? He didn't say. He only said that I should be taking multivitams, and that he didn't believe I had a psychological problem. He thought a virus triggered chronic fatigue syndrome and that time would make it go away. But at the same time, he wanted me coming back each week to talk about my progress at $125 per half hour.

About the racist part.. I said
"An online search revealed that he got his medical degree from a university in Nigeria, and came over here to practice. He isn't board certified here in the US."

I wasn't trying to say he's a stupid Nigerian that doesn't know the bushes from a doctor's office. I was critical of how he would not pursue board certification in the country where he practices after being here and practicing psychiatry in the US for 22 years. It's more reassuring to patients to know that the degrees their doctors got while overseas are equivalent to the standards that other US educated doctors down the road from their office were held to. This is evidenced by becoming board certified once you move here and want to practice in this country.

Sorry for seeming racist..