Doctors not helping....any advice appreciated

[lostsoul]

Hi all

I've suffered from gad for just over a year now and i was referred to a phychiatrist by my GP last year. As i am also dependent on a diazepam.

Problem is I do not think that my doctor and social worker are helping me at all - don't want to sound big headed or anything but I've been to university and run my own business. I was also a manager in a bank before I became ill and they sacked me. And I find both of these people to be the most condecending and patronising people I've ever met.

Over the pas few weeks my anxiety has been getting worse and worse I was able to get out the door and do some volunteer work. The the doctor decided that we must reduced my diazepam and since then y anxiety has been through the roof. I feel so dizzy and week legged all the time even when indoors. And I now feel virtually housebound and going backwards.

I asked my docs to put me on a medication called buspirone which he agreed to over the phone but I had to come in and see him before he would prescribe me- anyway long story short went through the ordeal of seeing him and he said he couldnt start me on the new medication untill I was completely off of the diazepam as there is a dangerous intercation between the two and its more than his jobs worth. Now i've done my homework on this one and my partners mum is a consulant doctors secretary and she asked him and he confirmed there is no reaction. My doctor then proceeded to offer me effexor. (which has quite a bad side effect profile and is listed as interacting with the Mirtazapine that I currently take. He said that if I could withdraw from the 8 mg diazepam that I currently take withing two weeks he could put me on the new med.

All this is making me worse and I'm loosing everthing that I've worked so hard for. Is there anyway I can request a second opinion or go back to my normall GP for their opion? as I really feel that these people are not helping me at all. There only concern is to take away the diazepam to make their figures look good they've offered me no other help whatsoever and they are making me worse. The best advice thhey could both give me was I need to learn to manage my anxiety better without drugs - if I could do that life would be dandy but I've been trying for the past year and I'm just getting worse and worse and they just dont seem to care.

Sorry for the long post basically all I'm wondering is can my normall GP overide their opinion (they write to her with a summary of each visit that I have with them)

I wish I had never been referredcin the first place !!!!

[Nechtan]

A good GP is hard to find. I went through a few before I found one who I thought was actually listening to me and in some way understood. So yes you can get a different opinion. As general practitioners you will find some have more understanding that others so just try someone else who may be of better help.

I've never been medicated so can't offer advice on your meds. I can though understand a GP's unwillingness to medicate or change medication. My own personal view is that this should be done by someone with a better understanding. Maybe it would be more beneficial if you asked your GP to be referred to community mental health. I'm not saying they are the solution but that is their field and they are usually better equipped to deal with anxiety problems.

All the best

Nechtan

[Katie27jt]

I know this feeling!
Without sounding big headed myself Im an intelligent well educated graduate and Ive been living with depression and panic attacks since I was 8.
I find that every social worker Ive had (there have been several as I tend to lose patience and tell them to P*ss off) has been very patronising, possibly because of my age, possibly because they think they sound sympathetic.
Ive also found that alot of Community practice nurses and the socail workers attached to them are like this as well, not because they are necessarily idiots but because this is how've they've been trained!
After 15 years of dealing with these people I have finaly found some one who is able to talk to me as a person not as a patient!
Its a case of trial and error and as Nechtan says your local CMH team are probably your best bet!
Good luck
x

[lostsoul]

thank you both for your replies unfortunately I'm already under the care of the community mental health team and there the ones I'm having problems with!!! it just doesn't seem like they care at all.

[finny12000]

Hi dave
i only deal with my own gp once everything was sorted out
and in dealings with them all before i found two many chiefs and not enough
indians ,go back to your own gp and tell him your concerns and what your feel would be better for you,thats what i do with my doc and i went last month and suggested i up my dosage and he agreed as he knows i know my own body and anxiety levels ,go talk to him see what he says

[Pudding]

Hi Dave

I have just read your post and my blood boils when I hear how unsympathetic some doctors are. I had to withdraw from Diazepam and I had been on it for over 20years. It is hell on earth for a while but once you're through it it's worth all the pain. It takes about a month for every year you have been on it to withdraw and even then it's not without symptoms, I did not know this at the time and I cold turkeyed off it and thought I was going insane. It increases the anxiety symptoms and causes all sorts of other weird things so I am amazed the doctor said come off it in a fortnight, DON'T THEY READ THEY EVIDENCE!! Take it really slowly Dave, I'm guessing you take it in 2mg doses if you're on 8mg a day so cut each dose by about an 1/8th and keep to this for at least one month or until you have no withdrawal, then reduce a bit more. It seems to take forever but I'm willing to bet you will probably have no anxiety or very little once you are off it. If you take it long term it eventually causes the symptoms it was supposed to originally relieve. I wish you lots of luck and hope it doesn't take too long for you but take it slowly.

Love Fran

[Katie27jt]

Hi Dave
So Sorry to hear that the its the CMT that have let you down, unfortunatly with the NHS its a bit of a postcode lottery. You either get good or bad teams I think! Is going private an option for you?
http://www.cygnethealth.co.uk/
Just outside London and amazing facitlites and lovely helpfull caring staff who actualy seem to understand!
Good luck
x

[lostsoul]

Fran

Thanks for your reply unfortunately Im having the reduction enforced upon me 1mg every two weeks I keep telling them its too fast but they're not listening its so frustrating. Unfortunately going private is'nt an option for me either so I'm stuck with the good old NHS I'm afraid!!

[Katie27jt]

Try good old google, there may be a charitable organisation in your area that might help!
Also the Cygnet hospitals do some NHS work in some areas!
Good luck
Hope it gets better
x