Does anyone ever get upset at the way doctors talk to you?

[emmajayne1982]

Hi I am a mother to a little boy and went today to get my 1st scan as me and my partner are expecting our 2nd baby next summer!I have been diagonised with bipolar after I had a breakdown in 2005!I am a pretty normal person and only my close family know that I have been diagnosed with this condiotion!My mother had plenty of breakdown when I was growing up and my father was an alcholoic so it was not that easy growing up!Alot of crap happened to me as a child and I think that these traumas all contributed to my bipolar surfacing!I have been really great since 2005 and I have a great partner who I really love and a beautiful son!My sister thinks they have diagonised me wrong but in some ways the medication I have been on has kept me on an even road and although my meds have been reduced I still feel that I will always be on my meds as I really dont want my son or my partner to see me loose my mind like I did in 2005!I really want my son to have a normal upbringing unlike my own!

Anyways thats just a bit of history to help you understand me a bit better!The reason I am writing on this blog is because everytime I go to see a doctor or a shrink they always ask me about my mood and today I was told by some doctor who does not know me from adam that I will probably get a few have to go see my regular doctor a few more times in this pregnany to check my moods!I just find it uncomfortable once I mention I have bipolar as I feel the doctors are looking at me in a differnet way than if I was without bipolar!Does anybody have any advice on what way I can prevent myself from getting so upset when visting doctor?

[emmajayne1982]

Thanks everyone for your supoport!I would love to say something assertive to the doctors! In my next appointment I was thinking of telling the doctor that I do not want to be seen any differently than any other pregnant woman and I know myself better than anyone else and what signs to look out for when things are going wrong! I applaude mothers who give up all their meds while pregnant in my first pregnancy I was taking serequol and depokate but stopped the depokate as its not safe in pregnancy and it was like an emotional rollercoster coming off it!But this pregnancy I am on serequol alone and I would not stop it for love nor money as I still have my young son to look after and as you all know recovering from an episode is a long hill to climb so I would rather avoid that! I think its better to stay on meds but thats my opinion and those who are brave enough to come off all are very brave people!!

Hunny67 my mum always gave me a bit of advice to put principles above personalities!What this means is that you need your meds when you are feeling low so its more important that you get your meds never mind the doctors attitude and like previous post have advised me if you feel that his attitude is really upsetting would you not be better to switch doctors?

[hunny67]

I feel intimidated by my gp as i have clinical depression and it returns when i least expect it to, so i have to go to the gp and get meds, but i find everytime i go now he looks down at me when i explain how low im feeling etc..So he puts me back on the meds for him to more or less say this will do for now..he did used to be a very caring gp,so whats happened now....

i am pleased to say that at the moment im not on any meds, but am dreading for when i do have to back on them

[paranoid_cataclysm]

Ah yeah you bring up a good point, sorry I totally blanked that point out from my thinking when writing that.  It's annoying how that happens, ignore what I posted. rofl

[Xila31]

Well some doctors talk down to people no matter what. They have a superiority complex and it is unfortunate. During my first pregnancy I told the OB/GYN that I wanted to do the Bradley Method for child birth (which is natural with no drugs.) Do you know what this woman said to me? "Oh no, the Bradley Method is for farm animals, and you're not a farm animal, are you?"

Well guess what? That was my last appointment with her. I changed to a whole different clinic and they were very respectful and a wonderful place to have my son. So, if you think this doctor is prejudice against people with mental illness, then I say get a new doctor. The best way to protest to such behavior is to take your business elsewhere.

[ILADVOCATE]

That's complex because a doctor needs to know the full regimen of medications a person is taking and why to look for potential side effects and interactions if they prescribe another medication and sometimes need to test for the side effects of the psych. medications themselves. For example, my physical doctor had to do an EEG before I was cleared to take Geodon, liver function tests for multiple medications and when I was on Clozaril when I had high fever and a severe sore throat had to run a blood test for blood dyscreias which are loss of white blood cells (as it turned out it was a strep throat but there were certain antibiotics they couldn't prescribe because they interacted with Clozaril). Often a person sees a variety of doctors and a psychiatrist seperately and they have to know what the other doctors and psychiatrist are prescribing for a person's safety. You don't of course have to discuss your psychiatric disability with your medical doctor nor is it relevant anyway.

[paranoid_cataclysm]

Yeah this can be a problem with doctors, maybe you should hide it from them that you have bipolar disorder or even tell them you were misdiagnosed and don't really have it if they don't talk to your psychiatrist.  As for my head care people they tell me it's nice for once to have a client who knows about what they know.

[ILADVOCATE]

I see your point. I used to have that problem but even before my current recovery I educated myself about what was going on and learned about my psychiatric disability. I read some standard medical books and as happens had taken an abnormal psychiatry class and as part of the course materials we had to read the DSM-4. I read about schizoaffective disorder (which is what I have) and learned more about what was going on. At no point should a person self diagnose but consumer awareness is essential. I continued to update myself after that and once the atypical antipsychotics came out and my response rate improved as did my self awareness I was asked to do a presentation on that and I did. I also disclosed where it was appropriate. My current recovery, being that its a compound still in Phase II FDA study may not be one other people reach but my self education started long before then and once I approached my psychiatrist with some knowledge of what was going on and asked questions about how the medications helped and exactly what they were treating I got a better response.

[therese83]

Actually more.  If my father goes to the Doctor with anything, they whisper "schizophrenia" to each other.  Even though it might be an ingrowing toenail. LOL

If he objects to anything people assume he is having some kind of episode?  "Now calm down Mr. J"  Even though he is not aggressive and is often in the right, he is very intelligent and they assume his is thick as a plank.

He also slurs his words because of medication and people accuse him of being drunk.

I would help a person like this more rather than have this attitude towards them.

[therese83]

I think you are great !  You re doing so well and living a good life and it is positive to see this.

I have noticed what you say about this predjudice and that is what it is.  My father had schizophrenia and we lived in a small village, i have lived my whole life with this prejudice and he was a better father in some ways than all my friends fathers ?  

I also had the same problem with a Pharmacist who was filling my prescription.  The way she spoke to me because they were anti depressants, she implied i might overdose?  Even though i had my well cared for children with me and i was on the way home from work, very happy and looking good/fit and healthy, In my work i have more responsibility than she will ever have ! (sorry it makes my blood boil !)

They have no right to speak to you like this.  I would call them on it I would say "It is OK , It is not contagious" LOL or something funny/smart like that.  

Or i would take them on directly in a calm way and say "You seem to be prejudiced against me because of my health problems".  Or " Are you asking all the expectant mothers these questions".

[25andhurt]

hey hun ive just been diagnosed with bp1 and started with a new doc 2day witch i didnt like, and she knows obviously frm ma knotes that i have bp1 n she asked me how i feel 2day n if ive self harmed lately(wich i have) she asked me 2 show her so i did. oh she said and how does it feel when u do that? do u feel bad after? i was like i was feeling bad b4 and when i did it so am i meant to b happy after ive hurt myself even more? its dumb! sum doctors r docs just 4 d money they dnt rly give a fk about us. my usual doc is great tho. buh this new 1 i consider her as just plain rude tbh. so i no how u feel hun its like they think that we are beneath them but guess what? we are all the same in gods eyes we are all special to somone to them we mean the world. so fk what the doc thinks about u and everyone else! And think of those who love and need u, its what they think that really matters.xtcx