Author Topic: Doctor gets on my nerves. Anyone else have this. (Read 5697 times)

indyguy · « **on:** July 10, 2007, 12:34:41 pm »

I went to my doctor yesterday for my second check up and blood work. He started me on Atripla after my first visit and blood work. 384/17000. Yesterday after telling him I had not stopped smoking after taking Chantix for a month and quitting he suggested I go to a mental health doctor. I told him NO that it was my fault that I stopped the Chantix and did not need to lie on a couch with someone asking me how I feel. A stressful job, high gas prices, dealing with the newness of HIV, high co-pays were enough to cause stress in anyones life. I work in mental health for a living and am smart enough to know if I were to need help. Anyone else have a doctor that wants to send them to a mental health doctor because of normal everyday stress? I am wondering if maybe he is the one who needs the doctor.

redhotmuslbear · « **Reply #1 on:** July 10, 2007, 12:57:28 pm »

Quote from: indyguy on July 10, 2007, 12:34:41 pm

I work in mental health for a living and am smart enough to know if I were to need help. Anyone else have a doctor that wants to send them to a mental health doctor because of normal everyday stress? I am wondering if maybe he is the one who needs the doctor.

I'm going to dispense with the mushy, fluffy words.

An HIV diagnosis is one of the most unsettling pieces of health news one can receive, and everyone who gets the news needs to process the news internally and externally in order to move forward. At this point in time, while also dealing with a nicotene addiction, you lack the objectivity needed to rule out whether an ongoing relationship with a mental health provider is in line, but that doesn't mean you don't need one, regardless of what your profession may be.

Choosing slow death by nicotene and tar over Chantix sure doesn't sound like a right frame of mind to me. Go see a therapist!

woodshere · « **Reply #2 on:** July 10, 2007, 01:10:14 pm »

I think it depends on the relationship you have with your dr. Mine is great and if he suggested I see someone else, it would be because of the discussions we have had and his suggestion would be taken in the sense it was given out of concern for me. Of course each of my appt's last about an hour with him. If I was in and out of his office in 5 mins, I would have my reservations about much of what he said.

GSOgymrat · « **Reply #3 on:** July 10, 2007, 01:12:15 pm »

I don't know how long you have been HIV+ but if you are recently diagnosed it is not "normal everyday stress". If you work in mental health then you know the value of an objective opinion. If my PCP, with whom I have a good relationship, told me I should talk to someone I would make an appointment.

indyguy · « **Reply #4 on:** July 10, 2007, 01:23:20 pm »

Thanks all. Since finding out I have come out to my family, co workers and friends and have great support. Yes I quit the chantix the first time because I wasnt ready to quit. I start it again tomorrow and think I will have better luck with quitting. Finding out in November that I was HIV, feeling alone and starting medications along with answering all of the questions from the health department was just to much to quit a bad habit. I am not a big drinker and use no drugs so I made the choice to stop that Chantix.

blondbeauty · « **Reply #5 on:** July 10, 2007, 01:40:41 pm »

Yes...because he always makes me wait one hour or more...

indyguy · « **Reply #6 on:** July 10, 2007, 01:52:53 pm »

LOL My doctor is pretty good about getting me in. I think since he doesnt really know me very well yet that he really did have my best interest in mind. I did speak with a doctor here where I work for about an hour and he said that my not stopping right off the bat did not mean that I needed a doctor to talk to. He said chances are I would have failed until the newness of HIV and changes in daily life has time to settle in. I do believe I can handle giving up smoking. I have been smoking for 20 years and know that I use it as a crutch when I have a bad day or am just stressed out. It will just be a lifestyle change for me just like HIV has been.

David_CA · « **Reply #7 on:** July 10, 2007, 01:59:15 pm »

Maybe stop thinking of seeing the therapist for quitting smoking. Instead, think of it as helping you deal with all the other crap. Then, perhaps, you won't have the same problems with attempting to quit. The fact that you consciously stopped taking the Chantix makes me think that either you're not ready to quit smoking / using it as a 'crutch' or that you really don't want to quit. I know several people that I don't think would quit smoking if it were easy, which it obviously isn't for most people. My opinion, as one who attempted quitting several times before lighting my last cigarette in 1990 is this: don't even attempt to quit unless you're serious about it. You'll make yourself more stressed about failing, if you do fail. I also feel that the more times people fail at something, the less likely they are to think they'll actually succeed. About gas... prices might be high, but unless you're getting really low m.p.g.'s and drive lots of miles, it's not that bad. I bet the savings from not smoking would offset the gas price increases and have some $$ left over!

Seriously, like redhotmuslbear says, learning one's HIV+ is unsettling, to say the least. Waiting a few weeks / months to deal with one issue at a time might be a good option for you. Although I wouldn't rush quitting, I sure as hell would plan on quitting (not trying to quit) sometime in the near future. I remember how much better I felt after quitting cold turkey, but it took a week or so for me to start feeling energetic again.

One last thing, about "Anyone else have a doctor that wants to send them to a mental health doctor because of normal everyday stress?" An HIV diagnosis is NOT a normal, everyday stress. If it were me, I'd try to relax, take a deep breath, and make an appointment to see somebody. It might just help. Good luck with it all.

David

indyguy · « **Reply #8 on:** July 10, 2007, 02:24:42 pm »

David: Thanks for the advise and if I feel the need to see someone I will. I take one challenge at a time and do not try to overload myself. You are right I do not want to quit and told my doctor so but I also understand that with HIV now being part of my life that quitting will help me stay more healthy. I have been a party boy in the past and have settled down even before the HIV. This is just one more thing I have to overcome. I have great support from family and friends some of who are also poz and rely more on those who love me then a doctor that I will likely not trust. My mother who is now no longer with us dealt with mental doctors her entire life and got nothing from it except high bills and heartache. I am not putting myself in that position. I started working in mental health because of the experience's that I saw my mother go through. I also hear how doctors speak about patients when talking amongst themselves. Just the way I fell personally.

RapidRod · « **Reply #9 on:** July 10, 2007, 03:02:37 pm »

indyguy, the word from my ID doctor was. "You have more bigger problems to deal with than smoking." If we see an issue we will discuss. Now this is when I was thinking of quiting. So no I haven't quit smoking and no she doesn't ask about it either.

Robert · « **Reply #10 on:** July 10, 2007, 04:58:06 pm »

I'm with Rod on this one. See a mental health Dr just because you're having problems quitting smoking? I don't think so. Ask any of us who have smoked and stopped. It's not easy and mental health has nothing to do with it.

Listen to David. Quit when your ready. Not when anyone else, especially your Dr, tells you otherwise. That way you won't set yourself up for failure and feel like a jerk when you grab for that next smoke.

robert

red_Dragon888 · « **Reply #11 on:** July 10, 2007, 08:07:19 pm »

Quote from: indyguy on July 10, 2007, 12:34:41 pm

I went to my doctor yesterday for my second check up and blood work. He started me on Atripla after my first visit and blood work. 384/17000. Yesterday after telling him I had not stopped smoking after taking Chantix for a month and quitting he suggested I go to a mental health doctor. I told him NO that it was my fault that I stopped the Chantix and did not need to lie on a couch with someone asking me how I feel. A stressful job, high gas prices, dealing with the newness of HIV, high co-pays were enough to cause stress in anyones life. I work in mental health for a living and am smart enough to know if I were to need help. Anyone else have a doctor that wants to send them to a mental health doctor because of normal everyday stress? I am wondering if maybe he is the one who needs the doctor.

"the lady protest too much." iow you may need someone to talk to and relieve the stress before it is too late.

Queen Tokelove · « **Reply #12 on:** July 10, 2007, 08:34:37 pm »

Quote from: blondbeauty on July 10, 2007, 01:40:41 pm

Yes...because he always makes me wait one hour or more...

My doctor does this too...It really irritates me every time because if I am late, they want to reschedule. I even came in early last appointment and still ended up waiting. But by the end of the appointment I am satisfied and every appointment ends with a hug. He hasn't missed giving me one yet and I have been going to him for years...

indyguy · « **Reply #13 on:** July 10, 2007, 11:58:03 pm »

Thanks all this just really pissed me off. I am feeling allot better now.

Coffeechick88 · « **Reply #14 on:** July 11, 2007, 07:22:41 pm »

As someone else posted, it depends on the relationship you have with your doctor. The second doctor I had in the first appointment asked me if I thought I was suffering from depression and wanted to give me a prescription for Paxil. This was in the first few minutes. I hadn't given any indication of depression, we didn't have a relationship as he had just met with me for the first time, and the only thing I mentioned was trouble sleeping. Had he went further, he would have found out that I had just started night shift and wasn't used to it yet. I didn't last long with that doctor. He was kind of a kook and it seemed he always wanted to medicate me for something. Now, the doctor I see now I would trust him if he suggested I might need to look into a mental health professional. I have been seeing him a while and we have a good rapport and he always looks for my best interest. I even ran into him on the way to a different doctor and he remembered all my details and my name--a guy I only see every three months. So I trust his judgement.

RapidRod · « **Reply #15 on:** July 11, 2007, 09:00:01 pm »

Coffeechick, it wasn't my ID doc that put me on Lexapro, it was her boss that did. Same one that said he wasn't going to prick around and that I've dealt with histo way to long and nothing was working and started me on IVs that day at home. He said I wasn't an animal for someone to put on hold until they came back from vacation. He decided that I had been through enough, I didn't even ask for anything, but it did help me cope a lot better. I really thought that maybe he should take the Lexapro, because he was so pissed. I know after his visit with her when she returned, that everything is more proactive. Hell I had no idea I wasn't even getting the proper care. He now reviews my charts every three month also to follow up on my treatment plan.

rkeat25 · « **Reply #16 on:** July 11, 2007, 10:03:49 pm »

I know exactly what you mean about the Chantix and the quitting smoking. My primary care doc recently prescribed me the Chantix. I used it for a month and it was mildly successful at helping me curb my cravings for cigarettes. I didn't want to quit smoking - still really don't - I enjoy it and while I know it's not healthy sometimes we all have to have our vice.

When I went to see her the other day and told her this she nearly fell out of her chair. I just so happened to be there while the pharma reps were in the office before my visit and heard them really pushing this Chantix (who wouldn't at 130/month cash - most insurance doesn't cover it so it's not at the discounted rate that insurance companies get). My doctor just couldn't believe that this magic pill didn't work. With her never having been a smoker and the way that these drug reps were talking this product up I couldn't blame her for thinking that there must be something wrong with me. I was honest - I told her that I enjoy smoking cigarettes, have reconciled whatever ill effects they may cause with the enjoyment I get from them, and am able to live with that for right now.

Now my ID doc - she's great. Well, in some areas she's great. She doesn't hound me about the smoking or any of my other indiscretions that she's had to treat over the last few months. My only complaint with her is that she doesn't really do an exam or anything during my visits. She just looks over the lab values from the work up that I get done about 10 days before my scheduled visit - tells me that everything's fine and writes some more scripts for anti depressants and anti anxiety medications. I feel like I have to make a follow up visit with my primary care doc to get an actual examination.

~ronnie

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Author Topic: Doctor gets on my nerves. Anyone else have this. (Read 5697 times)