Hi all. I had appt last week. Doc had changed my med to Wellb XL, when he asked how it was going, I told him that I was having some pain under my right rib cage. Now he has taken me off all anti-depressants. Told me "You always seam to have a problem with meds we've tryed 8 differant types and theres always a problem with side effects" Now he wants me only on Clonazepam to help me sleep at night. The next few weeks are going to be kinda hard, the withdrawls from anti-dpressants are making me dizzy and strange feeling. He wouldnt ween me off, told me to just stop taking them.
I tryed to talk to him about a whole body well being thing, Things like controling my ph level, exersise and diet. He made me feel like crap, told me that I'm the only one who can make myself feel better by controling where and who I live with. If I could get rid of the stress in my life I wouldnt be so painfull. Stress leads to IBS to insomina to FMS. I tryed to remind him that I have been this way since I was a kid and it wasnt untill a yr or so ago that he finally said it was fms.
Im so angry at him.
At this point I'm going to take the clonazepam at night to help me sleep, it does seam to work. For the last few nights I've slept at least 8 hrs a night. So far the pain isnt any better, but I can make it though a day with out wanting to take a nap.
I mentioned going to a gym or getting into some kind of dance class and he told me "why waste your money, just walk every day"
At this point I think I will never be pain free and I better face up to it and get on with my life. I need to find something to be passionate about and get on with life. I have a hobby farm with way too many animals, but the thrill from them fades when the cold sets in. The cold seams to make he hurt more.
Sorry this is so long. Just so frustrated, dont know where to turn, too many factors to take in.

girlfriend, maybe it is time to find another doctor. there are so many to choose from why settle for less than you require. find another doc and then fire this one. you would not keep a plumber who left you with leaky fawcets, right? you pay him so that makes you the boss.
people can only make you feel crappy if you allow it. this is his issue not yours. don't take his lack of professional behavior personally. this is who he is, and who he is is not the sort of doctor you require. you need someone with more compassion and knowledge.
i have fired several doctors over the years. it feels really good. really good!! i went thru 18 doctors to find my wonderful laura, but find her i did. this would not have happened if i had settled and suffered a doctor who was ill equiped to help me help myself.
you are a good and wonderful person. your ideas are good ones. take a stand my friend. you are the only one who can represent your body.
go look in your mirror and remind yourself of who you are. i have faith in you.
peace,
bluelakelady

I had a similar incident with my psychiatrist. I dreaded going to him because if i wasn't doing well, which i usually wasn't, i didn't want to tell him because he would get angry at me. This was at onset of fms and i was severely depressed. I cried every time i went in to see him.

Finally, my husband said that he would go with me. He took off work and we went to my appointment. It so happened that i didn't show for a previous appt because of a flare and i hadn't called with in 24 hours so they told me at the window that my doctor said he would not see me until i paid the $65. (I hadn't missed any other appointments.) We didn't have any money with us. My doctor knew we had filed bankruptsy and that i had no income. Then the office manager came back to the window and said that my doctor was releasing me as his patient. I was shocked! and all of this had been said in front of the entire waiting room. It just so happened that i had all ready found another doctor and had the information with me and signed a release for him to receive my medical records right then and there.

It was a beautiful day outside and as i walked to my car, i felt so free. No more trying to please him. No more dreading my appointments and most of all no more feeling bad about myself.

My husband and i spent a lovely afternoon together.

The doctor i have now is patient and understanding. I am treated with respect and he is never short with me.

I am the head of my healthcare team. I am not a victim or a child or a hypochodriac and i am not going to let anyone treat me like that again. I hope that you won't either. Like bluelakelady said, there are lots of doctors out there so there is no reason to stay with one who treats you poorly.

Keep the faith,
Donna

Hi sweetie: You should have told your dr thanks for caring and wasting my time. You need to get rid of him. Taking you right off the anti-depressants is absurd. You should have amitriptyline and clonazepam to help with sleep. Yep cold will make it worse. Ok sweetie, find a new dr and ask before you go do they know about Fibro. Good luck, or phone a hospital they should know of someone.

Thanks, all I can say for now...brains really fuzzy

Craftlady ditto what everyone said. I went to a new rhuematologist this past week for two reasons, I was looking for a doc closer to my home and I really wanted to see how another doc would treat me. So far so good. It was amazing the whole different approach this doc took with me and my pain as opposed to the old doc. Not that the old doc did a bad job or treated me bad.

My point is like the others said sometimes it takes several tries before you find the right one to treat you as a whole person. Good luck!

Glojer

I definetly agree. Drop his sorry behind. I really wonder about some people who decide to be drs.
A friend of mine with chronic pain went to her dr. last week and she talked to him about pain med. He said he didn't like to prescribe pain, I asked her did she tell him well she didn't exactly like to hurt either.
I hate you are off anti depressants with no weaning. If I run out for a few days I feel like I'm going nuts...I mean really nuts. You might also think about reprting him to someone. Some of the anti depressants are dangerous to stop so abrutly.
My thoughts are with you.
April

Craftlady:

Sounds like one frustrated doctor to me. I would agree it is time to find a new one that can help you, not work against you, and vent his own frustrations with cruelty. Fibromyalgia is such a &#@!$ (lovely language, huh!) condition.

Blessings to you,
Kristin

I am going to find a diff doc. Just not sure how to go about it. Do I just start calling doc offices and see what they say? Do I talk to the nurse about the docs or should I talk directly to the doc. Ooooo Im so confusued.

morning girlfriend,
talk to the receptionist and ask her/him if the doctor has patients with fibromyalgia. get that phone book out. usually a rheumatoligist is the best. my doc is just a g.p. but she has 15 patients with fm so she is very proactive about educating herself for us.
there are some truly motivated doctors out there. i just bet there is one in your town too! never give up. to give up, is to give up on yourself. dig your heels in and go for it.
someone else here said once there is a site you can go to on the internet that is a doctor referral place. i seem to remember that there is a list of doctors for fm there.
even with the worst doctor i saw i took away a tid bit of information that helped me. yes i fired him. he talked too much and listened to little. when i need to tell a doc to shut up and listen we are not meant for each other.
my lovely laura listens so well. her eyes never leave me. she never interrupts me. we meet on an equal plane with the same purpose. giving me the best quality of life i can attain.
take a deep breath and dive in. i guarantee when you find the right doc you will know it was worth the journey.
peace,
bluelakelady

Craftlady call the physician referral number of the local hospitals in your area or if you have a teaching university hospital. Sometimes these numbers are even advertized on the radio. Ask for the number of a physician that treats fibromyalgia. They usually ask which insurance you have and give you several numbers and names. You can start from there, then ask the receptionist any questions you may have. Like how many patients with fibro do they treat and what protocals they use, such as only drugs or PT or biofeedback etc. Whatever you may want to know before seeing the doc. Good Luck!

Glojer