Best and Worst Pdoc? - Bipolar Disorder Message Board

dreams in neon · 03-02-2009, 03:12 AM

Hi everyone,

I'm curious to know who your best and worst pdocs were. What did you like about them? What did you hate?

My worst pdoc was the one I recently switched from. He never listened to me and whenever I told him I was rapid cycling or manic, all he did was tell me to come back to his office in 3 months. The scenario always went like this:

Pdoc: "How are you feeling?"
dreams: "I've been rapid cycling and manic."
Pdoc: "Here are your prescriptions. Come back in 3 months."

My best pdoc is the one I'm currently working with. He listens to me, addresses my symptoms immediately and lets me participate fully in my treatment. He allows me to dictate what kind of med changes I'd like to have provided that it's reasonable. He also has a wonderful sense of humor and is very patient. He's a true gem.

katlin09 · 03-02-2009, 03:34 AM

My best pdoc and tdoc are my current ones:

My pdoc is very compassionate but also doesn't let me get away with anything. He also tell's it like it is, no sugar coating, which I like, because that's how I am. His methodoly is patient involved and includes, vitamins, herbals, CBT, and hollistic therapie's He treats the whole person, not just the BP dx. He also expects the patient to be involved in meds. and med changes, what you want to try, etc. When you go in for an appt. he doesn't just sit there and stare at you until you say something, man I hate that.

My last pdoc was the worst. He would just sit there and stare at you until you said something, incredibly uncomfortable. Never really seemed to be listening to me. Never let me be and active participant in med choices. Tried to change my dx from BP to GAD.

My tdoc is great she genuinly cares about her patients. She's always available by phone no matter what time of day or night. I've had to call her several times in the evening to try and stop a cutting spree and she'll sit and talk to you on the phone for however long it takes to deal with whatever issue you called to deal with. She tries different approaches such as DBT excercises, mindfulness management, etc., her practice philosophy goes hand in hand with my pdoc, as he referred me to her. She and my pdoc talk every 2 weeks to review my case, see what's going on, whether suicide ideations are worse, better, etc. She herself deals with Chronic Pain in her own life, so she has that connection with me also, and that makes it a whole lot easier. And although she's pretty much forcing me to go to the DBT Group, I've come to realize that it's for my own good. If I have any chance to stop the SH/SI this is it, and it will also help with the suicidal ideations/thoughts. On the weekends when Nick is at his dads, she calls and checks on me, to make sure I"m doing okay. And I never gave her that schedule, she'd kept up with it on her own. She's just very dedicated to helping people regain their lives and well being.

Worst tdoc was last one. It was like paying someone to be my Buddy. She spent more time talking about herself then she did me. One of my suicide attempts was while in her care and all she did was say, well you shouldn't have done that. And when I started with my current pdoc and told him what tdoc I'd been seeing and why I didn't like her, he was like, "yeah that's what we hear about her in our professional circles." The only good thing about her was that she was in network for my insurance at the time and it only cost me $25 per visit.

Kat

dreams in neon · 03-02-2009, 03:54 AM

Kat,

It's funny you should mention discussing one of your tdocs with your pdoc because that's exactly what I did with my new pdoc. I happened to mention my old pdoc and how I never felt comfortable asking questions, how he never explained what mania was to me or what I should do in the event of an emergency. My pdoc knew who he was and said, "Yes. He tends to be a very efficient pdoc which probably explains why you didn't feel comfortable asking him questions. It's no wonder."

As far as tdocs are concerned, I think the best I've ever worked with is the one I'm seeing now. Although there have been a few times where we've been short with each other (when I was manic), for the most part, we get along extremely well. He's very knowledgeable about BP and seems to know when I'm struggling. He also adjusts to my deafness and takes note of when my difficulty hearing is more pronounced. He's very in tune to how I'm feeling and can recognize my mania instantly way before I can. I owe him so much because if it weren't for him, I'd still be living in the land of confusion when it comes to BP. He has educated me so much about this disorder. I've also been doing my fair share of research ever since my diagnosis 3 years ago, but my tdoc always has something interesting to share about new med combos, treatments, psychotherapy, etc. All in all, it has been a real joy working with him.

As for my worst tdoc, I really can't think of one. I've been lucky that all of the tdocs I've worked with have been compassionate and willing to do everything they can to help me with whatever I'm dealing with.

Back to my current tdoc: I now understand what atypical bipolar I is. At first I was confused because I thought atypical bipolar was the same as bipolar NOS, but he explained the differences and told me that atypical bipolar I is considered its own category just like BPI and BPII.

xblondeangel650 · 03-02-2009, 08:09 AM

I love the post heh I actrually love my Pdoc,but she is very expensive and doesn't accept any insurance.She's the best in my state and is on call for her patients 24/7,it's awsome.As for Therapy,I already went through two in the past year 1/2,that's realy frustating.I need counseling most of all because I have alot of issues with handling stress with expelling the right emotions from the Boarderline PD.I tried a female Therapist and then a male,didn' get me anywhere,prob because they didn't know to much about the mental disorder.It cost alot of money as it is for my Pdoc,I don't have insurance either.I tried applying for short term disability,so I hope that works out for me.

Bunnylover · 03-02-2009, 09:21 AM

Best: My current Pdoc--very patient, encourages me to do my own research on medications and take my time making decisions, is litterally available 24/7 if I need him, extremely careful and through.

Worst: Previous Pdoc who prescribed drugs that can, and did, cause a dangerous interaction, refused to move up my appointment when I did my homework and figured out what was going on, and then when I did meet with her didn't know what to do and denied that she'd caused the problem. She prompted me to find now very good pdoc.