I took my son to see his doctor yesterday and boy I just can’t beleve my experience…Doc told me to stop giving my son ativan! So I politely asked why would longterm facility give my son ativan prn as needed? He only take 1 pill 1to 2 times a week for his episodes that consist of extreme anxiety. He gave a prescription of vistral which is fine but in hospital he had a choice if it real intense he would take ativan. Mental health facility does not believe in giving out these meds because they are addicting .I had another problem when we first sat down without speaking to my son looking over meds that my son has had alot of problems with and suggested 1 or 2 and I said NO! He said why? I have taken care of him on these meds for months at a time 24/7 and they are worse episodes and the medication hes on are working better than any meds he has taken in past…OMG! I was so ready to blow a gasket !!# Has ANYBODY experience anything like this where they feel that they have to speak up and stand my ground…Why would he want to change meds when hes doing good on these meds? I understand there switching to monthly shots but they do not have it in sereqoul and im not sure in haldolperdol monthly shots…
Doctors judgment can be a pain, as was discovered in the following experiment example.
Four healthy intellectual people and four doctors were chosen. The four people, two men and two women, were told to dress as follows.
- Man , dressed in business clothes.
2) Woman , dressed in business clothes.
3) Man , dressed in casual clothes.
4) Woman , dressed in casual clothes.
Each person was given an identical script of the exact symptoms they were to inform their specific doctor about. They were told to memorize it perfectly word for word.
Persons ( 1 ) and ( 2 ) were also told to speak in a monotone voice.
Persons ( 3 ) and ( 4 ) were also told to speak in an emotional multi-tone voice.
However, I say it again, each intellectual was giving the doctor the exact same information.
The results were amazing. The responses from the four doctors were as follows.
Patient #1 ) There is nothing physically apparent. I recommend further tests to find the source of the problem.
Patient #2 ) There is nothing physically apparent. Come back again if the problem persists.
Patient #3 ) There is absolutely nothing wrong with you.
Patient #4 ) What you are madam, is a Hypochondriac.
I find it amusing to see doctors base their judgment in this crude manner, while at the same time, I see it as being a serious problem since the information that was presented to them, seemed to have such little value on the whole. " The man dressed in business clothes, speaking in mono-tone, is believed. The woman dressed in casual clothes, speaking emotionally, is seen as clearly being a HYPOCHONDRIAC ".
Doctors, and people in general, have the bad habit of this athletically jumping to immediate conclusions !
I try to remind myself they are human… But yes I sometimes get very frustrated with my son’s treatment team. It’s like talking to a wall, over and over again. I do stand my ground on voicing my opinions on his medications. I put up resistance to my son being on Ativan or any other benzo. He loves them and abuses them.
I have a document typed up of all my son’s medications that he has been tried on and follow up appointments. Maybe try putting one together stating the negatives you saw with each medication. I stopped expecting everyone to actually read my son’s file… This way it’s all there in one spot.
Sorry this pdoc pissed you off so much. Picture him in his undies stranded on the side of the road… Should be good for a giggle 
When I first saw my pdoc, I handed her a 3 to 4 page summary of my past and current symptoms and
Medications.
Make sure you stay proactive with your sons treatment - ask lots of questions and make sure you educate yourself on ALL of the Meds.
Never Ever settle for less - Good luck @pattywagon1!
First I think you have to appreciate that the study of the mind is still inconclusive.
Like Barbie said docs are human and they give therapy on what they believe as Individuals to be the best course of action.
Their practice is relative to what they’ve experienced thus far for this reason im going to a specialist in schizophrenia before I start taking synthetic medication.
While I agree, some are more human than others and just plain better than others. And though it may seem a radical idea, in many cases you have a choice of doctors and if necessary you should shop around. Especially if you feel you aren’t being heard.
I had a bungled ‘first contact’ with a psychiatrist, and from this experience I’ve developed a list of important traits for a ‘p-doc’. My story is going to be a little long, so I’ll list these traits first before getting into the story.
- They should speak your native language fluently, understandably and explain things well
- They should listen effectively
- They should be flexible and offer options
My first psychiatrist was referred to me by my Jungian therapist after I had an initial session with her. I was sold on therapy, but not necessarily on drugs at the time, but I agreed to see him. He was a Korean doctor who had a thick accent that I found difficult to understand. Up front I told him about my complaints and about my apprehensions to drugs, but that I had an open mind and would consider limited treatment.
He interviewed me with basic questions, and came to what I thought was the question “Who was the first president?”. So I said George Washington, but I could tell by his face that maybe he said “current president.” Strike one, but I recovered and gave him “Ronald Reagan.”
Then he gave me a test called “serial 7s” where you have to count down from 100 by 7s. I thought I did it okay, but I hesitated a bit and he proceeded to tell me that I should have done it faster because I was a computer engineering student and should know my math. I told him that the point was to have the computers do the work, but if he wanted me to solve some algebra or calculus problems he should bring them on. Oh well… strike two. And if you think counting down by sevens is easy, try it sometime when you can barely understand your doctor, are stressed, and in an unfamiliar environment-- with or without schizophrenia.
Then he rushed me through hurriedly explaining my delusions which I did thinking naively that he needed to hear MY story. And that was strike three, because he then told me to leave the room, wait outside and bring my mother in. I’ve been told that she thought the whole episode was surreal and that he was a very strange fellow.
Anyway, a few minutes later the door opens and I’m invited in and he proceeds to start prescribing four different drugs and I wasn’t even close to psychotic at the time. So I told him he I didn’t feel heard, my situation wasn’t that serious, and would he consider a more limited treatment. And he told me to take it or leave it. So I walked out, and went back to my therapist.
After a year of Jungian therapy without drugs, a new part-time job and part-time local college work (I’d dropped out of my University) I eventually did have a psychotic break and a short hospitalization. By that time, I’d realized I wouldn’t keep my job if I didn’t opt for drug therapy, and my therapist had a different p-doc for referrals. A moderate dose of a single typical AP was prescribed, I kept my job, advanced in my career, eventually finished college and I haven’t been back to the hospital since.
My mother and I can laugh about it now, but we wonder how much pain and trauma we all could have avoided if we’d just gotten a second opinion or shopped around for p-docs ahead of time.
Boy Thanks Barbie for the lol!!! I needed it~ 
Thank you everyone on your comments I almost forgot I posted it!!! I was reading comments and totally forgot I wrote this till I noticed Pattywagon…OMG I must of had a real bad day and needed to vent and I forgot I posted…