Doctor refuses to give medication
Posted , 16 users are following.
I'm distraught. Suffer from BPD, depression and anxiety. My NHS psychiatrist have been giving me anti depressants and I have tried other meds as well, eg. mood stabilizers. However most of them haven't worked or I have had bad side effects. My psychiatrist has now said that obviosuly medicine doesn't work for me, only therapy can help me. He refuses to prescribe medication to me, even though I'm suicidal. He just said if that's how I feel I have to go the hospital. He said he doesn't believe in sedatives. What can I do? I can't cope without meds, am shaking and my heart is beating,having panik attacks, can't sleep etc. Would I be able to get meds from a private psychiatrist if I somehow find the money to be able to afford it?
Many thanks for your help in advance.
1 like, 22 replies
NickOliver angus26436
Posted
What meds would you like to be on - did you stop taking the medication because it wasn't working because if you weren''t taking it regularly then there is no point in him prescribing it.
You say you are suicidal or do you just have thoughts of suicide. I had suicidal thoughts for 4 years after leaving hospital (where I was for 8 months). I didn't really act on them.
What he means is that if you are really concerned about your thoughts then you can go to A&E.
You can phone the Samaritans to whom you can talk but they don't give advice.
You could also go to MIND.
I don't know you situation but you want to do some activity.
I would observe that your post seems quite well constructed.
Good luck!
angus26436
Posted
To be honest I don't know how to go on without something to help my anxiety. What can I do? Private psychiatrist?
linda83143l angus26436
Posted
It sounds like withdrawal symptoms you are
Experiencing.
They will subside as the drug leaves your body which may be nine days or slightly more everyone is different.
Keep your chin up, things will work out keep trying.
Xx Linda
gingemac1977 angus26436
Posted
you shouldn't have to go private, it's a disgrace that your doctor is refusing to help you. personally i would go to A&E!! if your doctor won't help you, what other option to do you have, you certainly shouldn't have to pay privately for the help you need. it's very serious is anxiety and depression and i know where your coming from, i've tried all sorts of different meds and nothing worked for me until i started on sertraline, have you tried this medication, it's worked wonders for me :-) i do hope your feeling better soon, and if in any doubt go to A&E for help. i would put in a complaint about your doctor as well, that's a disgusting way to treat someone that needs their help.
NickOliver gingemac1977
Posted
On one occasion I went to A&E because I thought that I had taken 2 x my Lithium does by mistake.
They thought that I might have intentionally overdosed. They got me to use a dosset box.
Angus, do you have a care coordinator - you should have one. This might be either a CPN or a social worker who do what they say. Speak to them and say how you are feeling.
angus26436
Posted
I managed to get an appointment with a therapist for next week. I will try asking her how would it be possible to change my psychiatrist, but apparently NHS doesn't need to agree to it. I feel like its my last hope. I'm really in a strange place between life and death,trying to decide whether to give up all this hell that is called life, or try one more time.
Thanks for your kind comments. Hope you'll have a nice weekend.
gingemac1977 angus26436
Posted
NickOliver gingemac1977
Posted
In my humble opinion however bleak life might be, being able to sit down and write coherent posts here does not suggest the seriousness and the illness that would suggest being seriously ill (I speak as one who was last time in hospital for 8 months).
In my own case I have been to A&E (not recently) because I have wanted to kill myself, and I have wanted to be admitted to prevent myself from doing that.
After a couple of days in hospital you are considered to be safe there, but the nursing staff no longer consider you at great risk, you can't take your life there. But the same feelings continue. They continued to do so for 4 years.
The fact that you have these feelings would not stop them discharging you from hospital. If you are in hospital you will find yourself in the ward with alll sorts of types, some terrible types and it is not an education that I would wish on anyone.
In the Maudsley Hospital the ward was full of drug addicts. One of the female patients was a heroin addict and she had sex on the ward (so I heard) to fund her habit.
I don't know if you have been in hospital before, Angus, but you might imagine what Dante's Inferno was like without visiting.
So there are various reasons for pdocs not admitting Angus - that he is not ill enough, and that the ward will not make him any better because of what the ward is like.
stephenpm NickOliver
Posted
I have been diagnosed with severe clinical depression for 30 years. I have migrated into psychosis and partial schizophrenia. At no point, in 30 years have ever my GP or NHS Psychiatrist have ever considered hospitilization. I have been suicidal and hearing voices, hallucinating on dozens of occasions.
A friend of mine was sectioned a few years ago...it is not where you want to be unless you are in imminent danger to yourself or others.
Things may take time... to find the right combination of treatments. CBT is not for me...I have hit the maximum dosage for different medications on a number of times. It may be 12 months to get 'fixed'. But then you may to re-assess in 12 months after that... The docs do the best they can but everyone is different... It is better to be at home...
Stephen
NickOliver stephenpm
Posted
Seriously mentally ill people are not very nice people, and being cooped up with those people in the ward is not a nice experience.
After being admitted there will be the immediate relief that one doesn't have to take responsibility for one's own life. But you don't stay on the ward at night and then go out to business, work or college during the day. I think that I have said all I need to say.
gingemac1977 stephenpm
Posted
thanks for sharing your story, i can totally understand where you are coming from, my whole family suffers with severe depression, my mother, father, myself and a few years ago my nephew who is only 20 started with schizophrenia, he has been sectioned 3 times since 17 years old and ended up in secure mental units, on this occasion he's been in there for coming up 5 months now, each time he relapses, he's in there for longer, this time has been the longest period in there and it's been really hard on us and a family and him as an individual. he too like yourself, hears voices all the time, and halucinations etc, he's been having ECT therapy and on anti psychotic medication. i don't think he will be able to lead a normal life again to be honest, but we live in hope that he will get through it and find the right medication for him. the voices become so consuming for him that sometimes he doesn't want to speak or be around anyone because they say things to him that he finds really hard to cope with and he sees things all the time and they seem completely real to him, when we see and hear nothing, he is convinced that the nurses and doctors are trying to kill him and everyone around him is plotting against him. it's really heart breaking. i hope you manage to get through it :-)
jasmine57585 angus26436
Posted
cheryne73214 NickOliver
Posted
It really bothers me when someone uses the excuse to belittle what someone is going through based on the fact that they are capable of typing or speaking clearly. That does not change the storm inside of that person. I can appreciate that you have struggled yourself, however, would it feel justified if someone told you that what you're going through isn't that bad because you could talk or type?
I can't say that I suffer from what Angus is suffering with, I have severe anxiety, PTSD and apparently depression, but I also have physical issues that cause chronic pain, insomnia, chronic fatigue, and a few other that hangs I care not that hindsight mention. I don't have an issue with suicide, it's simply not how my brain is wired, but I have known plenty who do have that issue, I currently have a cousin and a close friend dealing with this and that is their only issue, being miserable with life. It's extremely hard to fight. I don't take any medications, because I am a mother and what they have prescribed me is tranquilizers and muscle relaxers and even tho that is probably what it best for my conditions, especially since I can't handle narcotics, I don't take them because I can't take care of my son properly on them. I am capable of sitting here and typing all this out, but that doesn't make any of my conditions any less hard to get through. Angus is a human being begging for help, and just because they are capable of asking for help, doesn't mean they are struggling any less than someone who can't. Give me a break. Be kind.
klane angus26436
Posted
Hello
?Angus, I live in the U S and just went online to seek help because my doctor would not prescribe meds for my severe depression. I came across your comments above,from four years ago. I am now wondering how you are doing and if you ever got back on meds or if you found another solution. I do agree that if there is some alternative to pills, it is to be preferred as the side effects can be awful... I try to exercise but many days I dont even want to get out of bed let alone exercise.
acjwberger angus26436
Posted
play2day acjwberger
Posted
Also, try to get out and get some exercise, sunlight, Vitamin D3, Magnesium citrate, omega 3's and B complex vitamins, and lots of greens. Good help is hard to find. You are probably your own best advocate. Good luck.