How do i approach my doctor?...
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How do i approach my doctor?...
| Fri, 03-02-2007 - 12:12pm |
I'm 22 and have known for about 2 years now that i may have bipolar. I have taken the Bipolar Spectrum Diagnostic Scale many of times, and have scored very high. I also kept a diary for some weeks of my sypmtoms. The problem is that i dont know, or am too scared of approaching my GP????
Would be grateful of any hints and how others approached theres?
Thanks

It would help to know why you are afraid to approach your GP. Are you afraid of him judging you? Chances are, you can trust him. You might try role playing with a trusted friend before you tell him.
That said, you might be better off with a psychiatrist, anyway (pdoc). Unless you live in an area where it is particularly hard to find one, they are invariably better at dealing with mental illnesses than GPs. As bp is an illness that is hard to get under control, you need an expert!
Express!
Beth "Petrouchka"
I had bp from the age of 7 yo (now 39), but since NO ONE in the psych community even acknowleged the existance of Early Onset Bi-Polar (eobp) I was un-dx'd until about 8 yrs ago when DS was finally dx'd. THAT was a long and interesting story (it is all over the child bp board), but I (like you) did not really want to "admit" I needed meds. I had muddled through 20 stinking yrs of H E double hockey stick WITHOUT meds (I don't need no steenken' meds) so WTF did I need meds now. Well after MUCH urging by my tdoc as well as the MC DW and myself were going to at the time (part of the reason we were in MC was the problems my un-med bp was causing in our marriage) I scheduled an appt. with a pdoc. I just went in and TOLD him I was bp, why I knew I was (family history, symptoms, DS's dx) and he said "O.K. lets try Lamictal." and that was that.
I am still ambivalent about getting another tdoc (my first one had a medical emergency that put her out of circulation) and can't stand my current pdoc appt's (15 min appt's where he asks how are you doing?, Meds seem to be working?, O.K., here's your prescription see ya next month, pay the receptionist on your way out.), but the meds are working to the point that I can feel the difference and notice when I miss a dose....SOOOOO, where I am heading is, to echo trouche, even though YOU may not feel/see a problem when unstable, those around you can and it would be in your best interest to see someone (a pdoc would be best as trouche pointed out) and get yourself stable.
tk
Edited 3/3/2007 11:14 am ET by txknight
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