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Sorry for all the posts lately...here goes...
Back in September my uro-gyn put me on Zoloft because she thought a lot of my IC symptoms were due to stress, anxiety and depression. I had resisted being on another antidepressant for awhile because I had been on them in the past for depression with not good results. From age 19 to about 23 I was on SSRIs...the first was Paxil which did nothing for me, then Lexapro which didn't help, but just made me feel really weird...then Effexor which was the biggest mistake ever. The Effexor seemed to be helping me with anxiety, BUT that was only because it mad me have pretty much NO mood most of the time...but when I did have a mood...boy, was it a MOOD...I would just snap and explode. It also made me gain about 30 pounds because I was hungry constantly no matter how much I ate. It also was keeping me up at night because I would twitch and never seemed to get a deep sleep...I'd always wake up and have to pee...the first time in my life...(sometimes I wonder if it was a very early start to my IC). My psychiatrist didn't find any of to be a problem though and kept increasing my dose because I was still depressed, which only made things worse.
So anyway, you can see why I might not want to be on another med like this...well I eventually went with it and took the Zoloft. It actually helped me with my IC symptoms and pretty fast too...BUT that horrible hunger was back and worse than ever! So I had to switch. So I tried Prozac...it was great...I actually was feeling mostly normal again...I don't know how, but it reduced my frequency. My doctor said the meds affect chemicals in the bowel and bladder as well and was really happy with how well I was doing.
Then, in December I started noticing my face and tongue were swelling and I didn't know why, so I went to see the NP at my family doctor...she said it was the Prozac, so I stopped it. For awhile I still felt good, so I was hoping I could just go without antidepressants...well I was wrong. Two weeks ago I went to the uro-gyn because I thought I had a UTI and/or a yeast infection because everything was going crazy down there...of course I didn't have either of those things, it was just the Prozac totally leaving my body. She decided to put me on Depakote even though I'm not bi-polar, because it was in a different class of meds that she thought might help me. Since I don't have insurance and Depakote is very expensive, she said they would find me a patient assistance program and get me started...well...I know her office staff and I know they wouldn't do it, but I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt....so I gave them about 4 days and called to see where they were with it and of course they had no idea what I was talking about. So I said ok, I already found one on my own and I'd fax the papers to them because there was a part they had to sign and send in. (I was working all day and couldn't stop in the office to drop them off.)
Sounds easy enough, but I called to see if they received the fax on the next business day (last Monday) and they didn't know if they did or not and said they'd look and call me back. So Tuesday came and no call...either you have a fax from me or not, its not a hard question. So I called back. No fax. Fine, I said, I will drop off the paperwork, so I did. BUT, over a week had already gone by and I was just getting worse and worse and had no med to take and still had to wait for the paperwork to get done at the office and mailed for the drug company and to get approved and for the med to get from the drug company to my doctor's office. So, I asked if there was an easier way to do this. There are meds in the same class as Depakote on Kroger's $4 list, so I wondered why I couldn't just start on one of those.
Again, sounds easy enough, but today is Friday (I asked Tuesday) and still no phone call telling me yes or no. So I call. While I'm at work. And now all of a sudden I feel like I'm basically banished from the office. They said they weren't going to do anything for me and I'd have to talk to my family doctor. WHAT??? My family doctor hasn't put me on an antidepressant since back in the day of the Paxil in 2002!! AND my family doctor doesn't treat me for IC...he doesn't even treat IC AT ALL!! I told them he wouldn't put me on anything and they told me to call him anyway. So I did. And I called them back and said he wouldn't put me on anything and he has no openings until April (which is true because he has always been very busy and his NP just left the practice). So I called back to see what they were going to do and they said they'd call me back. Office hours ended for another day and NO CALL! Meanwhile, my mom called them for me and made me an appointment for Monday. So I guess it will be better to just talk to the doctor in person.
I'm so upset and frustrated. I've had problems with this doctor's staff before. I love the doctor. She's the one that diagnosed my IC when everyone else thought I was crazy and she always takes the time to listen to me. She probably saved my mom's life. But, the problem is unless I go in for an appt, I have to talk to her horrible staff!! And every time I just walk in the door it's $100+ since I have no insurance. So I just paid $200+ for the last appointment and I have to go again Monday for something that could and should have been settled over the phone.
I've become a "problem" patient. I work in a hospital and have worked in pharmacies, so I know how it is, so I know I'm the one of those patients that all the employees hate and are annoyed by when they call. But I didn't do anything! I'm suffering and not getting any calls returned. That's WHY I'm calling. I'm so upset I don't know what to do. My family doctor's office said I could either come in or be evaluated my a psychiatrist...I don't need a psychiatrist...I need my IC doctor's staff to be courteous to me!!! That's it!!!
Back in September my uro-gyn put me on Zoloft because she thought a lot of my IC symptoms were due to stress, anxiety and depression. I had resisted being on another antidepressant for awhile because I had been on them in the past for depression with not good results. From age 19 to about 23 I was on SSRIs...the first was Paxil which did nothing for me, then Lexapro which didn't help, but just made me feel really weird...then Effexor which was the biggest mistake ever. The Effexor seemed to be helping me with anxiety, BUT that was only because it mad me have pretty much NO mood most of the time...but when I did have a mood...boy, was it a MOOD...I would just snap and explode. It also made me gain about 30 pounds because I was hungry constantly no matter how much I ate. It also was keeping me up at night because I would twitch and never seemed to get a deep sleep...I'd always wake up and have to pee...the first time in my life...(sometimes I wonder if it was a very early start to my IC). My psychiatrist didn't find any of to be a problem though and kept increasing my dose because I was still depressed, which only made things worse.
So anyway, you can see why I might not want to be on another med like this...well I eventually went with it and took the Zoloft. It actually helped me with my IC symptoms and pretty fast too...BUT that horrible hunger was back and worse than ever! So I had to switch. So I tried Prozac...it was great...I actually was feeling mostly normal again...I don't know how, but it reduced my frequency. My doctor said the meds affect chemicals in the bowel and bladder as well and was really happy with how well I was doing.
Then, in December I started noticing my face and tongue were swelling and I didn't know why, so I went to see the NP at my family doctor...she said it was the Prozac, so I stopped it. For awhile I still felt good, so I was hoping I could just go without antidepressants...well I was wrong. Two weeks ago I went to the uro-gyn because I thought I had a UTI and/or a yeast infection because everything was going crazy down there...of course I didn't have either of those things, it was just the Prozac totally leaving my body. She decided to put me on Depakote even though I'm not bi-polar, because it was in a different class of meds that she thought might help me. Since I don't have insurance and Depakote is very expensive, she said they would find me a patient assistance program and get me started...well...I know her office staff and I know they wouldn't do it, but I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt....so I gave them about 4 days and called to see where they were with it and of course they had no idea what I was talking about. So I said ok, I already found one on my own and I'd fax the papers to them because there was a part they had to sign and send in. (I was working all day and couldn't stop in the office to drop them off.)
Sounds easy enough, but I called to see if they received the fax on the next business day (last Monday) and they didn't know if they did or not and said they'd look and call me back. So Tuesday came and no call...either you have a fax from me or not, its not a hard question. So I called back. No fax. Fine, I said, I will drop off the paperwork, so I did. BUT, over a week had already gone by and I was just getting worse and worse and had no med to take and still had to wait for the paperwork to get done at the office and mailed for the drug company and to get approved and for the med to get from the drug company to my doctor's office. So, I asked if there was an easier way to do this. There are meds in the same class as Depakote on Kroger's $4 list, so I wondered why I couldn't just start on one of those.
Again, sounds easy enough, but today is Friday (I asked Tuesday) and still no phone call telling me yes or no. So I call. While I'm at work. And now all of a sudden I feel like I'm basically banished from the office. They said they weren't going to do anything for me and I'd have to talk to my family doctor. WHAT??? My family doctor hasn't put me on an antidepressant since back in the day of the Paxil in 2002!! AND my family doctor doesn't treat me for IC...he doesn't even treat IC AT ALL!! I told them he wouldn't put me on anything and they told me to call him anyway. So I did. And I called them back and said he wouldn't put me on anything and he has no openings until April (which is true because he has always been very busy and his NP just left the practice). So I called back to see what they were going to do and they said they'd call me back. Office hours ended for another day and NO CALL! Meanwhile, my mom called them for me and made me an appointment for Monday. So I guess it will be better to just talk to the doctor in person.
I'm so upset and frustrated. I've had problems with this doctor's staff before. I love the doctor. She's the one that diagnosed my IC when everyone else thought I was crazy and she always takes the time to listen to me. She probably saved my mom's life. But, the problem is unless I go in for an appt, I have to talk to her horrible staff!! And every time I just walk in the door it's $100+ since I have no insurance. So I just paid $200+ for the last appointment and I have to go again Monday for something that could and should have been settled over the phone.
I've become a "problem" patient. I work in a hospital and have worked in pharmacies, so I know how it is, so I know I'm the one of those patients that all the employees hate and are annoyed by when they call. But I didn't do anything! I'm suffering and not getting any calls returned. That's WHY I'm calling. I'm so upset I don't know what to do. My family doctor's office said I could either come in or be evaluated my a psychiatrist...I don't need a psychiatrist...I need my IC doctor's staff to be courteous to me!!! That's it!!!
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