I have my appointment with the psychiatrist on Friday

[WigWamBam]

And I'm terrified and just need to off-load.

My GP has referred me because he says he can't change my medication (I'm on 40mg Citalopram)without referral to a psychiatrist, but from what he tells me now, the psychiatrist won't really want to see me because they're not really interested in straightforward depression. They are only seeing me because they have to (new guidelines on one particular medication) and not because they feel that they can help me. That's made me feel really wonderful about wasting the psychiatrist's time just for a change of meds that the GP isn't able to do.

I was hoping for a good, positive session with the psych but with my GP saying this, I can't see it happening now. To add insult to injury, dh was going to be coming with me for a bit of moral support, but he forgot and has now arranged a business trip for Friday.

I was feeling really positive about this, as I've been waiting for a couple of months for this appointment, but now I feel I'm just going round in circles. If the psychiatrist isn't going to want to help me, who will?

I feel as if I'm just going round in circles

[marmar]

dont jump the gun just wait till the appointment most psychiatrist are very good and most give very positive sessions i have persanley had deppresion on and off for the past 15 years and some psych are good and some are not just depends who you get good luck

[marmar]

and my spelling is s**t sorry not thinking to clever at the mo

[lemonice]

in my experience psychiatrists tend to be medication/symptom orientated rather than person orientated and some are definitely better than others, so go and take it as it comes..good luck.

[Nbg]

WWB I had no idea.

Use this session the best you can to help you and remain positive. Like marmar and Lemonice have said, some are better than others.
No advice to offer really but lots of luck and hope it goes well.

[WigWamBam]

I know that my local mental health service is very medication oriented, which I suppose is a good thing in one way, as the meds I'm on aren't working. I just feel that if the GP is right, and the psych will think I'm just wasting his time, then I'm wasting my time too. I've been hoping that this could really help, and now I feel that I'm expecting too much.

[Nbg]

Have you seen any other specialists?

[WigWamBam]

I saw a psychiatrist 4 years ago, who basically said take the anti-depressants or go away - I was breastfeeding so I chose not to take them. I went back to the GP about 9 months ago, he put me onto the Citalopram, which seemed to work to start with but soon stopped, and I'm having at least one major depressive episode a month now. The GP wanted to change to a different ad, but there are some concerns about heart problems with it and it needs to be prescribed by a psychiatrist. At the time he referred me, my GP said that I would have a full consultation with the psychiatrist, who would draw his own conclusions about the nature of the depression and its treatment, but now he seems to be saying that the psychiatrist won't want to see me because it's all just more red-tape, and that it's all a huge waste of time.

[Nbg]

Is your GP looking to refer you to another specialist once they've changed your medication?


Sorry if I'm sounding a bit vague.

I know that my mum has battled with it for ages and she has only just been offered to go for CBT.

[WigWamBam]

No, just the psychiatrist. There is a waiting list of almost three years here for CBT, so they're reluctant to add more people to it. I was hoping that even just talking things through with the psychiatrist would help, but if the GP is right then I won't even get that. I've been relying on this to start to change things and now just feel like it's a waste of everyone's time.

[Nbg]

Not at all.

I remember when I used to see a lady from a team called PLATT (to do with PND) the first appointment was like a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.
Remain positive. I don't think your GP has explained it very well and I dare bet the P will be very understanding.

[WigWamBam]

I hope so. It's just the way the GP described it, as being just a piece of red tape. The GPs don't want to refer the patients; the psychiatrists don't want to see them.

And I haven't even got dh with me to fight my corner! Although in a way perhaps that's for the best.

[WigWamBam]

I just can't help feeling it's a complete waste of time before I've even got there.

[lemonice]

It may be a waste of time but on the other hand it may not and you won't know until you get there.

You said that you had been to see one before and decided against taking the medication and he effectively told you that if you wouldn't accept his prescription then he didn't want to see you - that sounds like par for the course with some psychiatrists but there must be some that are better than that.

If you are happy to take medication but it is matter of settling on a type and dose then a psychiatrist should be helpful but if it is more talking and consultation to arrive at the core of your problems then I don't think they do that, they work with chemical imbalances.

I'm not someone who should be advising on this by the way, as I had some arguments over appropriate medication and was told if I didn't want to get better not to come back but ..

I intended to post to offer support but I think someone else will give you wiser counsel.

[WigWamBam]

Thank you, that's appreciated.

I was happy to take the medication once it became clear that things weren't going to go away on their own, and as there was nothing else being offered at the time. As the ads aren't working though I'm not sure where I go now. I either accept the new meds, or go on the waiting list for CBT or something similar, but then what do I do in the three years that I would have to wait for the CBT?

[lemonice]

did your depression begin as pnd?

[WigWamBam]

Yes, I was offered Prozac at the time but I was breastfeeding so wouldn't take it. I thought it would go away eventually but it hasn't.

[Sax]

Hi WigwamBam,

You must be feeling awful, the waiting I mean. I have just read this thread - I think it was wrong of your GP to try 'warning you' that the psych is only seeing you because of the red-tape. Now firstly you can't prejudge how the psych is going to treat you and your depression, you aren't giving him a chance and its not the sort of attitude to go into one of these appointment, however if the tablets are changed then job done and if they don't give you the emotional support you need you must seek that from elsewhere.
It must be terrible to have to wait and see - I hope you have a positive appointment.

I am also on Citalopram 40mg but only just prescribed therefore I can't tell you whether mine are effective or not! I think they are helping me for now however I see this must be very traumatic for you to be on tablets that you don't feel are working. I wish you luck for the appointment and if it isn't as expected you must ask the GP for other avenues of support. Do you see a counsellor?

All the best WigWamBam.

[Fimbo]

WWB-I have no experience of this, so don't want to comment on something I know nothing about, I just want to wish you all the very best for Friday and hope it goes well.

[lemonice]

I don't know anything about pnd. I've always suffered from depression but my experience of it is not really typical, so I shouldn't intervene..but if you have an appointment and you have waited some time for it then I think you should go.

Try to work out what you want to gain from it which is essentially advice on appropriate medication and then if you feel comfortable with what he/she prescribes give it a few weeks and see if there any benefits and keep a diary daily.

You can still be on another waiting list meanwhile.

[WigWamBam]

At the moment there are no other avenues of support available, sax. The waiting lists for counselling and CBT are huge, and I can't afford to pay to see someone privately.

I will be going for the appointment, lemonice, I just feel a bit done down at the GP's attitude towards it.

[Sax]

Thats a shame there are no avenues of support, I feel you should be getting regular sessions delving into the route of your depression, not just put you on tablets and leave you so to speak. Its a real shame that it hasn't been taken as seriously as it should, I'm sorry I don't have any other words of advice becasue depression is so new to me. Good luck with the appointment.

[Surfermum]

I used to be a Psychiatrist's secretary WWB. I would have thought the Psychiatrist would be much better placed to advise you on what type of anti-depressant might suit you. There are many, many different ones and sometimes its a case of just finding the right one. It wasn't fair of your GP to say this to you and make you feel that you're wasting anyone's time. You're not. You have a right to get prescribed the right medication and one that will get you feeling well again, and if that means having to see a specialist then so be it. I really hope you find the Consultant helpful, please don't be put off by your GP's comments.

[WigWamBam]

The doubts that I now have are because the GP has suggested that the psychiatrist is only going to see me to assess whether I should be prescribed the ad that he now wants me to have, rather than give me the full assessment that he initially told me I would have. I'm hoping that the psychiatrist will start at square one and make his own decisions as to what treatment should be, rather than just prescribe what the GP wants him to.

I just feel as if I'm not being taken seriously and I hate to think that I'm wasting anyone's time. Up until recently the GP would have prescribed the new ad himself but he can't now, so hopefully he's just making assumptions that the psychiatrist will do nothing more than prescribe that particular drug.

Thanks for listening; it means a lot.

[Sax]

Of its just an assumption, he doesn't know whats going to be discussed between you and the psych at the appoint. you said about the waiting lists being long - but - are you actually on the waiting list to see a counsellor, as time ticks on the higher up the list you get until you reach the top and that might be sooner than you expect! just a thought.

[WigWamBam]

I don't know whether it's just an assumption or not; I don't know what the letter that the GP sent to the psychiatrist actually said. He originally told me that it would be a full session, but seems to have changed his mind so I don't know what to expect now.

The GP reckons that he can't put me onto the waiting list because it's so long, although when he said that, he was expecting the ads to sort the problem out within 8 or 9 months.