What to tell or ask a doctor?

[Gromit]

I should probably have asked this before.
I have been on anti-depressants for years. The last two GP's I saw have disappeared to have babies, I forgot who they recommended I see next last time I went for more meds and saw some awful doctor who was obsessed with the menopause just because she was going through it and I was the same age as her. I am not menopausal!

Today I have an appointment with the doctor who was recommended and did put on my note for my appointment with him that I wanted to know my diagnosis and what about C-PTSD. But now I am getting nervous, what should I say? Will he take it seriously? Will he even know what that is? This is the UK, it is on the NHS website along with PTSD but no one has ever given me any kind of diagnosis, they just give me happy pills.
G

[Gromit]

Apparently I have anxiety and depression, with an OCD thrown in at one point in my history.

This GP doesn't think C-PTSD or even PTSD is applicable because there is no event that I flash back to. Perhaps my counsellor can help with strategies to use to help me dealing with people when they are angry.

Grrr, at least he didn't assume I was menopausal.

If I could deal with the state I get into when other people are angry I wouldn't get overwhelmed.

He ignored the mention of nightmares, and the counsellors feeling that my issues are from attachment problems.

Does it matter? Probably not, I am used to managing by myself.

[Lingurine]

Hi Gromit, so sorry to hear your GP is not taking this seriously. I think C-PTSD is hard to catch for doctors and maybe it really doesn't matter what label we put on it. Fact is, that you indicate that you need help and I think that needs to be honored.
Did you think of therapy, so that you can sort out what it is you are suffering from and be properly medicated when needed?
Just a thought.

Take care.

Lingurine

[Gromit]

Did you think of therapy, so that you can sort out what it is you are suffering from and be properly medicated when needed?

Lingurine

Not sure I understand what you mean Lingurine, I see a counsellor who I found through a charity that offers counselling for donations, I carried on with her once the year, they allow, was up. I guess she cannot diagnose or prescribe, although she did suggest that I might seek medical help which is when I last approached a GP for medication, which was 2015. I have been on that medication since then. It is a pretty standard anti-depressant.

Do you mean a psychiatrist? I don't know how to go about seeing one if my GP will not refer me. I know my OH has some private medical insurance but I am not sure it covers psychiatric care.

I am sure it doesn't help that I am high-functioning and extremely good at hiding what is going on inside. My counsellor has already expressed concerns that I don't tell her to stop when I feel uncomfortable, I don't even recognise when I feel uncomfortable.
G

[Lingurine]

Hi Gromit, English is not my first language and reading back my post, I understand that what I wrote could easily be misinterpreted. I'm sorry, when I'm tired or in a hurry, this happens.
What I meant was indeed if you see a psychiatrist or psychologist, to help you with the diagnosis C-PTSD or help you with meds, it sure did help me.

Hope this helps 

Lingurine

[Kizzie]

Hey Gromit - I'm not sure if you want to go back to the doctor or find a new one who might listen, but we do have some handouts to download under "Resources" along with some symptom tracker sheets you might find useful. 

CPTSD is not well known just yet so unfortunately we have to educate professionals or find those who do know about it which can be frustrating.  There's a new research article you can link to at the top of this page that s/he would likely respect which talks about the diagnosis being included in the World Health Org ICD diagnostic manual and the symptoms of CPTSD.

Good luck, keep on pushing for what you need!

[Kat]

I'm not sure I'm clear on all of this.  In the U.S., our general practitioners don't typically prescribe anti-depressant meds.  They'll usually ask that you contact the number on the back of your insurance card for mental health/psychiatric services...which are slim to none.  Psychiatrists are the ones to see when in need of anti-depressants, etc.  However, I went through three different psychiatrists over the last few years.  One I chose to leave, but the other two, including the last, shut down their practices.  I went to my GP after foregoing my antidepressants for a good month.  He was appalled that I'd waited so long and called in a prescription to cover an entire year.  That year is coming to a close soon.  I'm not sure to try to get him to call in another prescription or if his expectation was that I'd find a psychiatrist during this past year.  I'll have to give him a call to find out. 

My point is that SOMEONE should be able to help you.  I'm disgusted with that the one doctor you chose to see after the others left to have families would not accept what your prior doctors clearly saw and had a treatment plan for. 

I agree with Lingurine that finding educated professionals is difficult and frustrating.  I'm glad you were directed to the downloadable resources; one is a sample letter to a new physician.  That sample letter contains a link to a Fact Sheet for GPs: Understanding Complex Trauma.  I hope these will be helpful.

I think by now you've already seen the latest Dr.  How did that go?

[Gromit]

Kat, in my experience, in the UK, the doctor is very happy to suggest anti-depressants. They get you to fill in a questionnaire and if you score highly enough you get pills. In the past I was resistant to pills because my mother had been on tranquillisers for my whole childhood and she was still scary.

The doctors check how you feel on them, if you are ok they are quite happy to leave you like that. I found counsellors by myself, luckily enough there is a charity in the area which has several and they assess you before allocating one rather than choosing one out of the 'phone book. I pay for that myself.

Things have changed over the years, I looked online after the posts above, which include my experience with the doctor yesterday. There is somewhere I can refer myself, it mentions PTSD but not C-PTSD. It is a mental health team, not sure if that includes a psychiatrist. I guess you have to have been hospitalised for them to let you see one of those here. I know, when I was a child my mother saw one, but, like I said, she was on tranquillisers and had been hospitalised before I was born, she had some pretty controversial treatment that is no longer used.

I may try the organisation I found online, it is NHS. I know I tried something years ago but all they could offer me was a group thing, it was more like a seminar on CBT techniques. I went to one, walked home in tears and never went for the other sessions.

The letters in the downloads might be helpful. I did a survey at the surgery yesterday which was less than complimentary and I have had a response asking me to give more information. Thanks for reminding me about the resources here.

At the moment it is school holidays and I have my kids at home so it is hard for me to make calls and do letters without a hundred questions. I do see my counsellor today and from the stiffness in my upper back I need to book a massage too, that is partly where my stress goes, my back, shoulders, and neck.