(As a side note about how fabulous my doctor was - I started going to him in October 1998. On my first visit with him, he came in the room and said, "You're [my dad's name]'s daughter!" My father had been a patient of his before he passed away in January of 1998 - a full 9 months before my visit. I'm married and took my husband's name, so it was different than my dad's. He also sent flowers each time I miscarried. He called on a Friday night after 8 pm to let me know he was calling in a prescription for me.)
Anyway, back to the story.
I moved because my husband took a new job in another part of the country. The new job does not provide group health insurance, but they do pay for our individual policy. Now, my husband and I aren't spring chickens anymore, so good health insurance is impossible for us to get. Our policy gives us a list of doctors to choose from, and the pickings are kind of slim because we live in a small town. I chose this doctor because the practice was in town, close by, and could get me in to get a refill on my zoloft fairly quickly. I have friends who also go to this practice, and one of them said that while the front desk isn't the greatest, they always seem to be able to get them in when they're sick, and the doctors seem fairly competent.
I started going to them last May. I go every 6 months or so for a recheck and prescription refill. Apparently, they forgot the "recheck" part, because they'd do little more than throw the prescription at me and shove me out the door. In February when I was in for my recheck/refill, I spoke up and told the doctor that I wasn't doing well, that I was having anxiety problems and the depressive symptoms again. She was very dismissive and said, "Oh, you're just a little stressed, learn to relax." I spoke up again and said that I had a xanax prescription previously to deal with some of the symptoms that I'd been having, but let it lapse. She got very defensive and said, "I'M not giving you THAT drug. That's a BAD DRUG and I will NOT prescribe it for you."
Ok, fine, chill. Learn to relax, yeah. I'll get right on that, as soon as I can will my brain chemistry into submission. There wasn't much I could do, so I took my zoloft prescription and left.
In March, I had what my husband terms my "flip outs." Basically, depressive symptoms, out of control anxiety, irritability, the whole bit. It got so bad that my husband said, "You need to go to therapy NOW." He's really laid back and understanding about my mentalness, so it's got to be bad when he says something like that. I knew a counselor, and while I didn't want to go to him, he referred me to a colleague of his. She recommended that I go to see a psychiatrist for a medication consult, which I had yesterday.
I talked to him for a while, and he asked why I didn't have a prescription for something for the anxiety. I told him what happened with the doctor in February, and his face was something like this: o-O He likened it to having a broken arm and the doctor telling me to get over it.
I'd had other problems with that doctor's office. Double billing, balance billing (when they bill you for the amount of the discount that the insurance company takes. For example, they charge $115 for an office visit. The insurance will pay $25.22, taking the rest off as the discount. The doctor's office tries to bill me for the remaining balance, which they're not allowed to do according to their agreement with the insurance company.), showing up on time for an appointment and still not being seen 2 hours later, and such.
Needless to say, I'm looking for a new doctor.
