So a couple months ago I decided to finally agree to take ‘meds’ and my doctor put me on Risperidone. The dose was .5 mg which didn’t do a damn thing but help me sleep a little. That’s OK though because he wanted to slowly build up to an effective dose; understandable. So I took it every day until he tells me that I need to get a blood test done for metabolic purposes. I said no, now he says I can’t take meds.
I swear this f****r is messing with me now. I resisted those pills for a couple years while my doctors begged me to take them. Now I finally submit and he puts me on an ineffective dose and tells me I have to stop taking them because I don’t want my blood drawn (which I told him I didn’t want before starting the meds anyway).
I’ve already got a problem with him anyway. Last appointment I drove myself (my wife usually drives me) and somehow he knew and asks if I drive to my appointments. A little too damn coincidental right? Then he asks if I took lorazepam before my appointment (which I haven’t lately, but this time I did) so that’s 2. Finally he told me that driving on lorazepan could be grounds for a DUI if I get pulled over…I made that connection years ago and nobody listened to me, now all of a sudden my doctor is telling me this? That’s 3.
Then when I mention anything new that happens to me that I’m curious about, he just types in his damn computer and ignores my question. I bring it up again and he circumvents it and move to a different topic. And he keeps asking me stupid things that have always been “no”, like " Do you hear voices?" Generally the answer to that is no, but they keep asking me on EVERY appointment like they want me to or something; or they’re waiting for me to.
I understand that all this can be taken in a more innocent way, but it is not. I swear to you he is f*****g with me. Sorry, had to vent.
.5mg is REALLY low. I’m on double that and it’s still considered a low dose, from what I’ve read, usually Risperdal is 2mg or higher. I’m sorry your doctor is treating you badly, is there any way you could see someone else?
Yea, the dosage was supposed to be an introductory dose, he was thinking of bringing it up to around 3 or 4 mg over the coming months. Unfortunately I can’t do anything about my doctor because of my insurance. The doctor’s offices and hospitals are all part of the insurance company so I can only see a doctor from their very limited number of psych offices. The one that’s closest only has a few Pdocs and they are all pretty swamped with patients. Just getting an appointment with my doctor is a pain, he’s usually booked up past a month and a half. Though better than a previous doc, she was always booked past 3 months out.
Some meds can mess with your blood sugar levels or white cell count, so he has to check your blood or he can’t give them to you.
If you really have a big problem with him you can ask for a new doctor. Maybe he’s not the right one for you. That’s strange he keeps asking you about voices. Maybe he’s trying to see if the meds make them go away if you have them or are making your symptoms worse. Not sure, maybe they can make you start hearing voices if you haven’t before.
Risperdal or risperidone is well known to cause metabolic side effects - high blood glucose levels, high cholesterol and lipid count, it can also mess with your thyroid, triggering hypothyroidism etc…
You psychiatrist is on your side, he wants to make sure that you remain physically healthy.
Having your blood tested is a way to see how Risperdal is effecting you physically - you do not want to be on a med that proves to be damaging to your physical health. I would reconsider the situation if I were you
Yea, I know that’s why, what pisses me off is I already told him before starting risperidone that I’m not comfortable with reoccurring blood tests. Which is why I told him I’d even be OK with typical APs. He said typicals have the same metabolic issues that atypicals do (I didn’t argue because arguing with a Dr. is like arguing with a brick, it makes you look crazy.) Also, the doctors before him didn’t require blood. So anyway, he chose risperidone as I had no say in the decision and here I am.
If that were the only issue, I would let it go, he does see like 50 other patients per month after all. But it’s not, it’s reoccurring as if they intend to mess with me.
That’s not even including the billing disasters (my insurance company and doctor’s office are the same company). I actually got a bill addressed to my mother a couple weeks ago at my address. She has no affiliation to my insurance (I’m on my wife’s plan), nor my treatment, nor my address. I don’t even know how they got her name. This damn Dr.'s office is just screwy. If it wasn’t for needing reoccurring checkups for ssdi, I’d never go back.
I spend all day, every day, inside so nobody can mess with me (mostly). The only time I leave is for appointments and even for just that one hour, people f**k with me. My therapist said shutting myself in is bad and not good for me, but I’ve done so much better shutting the world out then I did otherwise. Like if it were discovered that bacon has cardiovascular restorative properties.
I’ve been thinking about abandoning internet communication too. The Internet’s not really different than face to face communication after all. Especially here, why is it wrong to discuss unusual beliefs in the ‘Unusual Beliefs’ subforum? I still can’t get over that, you’d think that would be the one subforum that would require the least moderation. Kinda makes me suspicious, I mean, why would you want to control the flow of knowledge like that in THAT specific category?