The third time i was on risperidone, i suffered from akathisia and i was also delusional. That’s because the doctor put me on a low dose of it and refused to raise it. The medicine just didn’t work anymore, first and second time it worked but the second time i was on a 8mg dose.
Resperidone was what the va was giving me. That psych doctor was terrible. I was almost 300 pounds. I looked terrible and was suicidal. I kept telling the doc it wasn’t working. But he was like obsessed with it! First Ap I was on.
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@notmoses Are you a veteran too?!
I’m sorry. I’ll tone down the God stuff in my post. Not everyone believes the same thing I Do
Vietnam '66 - '69.
Thank you for your service. My Grandpa served in Vietnam
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I have no idea. But they are all into that spiritual energy carma ■■■■.
I’m sorry if I offended you. Peace.
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Sad to say that you’ll hear the following from a lot of p-docs:
“The VA was a great place to do my internship (or residency) because you get to see so much so fast. But if you have the wherewithall, you move on. Because the heads of service are usually awful, and the only people who hang around are those who aren’t good enough to go elsewhere.”
Fit my experience, for sure. So. If one is a veteran using the VA for psych services, one may do well to ease their way away from any of the “lifers” at the VA towards the independent contractors, residents and even the interns.
I’m serious.
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Yeah in my opinion, the va has terrible psychiatrists. Do you ever get tired of people asking you “why don’t you Go to the va.?”
I cannot support that (“all or nothing”) statement. (Sorry.) I have to stand by the one I made above:
Yeah sorry for the blanket statement. My experience was very bad. Peace.
I haven’t been to the va since 2007 I hear it’s been reformed a Lot
I heard the va had some sort of corruption problem as well as lacking services and not paying people or skimming there checks. That is pretty jacked up.
Depends on what department or clinic you’re in at the moment.
Some were actually pretty “good” during the “worst” of the “corruption.” And it is clear to someone who’s spent a lot of time in a lot of different VAHS facilities on both sides of the counter, that the quality of “customer service” to – as well as diagnosis and treatment of – to veterans varies tremendously from one to another, and especially from the anchor hospital in a metropolitan area to the satellite clinics. Job-related stress appears to be a major factor. There’s a lot less of it in most of the clinics, especially those in ex-urban areas.
Every urban VAMC I had reason to visit during the '00s was something I wish most Americans could have seen first-hand… to witness for themselves how overwhelmed and burned out most of the front-line staff – especially in the primary care modules – appeared to be at that time.
A “culture change” project was underway in the Greater Los Angeles Region in the mid-'00s. Considering the nature of the culture that was to be changed and legal hoops involved blocking effective employee discipline, I am not surprised.
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I’d say get used to having some major symptoms in spite of the medication. Find the right medication. It took me a lifetime. Side effects can be wearisome. I don’t know about the VA, but I can just imagine.
The “culture change” project failed miserably. American taxpayers spent several million dollars for lots of study guides, PowerPoint presentations, videos and course books. The stiff was still in boxes years later.
In terms of meds , it all boils down to the life you want and the severity of your sympthoms . if life is hell take the meds , if life is maneagable and you don’t want to hold a job , then maybe take just the minimum amount of meds to tip your mental state in favour of sanity. But if you want to work , engage with life on its terms , ( its fackn hard , people are awkward , work can be stressful , relationships are rough , bills are troubling) then take your meds. It all depends on the life you want…
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