Saturday, December 29, 2012

UUUGGGGHHHHHHH!

So, today I get my records from Hopkins - the record where my neurologist there listed every lesion location (6 in all - 2 of which he leads to be old lesions). I research every location, they all correlate with symptoms I've been having since April - the 'old' lesions correlate to symptoms I've had since 2000.

But, what does this neuro say in his opinion? That my symptoms are psychogenic - so my new local neuro didn't decide this all on her own. How can a dr say symptoms are psychogenic when the physical   evidence points to the exact symptoms I've been having?

Quite honestly, how can any doctor diagnose a clinical depression with psychogenic symptoms after exactly two office visits - which is all either of these doctors have had with me?

I, not unlike any of you, am a complex creature. First of all, I distrust doctors. Only my family doctor understands this, and only she has a true relationship with me at this point. She does not feel I am depressed.

I was diagnosed with a proper depression back in 2000-2001 - yes, I was depressed then. I finally was married to my high school sweetheart, with two beautiful young children, and doctors told us he had only two years to live. Um - would you be a tad depressed? Add to that you've lost a good portion of the vision in your right eye, are dizzy on a daily basis, limping, and so damned tired you can barely get yourself out of bed. Oh, and then add to that the fact that even though you have to deal with all this, and you decided you need to see a doctor for help - the doctor decided you're just depressed, despite the fact they may have found your very first lesion on MRI.

So, you go to the neuropsychiatrist - and he says, yes, you have this mild situational depression, but no - it's not likely causing your symptoms. You go back to your neuro and he says - Spinal Tap. Twenty-something you with the two small kids and the dying husband runs in the other direction as fast as your limping self can.

How many times do you need to go to the neuropsychiatrist to prove you're not crazy or depressed?

So, I don't trust doctors and I don't like allopathic medications. That puts me on a list right away - or maybe more. I'm noncompliant at first glance, and likely paranoid.

Add to this the fact that I was shoved into a career I never wanted, and denied the chance to live the life I always did want (homesteader and artist) - the financial hardships we've endured with a disabled head of household, the inequalities I've faced in the workplace, and the guilt of not being here for my kids as they grew up. And I still managed to climb the ladder, raise the kids, plant and harvest and preserve the gardens, run a small business on the side - I made my happiness. No one would call me depressed, even though I certainly could have been.

Now here I am, two neurologists who claim psychogenic symptoms due to depression - even though I have no symptoms of a clinical depression and do have physical evidence of lesions that correlate with all of my symptoms. What are my choices here?

Do I seek another neuropsychiatrist to 'clear my name?' Do I go back to either of these neuros and question them? Do I return to the neuro I started with who didn't pay much attention to my needs? or do I look for yet another neuro?

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