I can't believe my dr. said this!!

[CathyKi]

My doctor prescribed valium and elevil for me and told me that if I took them with the drugs I have, atarax and ambien, I could overdose and die. Then he added that he has had several patients with IC kill themselves. He told me that my problem is that I am too smart and I know about too many things and that I could be causing my own pain.

[ICNDonna]

Sounds like it might be time to change doctors!

Donna

[futurehope]

I suspect this doctor needs his license revoked.

I would get as far away as possible.

What is this doctor's specialty, assisted suicide, by any chance?

[tigger_gal]

OMG!!! I would 1 check the meds with pharmacy. 2 report him, and 3 don't go back to him.
he was way way out of line...

[windchaser]

i sooo agree with everyone else, but also the elavil i have heard has some drug interations? is this true?

[ltlmiss]

Huh? Nice doctor that one. On the other hand, that is something that I am constantly worried about and am constantly checking for interactions. It is very important to stay with one doctor that prescribes your meds so he knows EVERY med that you take; and its also important to know EXACTLY how and when to take them. There are many members here that take many meds and some can have dangerous interactions so please be educated on your dosages!

I take some that if taken together can kill me, so I am pretty careful with taking them at the right times. There has been a lot of deaths caused by accidental overdose on the news lately so please everybody, BE CAREFUL!

[karen10]

I can't believe a doctor said that!!! Now the first part is a valid warning because all four of those meds cause drowsiness and so too many at too high a dose could cause respiratory distress, but OMG to say the part about suicide and then that your intelligence is causing you pain and bladder problems???? What an arrogant . . . . . . !!

[SharonA]

RUN...don't walk to another doctor.

It is important to take a list of your meds plus dosage amounts when you change doctors. Then list each one on your "New Patient Information" sheet. Also, talk about the meds that you take. Make sure the doctor is aware of what you take.

[Sarojini]

Get away from that jacka$$. It is nasty for anyone to say something like that to another person, but it is even worse for a doctor to say it to a patient. How unprofessional!! Report him to his boss (the head of the hospital he works at, the chief physician in the practice he belongs to, etc) AND write a letter to your state's medical board informing them of this behavior. Remember, if he says it to you, he could be saying it to others too.

Then, find another doctor who has more sense!!!!

:grouphug:

[theclownster]

I don't even know how to respond to this one. First of all, any Dr. has an ethical responsibility to cause no harm. In doing so, he/she has the responsibility to prescribe medication in a way that it would not cause such a serious side effect (i.e. death). If he is concerned about this, he/she should see if there is something else that can be prescribed that wouldn't cause this reaction. If necessary, he should consult another physician and/or pharmacist for recommendations. If there isn't another option and the concern is related to the timing of when the medications are taken, then the physican should write the prescriptions very, very clearly with exact times that you should be taking them. It shouldn't be up to you to figure it out, that's for sure.

Now, his other comments are completely unprofessional and unethical too. I would encourage you to follow Sarojini's recommendations to file a complaint with the state medical board, the highest person in the practice he works for, and with the recipients rights person (may also be called patient rights advocate) at the hospital where this doctor practices. The patient rights advocate may also give you further instructions on filing additional complaints with the appropriate people.

I guess the very first thing I should have mentioned was that you should find another doctor as soon as possible. If it's an insurance issue, I would ask for a second opinion which you should be entitled to through most insurances.

Take care of yourself and good luck,
Jennifer

[CathyKi]

I know he wanted to make an impression on me about mixing too many drugs. Maybe the poor man needs someone to talk to about the suicides. I don't think he was enabling me to do that. It did make me feel weard, him saying that but I think I will stay with him. He did actually sit down with me and answered each and every question I had written on three pages of notes so I do have to cut him some slack.

[stef000]

thats all i can say about that.....wow :loco:
i would say that that doc needs therapy.....really bad....you should suggest that to him.....i might have at the time....been like hey are you overworked and are YOU depressed?????:confused:
i hate dealing with docs these days......i have no patience for them any more as you can see by most of my posts......
i have gotten screwed by them in the worst ways so i know not to believe anything anyone says.....
its all my choice since its my body...if someone doesn't do right by my standards i will go out and find someone who will...:bunny:
yeah that doc really needs therapy i would be really worried about HIM committing suicide....i would put him on on of the TCAs and an antipsychotic low dose of course......i think that combo would make him feel less depressed and he would have better sleeps.....
i would really call back and tell him that.......
because well apparently you are too smart even for him it seems so maybe you SHOULD do that.....:bunny:
well that was my two cents.....
i hope you are going to someone else who doesn't need to see a psychiatrist right away.....:tsk:
and get what you really need....
take great care
hugs n better body days
:hi:

[GriffsMommy]

Wow. I'm sorry that I didn't see this sooner but this is horrible. If you feel that he's really the dr you want to stay with then do so but I think that would be enough to make me change dr's.
My dr told me he thought my anxiety about my pain was making me worse and put me on an anti anxiety med but never did he imply that me being smart was making my pain worse. I always tell him about this site and he thinks it's great that we can come here and find support and info. He doesn't think I'm making myself worse. Lord.

[Zygala87]

Cathyki, I may be wrong but it seemed from your post that he was telling you to be careful as some people "accidentally" killed themselves. WOW now I'm scared, very scared! What meds go together that could cause death? I sure as heck don't want to make that mistake! I love my Dear Husband but he makes me mad when something bad happens in our family and he says be calm as you will cause yourself pain from the stress. Upon reflection, he is correct. Stress does cause me great pain yet how does one over look the problem? That is the only way I know that I cause my own pain. I was always the rock that my extended family turned to and felt blessed to help them. Now my Husband is the Quarterback. He helps in every way and now my Family are taking care of me. I do know how lucky I am. Hugs Ziggy

[jen74]

First off, what an idiot this doctor is for saying such things! Also, before you mix any type of drugs, Ask a pharmacist, not a doctor!!!! The pharmacists know more about drug reactions than the doctors, this is their field. You have to tell them ALL the meds you are taking, they will look up what reactions they can possibly have when taken together if there are any. I had a doctor a few years ago once prescribe to me 2 different meds, One was an antibiotic and the other one was I believe an antidepressant for nerve pain. I asked my pharmacist if there was any interactione between the two and there was! It was nothing deadly, but still, the pharmacist said that it would be better not to take the two together. Needless to say, I called the doc back and he gave me something different. You have to be your won advocate these days. Doctors just dont care, or are in to much of a hurry and do not pay attention. Heck, just a couple months ago I had an awful UTI and it was right during the holidays and I went to the ER and I had to remind 3 different nursed that came in to see me that I was allergic to latex. It was written all over my folder, but not one took the time to check. They just put the gloves on and I had to tell them I was allergic, actually my hubby did, thank god he was there with me, as I was in so much pain I could not even think straight. Pretty scary.
Jen

[Claredale]

The doctor obviously needs more training on IC. I have been on that combo of meds (except Atarax), but meds quite similar several times through the years and I am quite alive! Just as Jen recommended, I always talk to my pharamacist when starting any new meds. I also advise to watch what meds you pick up from the pharmacy. I trusted a former pharmacy for years with my meds, but I did start noticing a huge turnover at a certain pharmacy that is a national chain. I was given Seroquel one time instead of Seconal. I had never taken it before and I actually questioned the phamacy tech, and she verified it was correct. I read on the patient info that it was taken for depressive episodes, bi-polar, etc. It was supposed to help me sleep, not depression meds. I was trusting enough (or dumb...however you want to put it) to take it a couple weeks before another pharmacist happened to notice that my doctor wrote my script for Seconal and it was legible and the pharmacy filled it wrong. I was quite a mess for a few weeks, and I am grateful that another pharmacy picked up on the mistake. Needless to say, my doctor doesn't recommend that pharmacy anymore because he had heard several reports of other mistakes just at his office.

T83

[mary124]

You need to find yourself another doctor. No doctor has a right to say things like that, even though he thinks he has your best interest at heart.
I also would stick to one pharmacy; this way they know the interactions are and could tell you if and when you get a new prescription. I have a handful of doctors, but they all know what I take and dosage-my family doctor sees me every 3-4 months just to make sure of medications and how I am doing.