Dr. G.

Dr. G., no, not the Dr. G. of cable television, but Dr. G. is my new psychiatrist. I am incredibly impressed, talk about a change-over and total turn around from a judgmental, withdrawn, and quiet former therapist (the one who told me God was punishing me and gave kudos on my non-needed weightloss).  To kind of give an impression of him, think  of a younger "Ben" from the television series Lost.

Dr. G. is inviting and comfortable in his setting. He makes me at ease he's so at ease. He curls his feet into his chair when he becomes introspective, when he's deciding the best course for me. He agrees that lithium is the gold-standard for bipolar disorder. He agrees with the dosage of Prozac at 30mgs but doesn't want to go any higher, instead wants to add very small increments of Abilify to help with the depressive side of my disorder. He's so conservative, he's starting me at 2mgs and hoping for a range of 5 to 10mgs, with 5 being ideal. He says he is always conservative with what he prescribes.  As for the klonipin, I knew I was on an extremely high dose of that, the highest recommended, in fact. Dr. G. was floored that so many therapists kept me on such a high level. He was further shocked that anyone, particularly someone "my size" could function, even walk straight on that high of a dose. He wants me to come way down but we have to do it slowly, one pill ever ten to fourteen days, because it's a very dangerous drug to quit suddenly. He said klonipin has the same effects on the brain that alcohol does!


I feel very safe in his care, very assured that he actually cares (over the one who openly professed to be a Christian, isn't that a shame?)/ In fact, I get the overwhelming sense that everyone at that center cares about me, to the point it brings tears to my eyes. They really care that I live and live well!  I will see him again in two weeks with hopefully more good things to report. I just cannot under-state how much it touches me, how deeply, that this group of people aren't just there because it's their job, but give me the sense they care, really care.


**Note- All Anti-depressants such as Prozac, etc carry the risk of swinging a bipolar patient into a manic episode, some more than others, but all pose this risk. Hence the reason to keep Prozac at 30mgs and not 80mgs and try other options not likely to send me into a manic state but also to keep me out of a depressive state (bipolar is the same as manic-depressive but is not related to schizophrenia.)