Posted by Sarah T. on October 1, 2005, at 3:04:05
In reply to I don't think Maxime was serious » Sarah T., posted by Racer on September 30, 2005, at 2:04:12
> >> Maxime has been going through some really rough times, and it's hard for people who haven't experienced that sort of problem to understand fully just how hard it can be.>>>
----I have indeed experienced "some really rough times" and I know full well how hard it can be, and so do the vast majority of people on this site. By and large, Psychobabble is NOT populated by "The Worried Well." In spite of the name "Psychobabble," most of us do not come here to babble. Except for occasional forays over to the Social Board, most of the time I come here in desperation and pain, and I know I'm not alone. I'd be willing to bet that most of us look forward to the day when we don't HAVE to log onto this site ever again.
In the five or more years that I've been here, I have met only a handful of people who are NOT going through some really rough times. Nearly everyone on PB, especially those who are long-time members, have been from here to hell and back more times than any human being should ever have to bear. Each of us expresses his or her plight differently, and expression can vary depending on where we are in the course of our illness.
>>>>>Before finding out about the compassion programs -- and before finding a county doctor willing to sign the dang forms for it -- I went through periods of intensely painful withdrawal from Effexor simply because I couldn't afford the drugs. Imagine living through total hell? Vomitting and crying from the pain?"
----I don't have to imagine living in total hell because I've been there, too. I wasn't aware that Maxime was withdrawing from Effexor. Perhaps I misunderstood that as well. I know that Effexor withdrawal is notoriously difficult, and I had no idea that Maxime had switched to Effexor or that she was struggling to get off of it. I thought that she was on Dexedrine and had been on it since Adderall XR was withdrawn in Canada. I live in the United States and I'm not at all well-informed about Canadian health care, so although I shouldn't try to extrapolate based on my experiences in the U.S., I will mention that my doctor always has samples of Adderall available. I hope that Maxime would discuss her financial situation with the doctor who prescribed the Adderall. Even if he didn't have readily available samples, I would think he'd be able to come up with some sort of stop gap measure to hold her over until she could afford to buy the full-month's prescription. Perhaps it would be best for her to remain on Dexedrine until she can afford the Adderall. Adderall is approximately 69-70% dextroamphetamine (it may even be closer to 75%; I'm not sure). Do Canadian doctors charge for office visits? Couldn't the doctor have agreed to temporarily waive his office visit fee or couldn't he have agreed to bill Maxime later, when she is solvent? When I see my psychopharmacologist, although the sessions aren't very long, we always talk briefly about other things going on in my life. If I don't volunteer the information, he asks. Doctors need to know what's going on in their patients' lives, and if a patient can't afford the medicine the doctor prescribes, the prescribing doctor needs to know that.
Although I don't know Maxime well, I've read many of her posts, and I like her a lot. I was very happy for her when I heard that she got a good job, and I was sorry to hear that it didn't work out. I don't think badly of her, and I don't recall saying I did. I do feel that requesting money from fellow mental health patients is unusual, potentially exploitative, and inappropriate; however, I think both Craig and Maxime have clarified the misunderstanding.
poster:Sarah T.
thread:560375
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050927/msgs/561508.html