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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
[email protected]Shown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by m3 on December 22, 2006, at 13:09:56
I have five days of Zoloft left. I'm leaving town tomorrow for seven days, and my physician is gone for the next six days. It's a pretty minimal dose and I'm not sure it's doing that much for me; I think the chances of becoming suicidal or nonfunctional are vanishingly small.
That said, I am wondering if anyone can think of a way out of this situation. I'm sure I'm not the only depressive who gets herself into ridiculous situations due to problems with self-advocacy.
In case you're wondering how I got here, I moved several months ago to NYC. I didn't have a job when I got here, and I expected there would be a painful transition period (normally a big issue for me). Instead I got a great, though demanding, job almost immediately. So the transition issues took a new form for me - I let myself get sucked into working way too much so I could ignore the fact that I don't have much social support. The stressful job also made it a bit difficult to find time and privacy to arrange a psychiatrist. I could have put more effort toward it, but in my defense I did make several phone calls to various offices who said they would call me back and didn't, despite repeated polite messages.
So I'm stuck, and I don't really have anyone to call. My best option at this point seems to be to do a gradual seven-day withdrawal. But I'd be interested in hearing other people's perspectives.
Posted by tweeds on December 22, 2006, at 13:39:38
In reply to running out of Zoloft, looking for advice, posted by m3 on December 22, 2006, at 13:09:56
Two things:
Do you think you still really need medication? From reading between the lines (sorry, but that happens around here) you sound unconvinced.
Really, if I were you, I'd seek a GP and tell him the story, and see if he thought you'd benefit from a short term prescription that would tide you over.Your own mental health is too damn important. Make sure you put your sanity first.
(and I speak of this as guy who left things far too long, to the point that it threatened both my family and my job.)
Posted by m3 on December 22, 2006, at 13:48:21
In reply to Re: running out of Zoloft, looking for advice, posted by tweeds on December 22, 2006, at 13:39:38
Thanks for the response, tweeds.
You're hearing right that I'm wondering whether this med is helping me anymore.
I'm not convinced I should walk away from meds altogether - I still have depressive symptoms. But I've gone through several rounds of a drug helping and then fizzling. I'm wondering if I should try a sort of crop-rotation strategy - Zoloft for a year, Prozac for a year, Wellbutrin for a year...
I think your idea is interesting. I guess I'd (depressively) assumed that no doctor would hear my story and write me a scrip. But I should probably at least try - this is where it really helps to get somebody else's perspective, so thank you :).
Posted by blueberry1 on December 22, 2006, at 15:40:04
In reply to running out of Zoloft, looking for advice, posted by m3 on December 22, 2006, at 13:09:56
Three options I could think of.
One is to go to the emergency room, explain that you are going to run out of zoloft and you just need 30 day prescription to buy some time to line up a doctor.
Another option is to call around for a GP who can see you very quickly, basically just to refill the zoloft and get to know you. Make other plans or other change later.
Zoloft can be legally purchased online from mailorder pharmacies. You just fill out an online consultation and then they have a licensed doctor review it and they call the order in to a pharmacy that will mail it to you. Some of them use fedex overnight shipping.
You should probably have a doctor in place before making any changes. So with that in mind the primary goal would be to just get a refill on zoloft for now.
Just some thoughts.
Posted by notfred on December 22, 2006, at 16:36:46
In reply to running out of Zoloft, looking for advice, posted by m3 on December 22, 2006, at 13:09:56
"I have five days of Zoloft left. I'm leaving town tomorrow for seven days, and my physician is gone for the next six days."
He/she should have someone covering for them. It is standard practice, at least in the US. The docs answering service should be able to help you with this.My pdocs secretary can call in refills when he is away and did so while he was in the hospital for 2 months.
My pharmacy has spotted me a few pills to tide me over if it is a med I have taken for some time.
I would not directly ask them to do this; just call and speak to the pharmacist, tell them your situation and ask them what to do. They may offer to help you out.These would be cheaper options than what blueberry1 mentioned, but if none of these work
then I would suggest going with blueberry1's suggestions.Personally I would never consider stopping/changing/adjusting meds while traveling, moving, etc. These tend, for me, to be times of higher stress.
This is the end of the thread.
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