Urgent advice please, doc appointment tomorrow......

[simka]

Hi guys, sorry if posting this is annoying or anything, just having a struggle really and need a bit of support/advice please,

I'm going to the doctor (GP) tomorrow about all these problems I've been having, concentrating, feeling down for at least a few months to years and no appetite, hopelessness of future and lack motivation etc..

I'm scared of what she'll say and do? I'm scared she might ignore me and not care and send me home but I'm also scared that if she does help she'll make me have a type of treatment I don't want. I don't really know if therapy will help me right now as I'm not good at talking about the way I feel and I'm worried they'll send me to CAMHS (I'm nearly 18 btw), so I'd only have a month or two there then they'd send me to some other random therapist so I'd have to trust them all over again..

Sorry if this doesn't sound too fluent or make sense, I can't seem to think straight at the moment,

I just mainly would like to know, if the doctor tells me I need help, do I have a say in what treatment I get?

[Patent Pending]

Hi there.

Firstly, well done for making the decision to see you GP :)

I highly doubt she'll ignore you, if these are concerns she will talk them through with you; when I went to my GP he had like a questionnaire thing and while I was explaining he ticked things off on it.

She also can't force you to have a treatment that you don't agree with. She'll probably talk the different options through with you and see which one you think is most helpful. It could range from referring you to CAMHS, a counsellor, seeing her on a regular basis, medication etc...there's loads of options out there.

The best thing to do is if she does discuss the options with you to tell her any fears/worries you have about them so she can answer your questions.

Take care, and good luck.

x x x

[Fire Fly]

Hey,
You deserve to post and your post is defiently not annoying or anything like that! You deserve the support and help from us and your gp. Welldone for making an appointment and trying to get help!

Your gp might send you away with nothing but majority will listen and take your problems/issues into consideration and take the right form of action. They will know how hard it was for you to make an appointment to discuss this thus will listen to you. They won't try to force anything on you that you don't want unless it is really necessary.

If you are nearly 18 then they may refer you to a CMHT but they will try to treat you in primary care first with maybe the help of IAPT.

Would you be okay being referred to be assessed by a cmht?

Goodluck for tomorrow and hopefully you will get the help you really want and deserve xxxx

[simka]

First off, thanks to you guys for posting I really appreciate it :)
I'm glad it hasn't been annoying and I will try my best to ask the doc questions so I can get the most out of the appointment.
I understand them giving treatment I might not want but if it helps then I guess I'll go along with it, but I'll hopefully make sure they listen to me and my opinions etc.
What exactly is it like being referred to CMHT or having help from IAPT? I haven't really heard of them so quite unsure what it'd be like... Could you explain it to me please? Maybe share what it might have been like for you to start with Tinkles? (You don't have to, no pressure, it's just me wondering)

Thanks again for the replying posts, hope you're both okay :)

[Tessar]

Hey simka, your post is anything but annoying, it's a pity that you 'd feel that way as it does indicate the depth of how you feel .i'm glad u r seeing your doctor, it's the best thing to do in your situation. Also full credit to you for making this decision and most importantly recognising what is happening to you. So well done on that front and do let us know how you get on. If its any help, I thought my doctor would think I was either pathetic or a loonie. Well , he took me seriously and certainly didn't label me either of these things. He just told me I was depressed, he was kind. I tried a few things he suggested butmthey didn't work so he referred me for therapy. It was so helpful I can't describe.

So do stay in contact and just say it how it feels on here. You won't get judged. Let those feelings and fears it because we r more than happy to hear them. Better out than in......

[Fire Fly]

Hey,
Well the CMHT is the adult version of CAMHS and it stands for Community Mental Health Team. I only have experience of the CMHT and not IAPT. Well I was originally diagnosed with Bipolar 2 in Dubai and when moving back to England, My GP referred me to the CMHT to assess my needs and medication. At first I met with a CPN who assess whether you are in need of secondary care (seeing a psych etc) or whether you better of being in primary care (with your gp or IAPT). If they think you need to see a Psych, they will then make an appointment with you to see one who will then decide in what to do next.

If you go down the route of IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) then they offer some sort of therapy. Im not sure but heres a link to them: http://www.iapt.nhs.uk/

If your GP thinks that things will get better with just medication then they may put you on some and keep reviewing it regularly.

If you think you're going to struggle saying some of the stuff to your GP then you should try writing things down and handing it over on the piece of paper. It's really important you tell your GP everything so they can help you as best as possible.

Goodluck and let me know how it goes xxx

[simka]

Hi guys and thanks again for replying to my post,
I saw the doctor a couple says ago and she was really nice, I could actually talk to her a bit, when with most doctors I get nervous and intimidated but she read my note (it was quite long) and said how it was good I wrote it all down and it was helpful for her. She didn't really officially say I was diagnosed with depression but she did a questionnaire for it and one for GAD (as I saw the labels for them) and I noticed the depression questionnaire the score was moderate. So I'm guessing from that I'm officially depressed? She didn't really say and I wasn't sure whether to ask so didn't. She spoke through the possible treatments with me and I said I wanted to try both therapy and drug treatments (I did this because I'm afraid therapy won't work alone, plus it can take ages for referrals to go through over here) so she's put me on 10mg of fluoxetine to start and referred me to IAPT, where I should receive CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) so now I'm on day three of my medication and waiting patiently for a phone call. Scary! But I'm glad something's being done :)
And by the way thanks for sharing your experiences a bit with me guys its helped me a lot and made things seem less scary :)

[Patent Pending]

I'm really glad it went well for you honey :)

Well done!

It sounds like she's really nice and wants to help so that's really good.

Good luck with it all.

x x x

[Fire Fly]

Hey,
Welldone for being os honest with your doctor.
Hopefully IAPT will help you alot :). Hopefully the medication will work and help lift your mood a little.

Take care x