I'm not sure if this is exactly the right place to put it, but I need to get this out so I can begin to process my experience. Mods move this if necessary.
I saw a psychiatrist at our local Reproductive mental health clinic today and the whole experience has left me feeling beaten down and emotionally battered.
I take an antidepressant to treat long term depression. I took one during my pregnancy, and I eventually switched to another because I was having problems with milk supply and I felt like the other ATD was to blame. I also didn't feel it was very effective in helping my mood. I have done as much research as I can so as to make sure I'm taking something that is relatively safe for my DD.
Fast forward to now. I'm wanting to get pregnant again, but the ATD that I am currently taking is causing me all sorts of s/e not the least of which is a total lack of sex drive. (counter productive to making babies) I wanted to get a second opinion of someone who is supposedly knowledgeable in the field.
I thought it would be a quick 10 minute consult with some medication recommendations and a plan to wean from one to the next. Instead, I was treated to an almost hour long diatribe about how my problems are all due to the fact that I'm nursing my 2 year old. Which of course I should know is "not normal" and that I am doing it for my benefit not DD's. But nursing is making me depressed, oh yes I'm fat too because I'm nursing. And of course my being fat is also a problem. (apparently fat people can't have orgasms)
So apparently I'm "rationalizing" the fact that she is getting a tiny amount of atd in breastmilk in order to make myself feel ok with continuing to nurse. (DD nursed once today..) In her opinion, I should quit nursing, like yesterday because I really should know it "isn't normal you know".
I wish I had had a second person with me today. I am already becoming unclear about the details. She is extremely condescending and made me feel about 2 inches tall by the time I left.
I know I am fat. I also know I need to take time for myself. I also know it would be better that my DD never be exposed to any sort of medication from my milk. Does she think I like taking meds? Does she think I like the idea that there is transfer of meds to milk? Has she never heard of Dr Hale?
Her immediate recommendations: Join Weightwatchers, go to the gym and wean DD. She did recommend another SSRI, but only if I weaned DD.
Bleargh....
*** Update with the beginning draft of my letter of complaint. DD woke up so I am taking a break for now, but wanted to post what I have so I could begin to get some feedback. I have found some info online regarding her "bedside manner" and her total lack of support for breastfeeding. I don't know if I should add this information since it is not really my info, and it is also from an anonymous internet source. (ratemd.com)
I saw a psychiatrist at our local Reproductive mental health clinic today and the whole experience has left me feeling beaten down and emotionally battered.
I take an antidepressant to treat long term depression. I took one during my pregnancy, and I eventually switched to another because I was having problems with milk supply and I felt like the other ATD was to blame. I also didn't feel it was very effective in helping my mood. I have done as much research as I can so as to make sure I'm taking something that is relatively safe for my DD.
Fast forward to now. I'm wanting to get pregnant again, but the ATD that I am currently taking is causing me all sorts of s/e not the least of which is a total lack of sex drive. (counter productive to making babies) I wanted to get a second opinion of someone who is supposedly knowledgeable in the field.
I thought it would be a quick 10 minute consult with some medication recommendations and a plan to wean from one to the next. Instead, I was treated to an almost hour long diatribe about how my problems are all due to the fact that I'm nursing my 2 year old. Which of course I should know is "not normal" and that I am doing it for my benefit not DD's. But nursing is making me depressed, oh yes I'm fat too because I'm nursing. And of course my being fat is also a problem. (apparently fat people can't have orgasms)
So apparently I'm "rationalizing" the fact that she is getting a tiny amount of atd in breastmilk in order to make myself feel ok with continuing to nurse. (DD nursed once today..) In her opinion, I should quit nursing, like yesterday because I really should know it "isn't normal you know".
I wish I had had a second person with me today. I am already becoming unclear about the details. She is extremely condescending and made me feel about 2 inches tall by the time I left.
I know I am fat. I also know I need to take time for myself. I also know it would be better that my DD never be exposed to any sort of medication from my milk. Does she think I like taking meds? Does she think I like the idea that there is transfer of meds to milk? Has she never heard of Dr Hale?
Her immediate recommendations: Join Weightwatchers, go to the gym and wean DD. She did recommend another SSRI, but only if I weaned DD.
Bleargh....
*** Update with the beginning draft of my letter of complaint. DD woke up so I am taking a break for now, but wanted to post what I have so I could begin to get some feedback. I have found some info online regarding her "bedside manner" and her total lack of support for breastfeeding. I don't know if I should add this information since it is not really my info, and it is also from an anonymous internet source. (ratemd.com)
Quote:
| I am writing to lodge a formal complaint against Dr M. I saw her on the morning of February 11, 2008, at the Reproductive Mental Health Clinic at Women’s and Children’s hospital. Dr C, a psychiatrist who I have been seeing for therapy for many years, referred me to her. The appointment with Dr M was to be a consultation regarding antidepressant medications while breastfeeding with a look towards potentially becoming pregnant in the next year. I had previously seen her for a medication consultation before becoming pregnant with my daughter. I remembered her to be brusque in manner, but informative. Unfortunately my experience this time was far worse. My main concern with the current medication that I am taking is that it is causing me undesirable side effects. At the time of the appointment, I was taking 15mg of Paxil daily. While I was pregnant with my daughter, I took 75mg of Effexor, but changed to Paxil, because I felt that the Effexor was damaging my milk supply and my ability to breastfeed my daughter. I was hoping that she would be able to recommend something that was safe for breastfeeding and pregnancy. She dismissed my desire to continue breastfeeding my child and instead insisted that nursing a two year old “is not normal”. She questioned my motives for continuing to breastfeed my daughter, stating that it is often the case that mothers continue breastfeeding to satisfy some need of their own, not the needs of the child. She questioned if I thought it was “fair” to my daughter to expose her to medications in my milk. When I replied that the amount of medication was minimal, and that the dose was extremely low, she said that I was “rationalizing”. She hinted that I would be doing irreparable harm by exposing my child to these medications and made vague references to the “rights of the child” hinting that someone has to stand up for her. When I got defensive and stood up to her, she changed her tactics and started berating me about my weight. She stated that the sexual side effects that I was experiencing were, in her opinion, caused not by the medication, but by my lack of self-esteem and my level of obesity. I do not believe this to be the case. I have always been heavy and it has not affected me in the past. During the consultation I became very upset. I felt bullied and intimidated. Dr M jumped from topic to topic seemingly with no coherent plan and in the end I felt like I would say anything she wanted me to in order to leave. Why I did not walk out, I do not know. She was condescending and treated me as if I was uneducated. At one point she asked if I had brought my daughter with me. I said yes I had, and immediately she looked alarmed and asked where I had left her. She seemed to think I would be careless enough to leave a two-year-old child running free in a waiting room. For the record, my Mother in law was caring her for in the waiting room. She did finally recommend a medication, but would only do so if I would agree to wean my daughter. I had asked about returning to Effexor, and she said she wouldn’t want me to do that because she thought I would continue breastfeeding my daughter. Her recommendations were that I join Weight Watchers, wean my daughter, and begin an exercise program. She also recommended putting my child in daycare, so that I could be free from her. While these seem to be sound recommendations they do not address the original purpose of the visit. I think the most disturbing result of this appointment is that I left the office feeling despondent and depressed. I felt bullied. I did not stop crying for at least an hour after leaving. I question what could have occurred if she had dealt with a truly depressed person in the abusive manner she used with me. I have done some preliminary research on my own and anecdotally this seems to be a pattern of behaviour dating back at least a year. |
to you.
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