I was officially diagnosed today...

originally posted by: TarzanBeta
with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Panic Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

I think they left out ADHD, but that could actually be a symptom of Panic Disorder combined with OCD.

I don't go to the doctor much. I have an inherent distrust in doctors.

This doctor, I could tell, was actually brilliant.

He was very observant and he was the dictator of the interaction. I loved him.

I never love doctors. They are usually ignorant and book smart and using Google.

That was not this man.

He read me like a book. I have never met anyone who understood me. Somehow, he did.

He diagnosed me without telling me by spurring random conversation. He's not even a head doctor.

This man... Made me feel like someone actually listened.

I've been to head doctors and they were all idiots.

This guy was brilliant. I didn't expect that. He's a general practitioner, not a head doctor.

Wow. Sugoi! Why does my mind want to be joyful in Japanese? It seems more genuine.

Of course, joy only lasts until the world turns into collapsing walls... Which is immediately.

There is something to be said for someone really hearing you. There really is. It makes you want to stay there forever.

Anyway, he figured it all out without my opinions, but only through my actions.

Sou da ne?

Then he told me at the end, "Now that you know me and I know you: you don't need to thank someone that you know." He said that in response to my constant thank you.

Wild. I may be heard after all.

I will find out next week.

Do you eat a lot of pickles? The alum in them actually makes panic disorders worse.

Magnesium deficiency can also cause more panic attacks, milk is a good source of magnesium if you can drink it. It also contains beta blockers that help to moderate things. I can't drink much milk, but still have it occasionally. Magnesium can also help control epilepsy. I actually tried that for about three months, but wound up with sore tendons, too much is not good if you do not have enough calcium. And I can't drink much milk.

Don't drink that soy milk crap, it isn't good for us. This is my informed opinion, I studied soy chemistry quite a bit and it isn't good for anyone. The evidence they give us is cherry picked to show it's good properties, not it's bad properties. I do use kikkomens soy sauce though, but sparingly, fermented soy is not as much of a problem.

a reply to: TarzanBeta

Honestly something that I found to help the most is just having someone to vent to.

Our ego prevents us from doing a lot of the things that help us the most in life.
Don't let your ego prevent you from just talking to someone about how your feeling that day.
Just let it out. There's many of us on ATS alone that know or have felt similar to what you feel.
If your comfortable discussing with a complete stranger - whom will never judge you, is familiar with the type of mind state we go through...
never hesitate to send me a message, ever.

originally posted by: justme2
a reply to: TarzanBeta

This day and age, to find a doctor that listens - that REALLY listens is a true rarity. While i do have some (self-diagnosed) OCD (you sort of have to, to work in an emergency dept) - I would honestly be petrified to bring up my concerns with the majority of physicians I have either seen or worked with. These days, it is no longer "listening" to the pt that gets drilled into the docs in med school. Instead, it is how important EMR is to properly bill, how important pt. satisfaction scores are (so facilities can stay accredited/receive funds), etc etc. It is almost as if the true meaning of being a dr. has become secondary. And this isn't new, has been going on for 20+ years here in the US.It's just getting progressively worse each and every year. Complain of pain - you must be seeking narcotics. Complain of anxiety? Must be seeking benzos. Sadly, the way the system works now - and how some "work" the system, real pt's such as yourself get lost in the shuffle.
In short, you have sort of won the "Health care provider lottery". I don't have to tell you to be super thankful, because it is quite obvious you are.
You don't know me, but hearing that you have found a wonderful Dr. gives me hope.
Thank YOU for sharing the good news. We are all family here in one way or another!

Absolutely! I was prescribed, but with nothing addictive to my knowledge.

And yes, I told him, "I actually enjoy you and I don't know why..."

You're right. I hit the lottery. I have avoided doctors for so long for that reason.

Thank you very much!

a reply to: TarzanBeta

Good that you had some answers. Now you can study from internet and books about those disorders. It helped me, a bit at least, when i was lost with myself and the world around me. Big pharma and mainstream psychiatry has helped me also and i guarantee i am not a "sheep". I wish you all the best.

Thank you Ricky, but I don't eat pickles and I do drink whole milk... Usually in the middle of the night after a nightmare.

originally posted by: Macenroe82
a reply to: TarzanBeta

Honestly something that I found to help the most is just having someone to vent to.

Our ego prevents us from doing a lot of the things that help us the most in life.
Don't let your ego prevent you from just talking to someone about how your feeling that day.
Just let it out. There's many of us on ATS alone that know or have felt similar to what you feel.
If your comfortable discussing with a complete stranger - whom will never judge you, is familiar with the type of mind state we go through...
never hesitate to send me a message, ever.

Thank you. I will consider that. I'm very embarrassed by my stories, though.

Hmm.

Sugoi. Happy for you that you have found some release.
Here's a track to make you feel more lighter.

originally posted by: Finspiracy
a reply to: TarzanBeta

Good that you had some answers. Now you can study from internet and books about those disorders. It helped me, a bit at least, when i was lost with myself and the world around me. Big pharma and mainstream psychiatry has helped me also and i guarantee i am not a "sheep". I wish you all the best.

Yeah, I did as soon as I got home. I know myself well enough to know that everything I read will take some time to form into something cohesive in my mind, though.

Thank you very much for your support!

originally posted by: Cloudbuster
Sugoi. Happy for you that you have found some release.
Here's a track to make you feel more lighter.

Doumo! Music does help with the constant tension, but then something snaps no matter how peaceful the environment. It's a conundrum. But when I get lost in peace, something infects my head with torment. Does that make sense?

Wakatta ne?

a reply to: TarzanBeta

All of us are.
There's always something that we "should have done different" or that our problems are to small to be considered problems, there's bigger issues out there right?
Wrong, our issues are the biggest issues, because they are our issues.
We have to put ourselves first, to be the best we can, in order to help others.

I don't want to preach to ya or any other bs, just know, you don't need to feel embarrassed talking to me or anyone else for that matter. who am I to judge anyone in this world, beyond myself and my own actions.

a reply to: TarzanBeta

Your post reads like this doctor told you everything you wanted to hear.
I'm interested to know he plans to do to help with these issues.

a reply to: TarzanBeta

I am assuming you are from Japan. Sorry I only learnt a few things to say while I was in Japan for six weeks a long time ago. But one of my favourite s was sugoi.

I do hope you find inner peace.

In my country we say KIA KAHA E HOA which means ....stand tall and strong.my friend.

originally posted by: TarzanBeta
Thank you Ricky, but I don't eat pickles and I do drink whole milk... Usually in the middle of the night after a nightmare.

They do make medicines that treat that, either by blocking a process or inhibiting or promoting an enzyme. I hope you do not have a lot of negative reactions to the meds. I was given epilepsy drugs, I could not detox them properly and near the end I did research on what they look for in the blood tests I was constantly having to get done. Put it this way, for a problem to show up on those tests out of bound, you are losing your liver function and it is dying.

I wonder what type of chemistry they will prescribe, anticholine chemistry, antifolate chemistry, or will they try to adjust Seratonin levels. I put my bet on SSSRI chemistry or GABA promoting chemistry with what you said about the doctor. Some meds adjust GABA without messing up choline or folate.

a reply to: TarzanBeta

That's horrible!

You being happy about this "diagnosis" means that you are completely unwilling to take responsibility for your problems and instead want to pretend they are just part of your nature and that you are incapable of handling them because of X,Y,and Z excuses.

All of these labels are completely irrational. What you need is to just deal with your problems and work them out.

What a minute, I must be completely wrong and especially cruel with my "diagnosis".
Just take your meds. I'm sure pills will fix everything.

a reply to: muzzleflash

That is a bit harsh muzzle.
Not everyone looks at medications as a cure all that fix everything. Anyone that thinks that, needs to re-evaluate their situation.

I can tell by OP's writing that he:
#1 Wanted to be heard.
#2 Wanted to be taken seriously by the medical establishment.
#3 Explore tools w/ the MD to get "better".

Now getting better to one person may mean something completely different to another person. You obviously think that medications and diagnosis' (or labeling as you put it) do not lead to getting better. That's fine, that's your belief, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Medications are just a tool, when used correctly, in the process of healing. Nothing is ever cut and dried/set in stone.

I again applaud the OP for being an advocate for himself. It sometimes can be extremely hard to do so these days - to go to an MD, only to be ignored and "shot down". It takes true courage to keep going, to keep advocating for yourself. After all, nobody knows themselves better than themselves!

Keep fighting the good fight, OP!

I'm glad you found someone to listen, and who seems to understand. Talking is the first step, the rest might take a while.
You do what's best for you, and hang in there. No need to respond or try to rationalize or justify anything to anybody. Everybody has their own path, and everyone is different, emotionally, mentally, and consequently chemically, and respond to different treatment. You find what's best for you, and the others can do the same. (Hopefully without so much unnecessary negative judgment. We need to try and not do that to one another.)

you pay your own bill?

originally posted by: muzzleflash
a reply to: TarzanBeta

That's horrible!

You being happy about this "diagnosis" means that you are completely unwilling to take responsibility for your problems and instead want to pretend they are just part of your nature and that you are incapable of handling them because of X,Y,and Z excuses.

All of these labels are completely irrational. What you need is to just deal with your problems and work them out.

What a minute, I must be completely wrong and especially cruel with my "diagnosis".
Just take your meds. I'm sure pills will fix everything.

I am not happy about the diagnosis. I am happy that someone listened to me.

I am AWARE of my diagnosis.

I suspect you come from the angle that a bunch of snowflakes are diagnosed because they're... Well... Snowflakes.

I could take any human being out on this planet, unarmed.

But a butterfly might cause me to be a cripple.

You don't get it. Praise God that you don't.

originally posted by: Cloudbuster
a reply to: TarzanBeta

I am assuming you are from Japan. Sorry I only learnt a few things to say while I was in Japan for six weeks a long time ago. But one of my favourite s was sugoi.

I do hope you find inner peace.

In my country we say KIA KAHA E HOA which means ....stand tall and strong.my friend.

No. I just love the gratitude that culture exhibits. And I know intermediate Japanese, so it infects me sometimes. Thank you!

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: TarzanBeta

Your post reads like this doctor told you everything you wanted to hear.
I'm interested to know he plans to do to help with these issues.

Not at all.

He told me everything that I did not expect.

It's almost like some of you have selective reading difficulties.