She really knows her meds
Friday, December 21, 2007
I have been seeing Psychiatrists since I first starting having trouble with major depression at age nineteen -- I'm 41 now, so you can do the math. I have tried psychoanalysis, cognitive therapy, you name it. I've probably spent over $200,000 to date.
In the end, I decided that talk therapy, while comforting in the short term, was really not getting me anywhere and that, at least for me, meds were the primary recourse.
I have been seeing Dr. Birk since my last major crash in 2005.
I have found that, while my initial reaction was that she was over-medicating me, her choices of meds have really helped me. Most recently, I had terrible trouble sleeping. I went to a neurologist specializing in sleep disorders. The neurologist was not able to help me at all.
The next time I saw Dr Birk, she made some fairly substantial changes to my meds which made me feel like my old self within 48 hours.
I cannot speak to her skills as a psychoanalyst, but looking back over my last 2 years with her, I don't think she has made a single mis-step on the meds.
That being said, my first bit of advice is that if you don't feel a good match with any doctor, try someone else. Second, remember that you are your own best primary care physician and best primary psychiatrist. It is up to you to remind doctors of what has worked in the past and what you feel would be good changes to try. These doctors are not machines. With hundreds of patients under their care, they can't remember every nuance of every thing you've ever told them.
Good luck to all of you out there. Things can and will get better for you.
-Brian C, Bethesda