Just prescribe the damn meds!

[dakhur]

The drug I take is only supposed to be prescribed for 6 months, and I've been on it for 9 years.

The kicker is that I tried everything else BEFORE this came onto the market. It saved my sanity, because the benzos' don't do anything for me.

And yes, I suspect it is because he gets paid a set amount for each visit. The dose is as low as it can go now, so I'll be interested to see what he proposes in my next visit Monday week.

[midnightaurora]

Since he's a new-to-you Dr., its possible he's concerned that you're addicted? And, of course, your desire to sleep semi-properly can be seen as drug seeking behavior (because, well, it is, in all honesty - you want your meds so you can sleep) which makes this fun for you. Is there any way to get retired Dr. to talk to new-to-you Dr.?

[BuffySummers]

The way medicare reimburses drs, though, he's probably losing money per visit in the long run. can you talk to him about his rationale for changing your regime?

[PepperElf]

And let's not forget he makes more money seeing you more often as he gets paid for the visits. Bet if Medicare told him he gets paid only for 2 visits a year, you would suddenly be getting 6 months worth of scripts at a time. (Why yes I am cynical. And yes I do know some doctors actually care about their patients. I had one once. He used an old incubator to keep his sterilized metal pap smear instruments warm for us ladies.)

I'm thinking you may be right about that. about the per-visit charges etc.

[Teskeria]

And let's not forget he makes more money seeing you more often as he gets paid for the visits. Bet if Medicare told him he gets paid only for 2 visits a year, you would suddenly be getting 6 months worth of scripts at a time. (Why yes I am cynical. And yes I do know some doctors actually care about their patients. I had one once. He used an old incubator to keep his sterilized metal pap smear instruments warm for us ladies.)

[Ree]

Insomnia really sucks!!!

Maybe he just feels that dependency on chemicals in order to sleep is not a good thing, and he thinks he can find a better way to solve the problem?

I know it's frustrating when you are on a regime that works and a new doctor upsets the balance, but sometimes, younger doctors feel they know better since there are so many changes in medicine that older doctors might not be up to speed on.
I've had the same doctor for my whole life, and I'm sure, if I was to switch doctors, my new one would change a whole lot of stuff that my other doctor has been doing as standard practice for me for many years.
Some changes, I might welcome, and some, I might not be overly impressed with.

[dakhur]

I take some serious insomnia meds. And I take a fairly serious dosage of them, one that would drop a mere mortal for several days but barely takes me down for 6 hours sleep.

I had to change docs early this year, due to my old one retiring. The new doc has decided that, despite my 12 years of records and reports, he wants to dramatically lower my levels over a month.

This means I have gone from having a script with 99 repeats, essentially a years supply, to having to see him every week. Medicare means the government pays for the visit, but it's damn inconvenient for me! And I suspect that, in another week, he'll try to deliver an ultimatum - either I go for another series of useless labs, or he'll stop my meds altogether.

I've tried everything outright of beating him over the head - I'm a long-term insomniac! I DO NOT SLEEP! Now shut up and just give me the damn scripts and let me get on with my life! These drugs work when nothing else has, so stop trying to solve an issue that I already know the solution for!

Really, it just infuriates me that he's going to want to reinvent the wheel for no good reason, other than to satisfy some perverted desire for complete control. There's no other reason to do this, at least not one that solves the problem for me.

Sorry - just needed to vent.