extremely important!!!

[k]

i meant to write this a few months ago when it happened...  my husband (we're still together but separated) - who use to come to this site.....sorry,    we have the same pdoc but he has an even worse doc - rick's on like 11 different medicines.  he has a number ailments.  the 2 doctors actually work in the same small building so hey you'd think it would be a no brainer to collaborate but these 2 refuse to consult with each other and the reg doc (whom i despise) hands out every new med on the market.  whatever comes out rick is his guinea pig.  i tried to get him away from him but its rick's choice.   
Important part:   rick is i think bpII and deals mostly with persistent depression and irritability that flashes over into rage.  he's never hallucinated before - or if so mildly - rick now says he thinks this came on slowly but we didn't realise what was happening until he was almost dead.   he started hallucinating, and shaking and sweating, and his hallucinations caused paranoia.  he started getting scared and called 911.  he was taken to the closest ER evaluated and told to go home.  next day he was even worse (rick lives alone)  he called 911 and was taken to the same ER. again they evaluated him and told him to go home.  he said later that he was so out of it he couldn't even find the exit. his sister picked him up but rick refused to back to his apartment because of what he had seen (hallucinations) so she rented him a motel room and left him.  that evening he called 911 one more time.  this time to a different hospital and they immediately admitted him. by the time i got there the next day he was shaking uncontrolably had a fever and had no idea where he was or what was happening.  nobody called his pdoc, nobody called his regular doc.   continued below..

[Phyllis]

ack! don't leave us hanging, girl! Is he ok??? What happened???

[k]

sorry i'm so wordy.  the docs were stumped and just started doing normal tests  - and giving him HALDOL  
over the next 3 days he continued to get worse.  he got to the point where he just shook and could no longer communicated or recognised anything his eyes were open but he was gone.  he definately was dying.   i think it was the 4th or 5th day someone finally determined what was wrong he had  seratonin syndrome    toxic levels of seratonin from SSRI's.   if you haven't heard of it look it up. it's deadly.  i knew  it existed but had no idea what the symptoms were. BUT, in order to discover what he had they had to draw blood and actually look for those levels.   i dont know how they treated it.  but, the next day he woke up.  but, when he woke up he wanted to die because he felt so horrible.   but, he did slowly improve.          
when he went back to see his pdoc rick had to actually tell him what happened.   the pdoc said well i don't know how that happened.    and continued to prescribe SSRI's and is never ever ever told to get the levels checked.  i haven't done any research on SS so i can't say i know much more about it.     i rarely support suing people but if we had the time and energy it should be done.  
however as a side note.  there was a time this pdoc was very passionate about his work and cared deeply.  he actually was head of a private psych hospital.  but he was sued because a patient (a huge huge patient) broke away from staff and broke through a locked door escaped and was later shot and killed by the police............ after that he's just been putting in his time. and we no longer have any private hospitals - we only have county which is similiar to jail.

[k]

sorry phyllis i was still typing. i'm kinda slow and wordy.   

i told this because i think people need to be more aware of it.  it's probably killed people and nobody knew.  as you can see they just thought he was psychotic.

[Phyllis]

wow! I hope he is ok now. That is horrible!

[Paz]

 Wow.....I want to say that I can't believe something like that could happen, but unfortunately, I can believe it. I am honestly beginning to wonder how so many bad Pdocs make it through med school and are able to practice! The horror stories that I have heard from some of the members here just shock me sometimes. I've been fortunate enough to have had some really good Pdocs and care.....my previous Pdoc[oh, how I miss her!] was the best one that I have had so far, I think that I have found another good Doc, but we shall see.  I don't mind paying for the best care that is available. In my experience, it seems that the better insurance you have[or wad of cash] the better Pdocs are available than say, a public health clinic. I am not being elitist, it's just the painful truth. Public funding for mental health is really pitiful, they should really try and free up some tax $$ to help the MH clinics. Mental Illness comes in all forms, and I think that nowadays there are more depressed people because of the economic situation, unemployment, high gas prices, etc.
 
 The Pdocs that believe meds are the answer to everything are crazier than any of us here!

[goosemuffin]

Well isn't that just effin great.
Going to talk with dr the 21st.
I am taking a ssri AND a snri.
Thanks for the info and I hope your ex gets better, that's very scary.

[Dreamline]

Wow.  That's something they should have checked him for...for fuck's sake, if one is on meds, check for reactions!!!!   JFC  They should know seratonin syndrome is one of the biggest concerns about SSRIs and w/ him on 2 OMG!  The 2nd hospital sounds like a better place...the other one is as bad as this emergency vet clinic that killed my dog!!!   But the pdoc saying he didn't know hat happened after all of that, WTFF???  Their has to be somebody to report him to.

[sine]

That makes me angry just reading your story.  Doctors such as these should be held accountable.