Posted by mattdds on February 14, 2003, at 15:15:43
In reply to good pdoc in NYC?, posted by Hattree on February 14, 2003, at 10:53:31
I've had a tough time finding a good p-doc here in manhattan too. Probably because I'm an NYU student. The health center there is nice and modern and well equipped. But basically, if you don't respond to an SSRI, fughettaboutit, as they say. If you have an anxiety, even panic (like me), they would let you become a depressed agoraphobic before they prescribed you a benzo.
I still haven't found one, and am beginning to think that there are actually very few who are not too busy doing research for a big psych department like NYU or Columbia. Very few actual clinicians, in other words.
I think it is especially hard if you need a controlled substance. NY state requires a triplicate prescription for benzodiazepines, e.g. Klonopin, or the ONLY drug that has worked at all for me. So I get to learn to "cope" with my anxiety, rather than treat it, as they counsel me here. Recently, an NYU doctor gave me 10 Klonopin! Ooooooh, thanks, that should last me a whole 5 days! No refills, nothing. Ridiculous, some doctors are prescribing meprobamate or barbiturates or the worthless hydroxyzine, all to avoid the evil "addictiveness" of benzos. Some docs are prescribing neuroleptics, because of course it is much better to be flapping your arms, and smacking your lips involuntarily, than have the dreaded benzo dependency. This thing about the triplicate prescription for benzos is very arbitrary and paranoid, IMO.
I can't wait to graduate and get the hell out of here. Only one more year! Back in Arizona, they gave out scripts for benzos like they do for Lexapro here, a cure for all that ails you.
Maybe I'll try crossing the Hudson into Jersey, where the benzo scrips flow like water. Or at least they might flow a little.
Best of luck,
Matt
poster:mattdds
thread:200374
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030214/msgs/200459.html