MEDICATION QUESTION

Anyways, nice to have an awesome doctor. Mine apparently isn't. Kaiser appears to be behind the times, and I don't think it will take just lil ol me to get them into the "here and now". Yes, a bit frustrated right now.
>: I'll go ahead and make an appt with the substance abuse physician and muddle thru that so I can tell my doc that I did indeed go to see him when I see her again in about 3 weeks. So I guess I'll just keep ordering my meds online. And on a final note, my Doc practically jumped at the opportunity to prescribe me medication for my persistent heartburn....go figure ......

sorry smokey

I took the MYO book to my appointment and explained the program to the doc. She left for a while to go research it and came back and agreed to give me the script. Since then for my follow ups she and the PA's I've seen have been very entheusiastic about the program and my progress. I think it just takes a forward thinking doc who is open minded. i have been singing the praises of MYO to them hoping they will spread the good word.

Kat

I was terrified about seeing my dr., but because of the posts at this site, I felt well-prepared. I had everything in hand--the entire book, which I printed for him, the Lancet study, and the Wall Street Journal story about the study at BU. He had never heard of using Topamax and didn't know how much to prescribe. I was able to produce the chart with the dosage escalations on it. He said, "Don't you think you need a support group?" I said that I had a support group, one that was mostly women and was about as anonymous as you can get. We went into his office, where he figured out how much I needed. I did try one trick that you might be able to use. I flattered him. I told him that at our last visit, he had told me that if I couldn't stop at two drinks, I should just quit. I said, "You told me that, and it caused me to come to the place where I am now." Now, we all know that what brings us here is a thousand, million things that happen every day, that we've known we needed to do something for years. But he didn't know that. I let him think that he was the single most important person in my recovery. It works.

ah hah...interesting!!
Anyways, I also had brought my book to my doc appt, gave her the printout of the Lancet rpt, and a printout about the Topa Drug. She also went away for about minutes or so and conferred with the Kaiser docs in substance abuse..They had never heard of using Topa for alcohol abuse. They are of the mindset that alcoholics cannot use moderation. It is a disease, and it may work for a while, but in the long run, it will "get you" and you will just go back to drinking full time again. You must abstain forever. My Doctor wants me to make an appt with the substance abuse doc (way on the other side of the city) to talk about it, and probably go to at least one counseling session one on one. The substance abuse pamphlet they give out specifically states that you have to give alcohol up totally, no mention of any help with the use of medications or supplements, just lots of "sessions".
I am still debating whether to make that first appt, I am afraid I will get into a fight/argument with the doctor and storm out.... oh well, gotta love Kaiser :D

What is a DO ?

Your experience with the doc sounds exactly like mine.

A Doctor of Osteopathy, from what I have been told and I've also googled it. They tend to allow for alternative types of medication and programs, like this. My MD before was pretty restrictive and by the book.