Venting about getting help

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So I have cyclothymia and it's recommended that I get on a mood stabilizaer.

I got a referral from my psychologist for two of them. One has a 2+ month wait time and the other doesn't take my insurance even though my insurance website says he does.

So I decided to just go to my primary care physician which were helpful, but didn't want to make it worse so they gave me a referral to a clinic that has a number of psychiatrists working for them.

I call and it's the wrong number and it's for a differing department. I get the correct number from them, call it, and find out that I can't be a patient of theirs until I'm a patient of theirs, which makes no sense.

And so here I am now using my insurances website which I know now to hold incorrect data and google searches which are really not that great to find a psychiatrist.

I really want my mood stabilizer. And it's a week and a half later. I don't know anyone locally who would have knowledge of a good psychiatrist that can see me now to get the ball rolling on this. The reviews I come across of psychiatrists aren't helpful if they are their at all. Really the only things I can filter the results on are distance from where I work & live to make it easy on me for travel time.

It's the 21st god damn century. This is frustrating.

Can you go back to your primary care doctor?

I could. But I have an appointment with my psych counselor tomorrow. I've done what little research I have. I discovered that the work office of the literally closest psychiatrist to where I live is actually listed by my insurance and according to online search results is knowledgeable about some of my issues. So I'm going to run this by my counselor tomorrow. Maybe they professionallly know each other or maybe my counselor will have a new idea.

No success yet. The one I had my eyes set on only does her psychiatry practice at that location for neuro-surgery patients of the doctor who runs it.

So far, I'm 0-15 in finding a psych. Worst case was someone who showed up locally on google maps, showed that they were covered locally on my insurance information, and shown local in website results is actually in another state. Most though either no longer take my insurance, or don't work at that location and instead work in a different city, or are there for very specific reasons which I have nothing to do with.

Got my counselor-psychologist to give me a referral to someone she works with who she warned me against.

Call to schedule appt and find that he's booked for next several weeks. I was referred to the other practice of that psychiatrist, and here I am, waiting a call back on a voice mail message I left.

I'm so drained from this.

I've been to psychiatrists.
To me they seem very much like glorified pill-pushers.

Can't your primary care prescribe Lithium?

The PCP is afraid of getting sued for prescribing an autistic patient the wrong thing, so is pushing stardraigh to a psychiatrist.

Stardraigh, try this. Go to your psych and explain again the problem. If the psych knows what medication is appropriate, have her call your PCP and recommend that it be prescribed. The PCP has a prescription pad. The psych can also, if necessary, involve a social worker.

In the end, all the practicioners may be afraid of getting sued on behalf of an autistic patient. In which case you will have to say firmly to your psych: Look, I am a cyclothymic autist with limited resources. You know perfectly well that I'm hampered in setting things up for myself and that the consequences of leaving this untreated can be serious. If something serious does happen to me, like if I have an abrupt depressive spell and try to harm myself, or an abrupt hypomanic spell and get into some other kind of trouble, the fact that I was left to bump around by myself trying to connect parts of your system -- that's going to come back to you, because you're the only authority who knows what kind of trouble I'm in. So get off your duff and tell your secretary to start making the phone calls on my behalf, get me hooked up. Tell the secretary it's not negotiable and that you need to get me in with someone who takes my insurance within the next two weeks. Also, if I'm eligible, I need to be hooked up with medicaid or have help switching to exchange-based insurance before the open-enrollment window closes, so that I have greater access to psychiatrists.

You can take that paragraph with you and read it straight off if you like.

I did get an appt scheduled today. They didn't call back till today. The appt is next week. I cycled down yesterday it seems and I feel oh so wonderful now. My mother and brother also pushed some buttons without thought that kind of made it worse and I had what I call a nightmare and my sleep sucked, I just ended up calling in sick today to work.