Expert: Ivan Goldberg, M.D. - 2/20/2009

Question
I need help. I was diagnosed several years ago with bipolar . I have gone for several years without med and have done fairly well. I am at apoint now where i tink I need med again and I can't seem to get any because the small town I live in has had too many people abusing prescription drugs that i can not get the meds i need. I have gone to 2 different doctors who turned me down. The last doctor I went to gave me a prescription for 20 clonipins and she really acted like she didin't want to or was scared to.  I am afraid to go back to her because i dread the look on her face and her reluctancy to give them to me.  Then i go home worrying worse than i was before i came because i am afraid she thinks i am a drug abuser. My husband is a police man and i don't want people to think his wife is trying to get drugs just to get high on. It simply isn't true. How can i get the meds I need without having to feel bad about it. This is ridiculous!!

Answer
Hi Renae . . .

From your message I suspect you were seeing physicians who were not psychiatrists. Non-psychiatric physicians often do a poor job of treating people with bipolar disorder. You should see a psychiatrist.

If you have no other way of finding one, you might phone the American Psychiatric Association at 703-907-7300 and seek their help in finding one close to you.

Best regards . . .

Ivan
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