Waves,

That is helpful and I have stuff to say re the Aspergers. 'Will get back to this later. Day has felt busy.

Re psychiatrist;
I really hate that building. It is the same building and the same floor as the one time tdoc who dumped me.
The is an old, never maintained building.
I even let myself got creeped out when families and people who were waiting with me needed a key to use the restrooom ( a shared key. gross).

I made this progress this afternoon:
1. called insurance company to ask them to find me a psychiatrist.


2. called to make an appt with possible new tdoc that my insurance company found for me earlier in the week. She ONLY takes morning appointments. That stinks.
The person in the office gave me the name of someone else who can see me Monday (few days from now) at 7:45 p.m. at a little distance from my place but distance is reasonable I hope. Traffic will be light at that time I believe.

3. I searched through the data base and found a psychiatrist who I believe answered the phone (Eastern European accent that matched the name in the data base -- unless of course I am really off about that) but was leaving and told me to call back on Monday at which time I will be able to get an appt.

M

About the 300 mg trileptal. You can split those in half. Derrick is right now
because he is supposed to be taking 150mg right now till the end of July.

Donna:grouphug::hug:

Well done!
 

Hi Mari

You accomplished a lot making the calls for a different therapist and psychiatrist. Great that you have an evening therapist appointment! :)

Great job moving on (and past!) today's bump in the pdoc-road.

I wish you a peaceful evening and night.

waves

Waves,

Yesterday was exhausting but I survived.
1. The pdoc gave me a new med that I have to drop off --- long story about electronic 'scripts vs handwritten 'scripts.
2. And I did not break down at the very end when the pdoc apparently did not add Verapamil to my list of 'scripts ("refills" in my haad) and the staff would not make the correction for me. I insisted on the Verapamil even though the person I was dealing with tried to tell me that I had to get that from my g.p.
+=+=+=

I think I slept eight hours AND I think I went to sleep about midnight and woke up a little after eight. That is amazing.

I am helping hubby put together the trash so he can put it outside for pick up and then maybe I will go for a walk in the early sun.

Mari

Mari,
I hope your day is ending well. Thinking you got he 8 hrs sleep during the night is a good thing. Getting out in the sun and fresh air sounds refreshing and hoped you were able to enjoy a walk.

Too fast the weekend will be over and you'll have the access for appointments. Today sit by the grass, smell the flowers and sun giving you a hug of warmth.
Di :grouphug:

Good evening, Mari
 

Alright! You did really well! http://www.thesmilies.com/smilies/happy/highfive.gif

Great news! :)

I hope today was a much easier day for you. It sounds like you were productive. I hope you enjoyed your walk. :):hug::hug::hug: Thanks for all your support today.

waves

Waves,

Well then, old tdoc got it very wrong. She might have been right about the anxiety -- not sure.
He does have hoarding which can go with OCD and anxiety.

The scenario about asking the friend to wait --- does not exactly fit his case. But I understand. In hubby's case, he has been culturally programmed to be very sensitive and respectful of private areas.

After reading your posts and then ovserving him, I am reminded of how much he gets upset when something goes wrong in a way that things go "wrong" for normal people on "normal" days: -- a dish breaks, we get ants, something is misplaced, . . . .
Also he cares very much about rules, esp. about other people breaking rules.
Also he has to do his rituals --- meal prep, getting dressed,

He is much like the autistic teenage character Max Bravermann in t.v.'s Parenthood although I could not find a good youtube link. The parents in that show have gotten training in how to deal with their son.

I will get back to this.
Maybe I should get some DVDs of the show. It sometimes is easier to see the behavior in an adolescent on the screen than an adult.
We could discuss it.
In the Big Bang Theory t.v. show, the four major characters have Aspergers- type traits but their version is about having social issues. . . .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSVhXOFtoYY -- This show is comedy while Parenthood is drama.
The writers of The Big Bang are on record as saying this is not about Aspergers --- prolly to allow themselves to make up stuff.

Hubby is very sensitive to social cues . . . . even if it is the case that he might not notice exactly how to interpret what has happened but does notice that something happened that is important. But then he can argue about the interpretation and when I do not find it interesting I drop it. I only engage if he is hugely wrong about someone important like a boss but that rarely happens.
Oh, and he can once in a while take something and want to keep talking about it forever. 'Wants to go over it again and again and then the other angles. He holds onto it like a turtle. I can sometimes find it hard to disengage when he thinks something is important and needs to be hashed out until he can put it into perspective or make peace with it.

Mari

Waves,
 

Right.
Saturday he should me a box of mango tea.
He assumed that it was something I could not drink or be near but wanted to check.
I said he was right to want to keep it away from me.

(I actually have no idea if that mango tea would make any difference to me but I answered in a way that would show logical consistency to him.)

Mari

Sure. I can check youtube again, or try to find transcripts. Unfortunately the show doesn't air here.

Hilarious! :D
Yes, we need to be wary of that. Monk is another fictional example showing OCD and autistic traits, even autistic-savant occasionally. The OCD is blatant, presenting with the common germ phobia. Sometimes obession-resistance and compulsions are illustrated also. However, some of more autistic-like behavior contradicts his obsessions, eg. Monk is shown walking and touching each street post - with NO germ preoccupation! Furthermore the character seems socially inept at times, but occasionally acts quite normal. Even taking him as dual-dx, there are too many inconsistencies! After all, the character was created with the sole purpose of making people laugh, not to model a type of behavior for a psychology class.

His overall sensitivity tends to argue against Aspergers; his trouble with interpretation tends to argue in favor. His cultural upbringing needs to be considered in all of this. Parenting in some cultures involves more social rigor. Just as he was trained to observe privacy, he may have been trained to observe social cues. This could explain why he can spot but not necessarily interpret cues. Aspies can be coached in the social arena.

Still, an Aspie must meet TWO criteria from the first group. His behavioral reciprocity seems more than adequate - you say he prefers to speak (seek attention) than he listen (give attention). From the little you've said, he does have peer relationships - he's not a loner. That leaves the social cues and empathy/emotional reciprocity. Does he seem to have a near-normal level of empathy and show emotional reciprocity, as far as you can tell?

Overanalysis - easily falls in with either Aspergers or OCD, but it is not diagnostic of either. I used to over-analyze A LOT more than I do now.

================

Remember that all of these disorders/patterns, ADHD, OCD, Anxiety, Asperger's, have several required characteristics. Normal people can be obsessive, inattentive or have social quirks, without having OCD, ADHD or autism. Some people may even have many sx, but not enough to be dx'd - they would be subsyndromal.

Since your husband has traits related to multiple disturbances and his behaviors cause strain between you, a therapist who has experience with all these disorders might be able to afford you some insight into his behavior, and possibly help you find easier ways of interacting with him. You'd probably have to provide information on your husband's early years which you'd have to get from him.

I'm sorry. I wrote a book again. :o And to think I haven't even replied to everything... sigh.

I hope today is a good day for you. :)

waves

Great! He is making efforts to meet your needs on the mango issue! :) This is a huge progress from laughing about it just because you didn't require an ambulance like his buddy.

Totally! http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/im...ons/icon14.gif Your showing certainty about the logic is helpful too, imho. It' draws a clear line. In reality, for you, exposure to those teabags is a bit like playing russian roulette with lower stakes. All he needs to know is that, yes, the gun is loaded.

waves