Dear Waves,

I searched through insurance stuff, made a bunch of calls, and found a new mdoc (internist) -- have an appointment for Tuesday afternoon.


I might go to the health food store for some raw honey so I am a little bit open to recipes -- but I can't take lemon I think because of interference with Verapamil.


M.

(Mari, just omit the lemon, it will be ok all the same)

Ingredients - spices

• cloves - 3 - 4
• ginger - 4-5 fine (1mm) slices of fresh ginger root, (peeled if golden brown kind, unpeeled ok if "young" pink translucent kind) OR at least 1/4 tsp dried pre-ground (more ok, to taste)
• cardamom - 3 seeds, pod removed, inner membrane removed, sticky seeds separated from each other.
• coriander 7-8 seeds hand-crushed, OR about a half-tsp pre-ground

Ingredients - other

• honey - about 2 tsp or to taste - drink should be somewhat sweet
• lemon - 1/4 large or 1/3 small.
• tea - optional

Directions - long method:
Prepare a decoction with the spices by placing in a small pan or heatable cup, and bringing to a boil, allowing then to simmer for at least 10 minutes or until the water becomes golden colored (the cloves cause the coloring, the cardamom to a lesser extent. if you do not use cloves, just go by time.)

Pour the decoction through a strainer into a cup to filter out the spices which can be discarded, except the ginger, which if you like raw ginger (it will not be cooked), is edible and very good for you. I sometimes transfer the ginger slices into the bottom of the mug and eat them afterwards.

If using tea, add it now to steep for your usual amount of time or a little LESS. Remove the tea.

Add honey and stir until dissolved.

If using lemon (NOT MARI) squeeze it in now, AFTER the honey. Reuse the strainer to avoid the seeds.

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Directions - quick method:

Dump all the spices into a mug. poke at the ginger with a fork to break the fiber and help it release its juices and oils. Boil some water (stove better, but even if microwave, do the water separately - do not nuke the spices). Pour the water over the spices. Add tea if you are using it. Remove the tea after the usual time or less, but whether using tea or not, allow the spices to steep about 5 minutes, better if with the mug covered.

Using powdered ginger saves some hassle.

Add the honey, then the lemon - in that order. (dissolving the honey will lower the temp. of the water, so that less of the vitamin C in the lemon will be destroyed by the heat.)

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Drink up, and inhale the vapours as you do so, as they contain essential oils.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I often do the quick method using just ginger/cardamom, ginger/cloves, with powdered ginger which is no fuss. However all the spices have helpful properties and they are best brought out by decoction.

The beverage is best with lemon, but can be had without.

Adjust the ingredients to taste after the first trial... if you try it, lol.

~ waves ~

Dear Waves,

Your tea sounds good. And I love reading beautiful recipes.


I don't think we have fresh (or frozen ginger) in the apt. Hubby doesn't buy the powder.
We might have the others in powder and I will look in the cupboard tomorrow before going to the store.

Earlier I bought some raw honey.

M.

Dear Waves,

I made an appointment with a new mdoc for Tuesday afternoon.

Do I reveal bipolar or do I tell her I take Verapamil and Klonopin for anxiety? -- The anxiety story seemed to work for the ER doc last week, but the mdoc will have a completely different relationship with me.

The bp might be part of my records at the old mdoc's but the records won't be with me on Tuesday. And even so, the bp stuff is buried deep I'm guessing. Docs aren't big readers or big at going through someone else's paperwork.


These are folks who cared about previous records:

-- current pdoc cared a little about 11 years worth of records from old pdoc


--current tdoc cared a lot about getting records from
1. current pdoc
2. and wanted me to sign releases with acupunturist and her so that the two could have phone convos about me. BTW, I'm still waiting for them to bring me some relief with sleep patterns. (Sorry, complaining)

Todc is pretty darned thorough I realize as I write this.
She left a message on my machine that I have not played yet. I had told her in March that my summer would start mid-May and would need her then.

M.

Dear Mari,

Glad you like the recipe. Fresh ginger is best in its herbal properties anyway, but powder is great for a "quick fix." i have never used powdered cloves - the dose i gave was for whole cloves, 2 or 3 of them in decoction. in the brew, you can use as many as five. now if you use powder, go VERY EASY with clove... use no more than 1/4 tsp until you get a sense for how strong it will come out. clove is a potent disinfectant and natural analgesic, however it can also cause irritation, noticeable only once the analgesic effect has worn off. i hope you have whole cloves.

Congratulations on getting through the "stuff" you needed to and make an appointment to try a new mdoc.

I would tell the new mdoc about your bipolar... in the same breath as you tell her you have a pdoc treating you and also get counseling from a tdoc. If she freaks out she is not going to be a very helpful mdoc. But most do not freak out.

You might have to fill out a form before hand stating meds and any illnesses. in which case you won't have a chance to say it in the same breath. in that case you will get a real test to see the mdoc's attitude towards mental illnesses. in general i have not had a problem. even with docs who aren't big into the mental health picture. my former gp made it very clear she was not trained to "manage" my illness medically and stated she needed me to have a pdoc as well - which i did anyway. however she was actually quite understanding in several instances when i needed it. she also talked me out of impulsive maneuvers with regard to changing pdoc.

i only had one mdoc be problematic (well, besides a crazy dentist but they aren't doctors). i saw her only twice, before switching to my former gp (the real good one). Ok, so i go in to this new doc presenting first as more depressed, she issues sick leave and a few days later i go back full mixed/manic - to which she reacted badly. that day i marched into her office dressed like a goddess and wanted lab scripts for everything on earth including every vitamin and mineral i could think of, a sick-time release so i could quit work, other specialist referrals (endocrinologist for one) and a call to a second pdoc because i didn't trust the first one.

as she wrote the release i questioned her as to why it wasn't on a form. she told me shakily that there wasn't a form, that it was hardly ever done and she had never done it before, but anyway, no form existed at all, so this was really all she could do, and that they would have to accept it. she wrote me all the scripts for all the lab tests (remind me next time i want lab tests to present crazy - either i'll get the scripts, or they'll lock me up ) and made a frantic call to the other pdoc, talking in a very loud voice about my ideations, expressed in the prior appointment, but exaggerated to full intent (now we know, ideation is not intent!). at her volume, i know she could be heard from the waiting room... which really bugged me... because i could hear others from outside, even at regular volume). she was pacing and shaking on the phone, eyes wide, and in retrospect seemed terrified of me.

a doc who was on the ball should have recognized i was "not right" and refused to take me off sick leave, given my behavior and intent to quit work, especially considering the difference in presentation between that visit and the visit only few days prior. if you are wondering, i didn't threaten her or anything. but she certainly seemed to feel threatened - probably just by my very haughty demeanor. i was so upset with work and determined to get out that i walked in with orders, not requests. but i wasn't violent, sat some and stood some (no pacing), and i wasn't even shouting, just rattling off what i wanted rather fast. i can tell you right off, that would not have flown with the GP i had afterwards. she would have told me - if uselessly - to calm down, and would have probably told me (even my boss told me this, lol) i was too agitated and i was best on sick leave for the few days that remained. but that other woman was afraid of me, and for no good reason.

if you get someone who is afraid of you and you aren't even manic, go back to those insurance books again. lol.

but i do believe an mdoc should know about the diagnosis... especially because it will help if you do go in with mood symptoms and are having trouble relating. you won't have to do a lot of the explaining then. you can say something general about not being very stable, or whatever, and there will be a context, a priori.

in the case of my freaked out mdoc, she did not have the a priori benefit. because when i saw her for the first time it was because i needed pdoc referral asap and i was in bad shape. so she didn't have too much time to adjust. i still think she did not handle things very well on the second visit, by which time she knew. in the first visit, i had been calm.

hope that helps more than scares, lol

~ waves ~

[QUOTE=Mari;510632]HI, Bizi,
My mdoc is useless and maybe worse.
When I called with original symptoms on Wednesday / May 6, the office people (thinking Swine Flu) told me that they would not see me and I had to go to the ER. Urgent Care told me to go to the ER as well.
ER doc said to follow up with primary doc if symptoms relieved by Monday / May 11.

Mdoc's office was helpful to me at one time but that was years and years ago. It would take me pages to explain how awful they are.

I am reluctant to find new mdoc -- can't explain -- it is emotional.


Mari They sound like a incompetent bouch of health care people to jump to conclusions like that. Gosh!!!!! It is their duty to take care of you. BF

Hi mari,
I guess you get to decide what you put on your history sheet, what ever you think is relavant.
You really could jsut put down the anxiety issues for the klonipin usage, I am not sure about the verapimil though.
or you could jsut put that you are bp2 and see if they notice.
You have a couple of days to think about it....
good luck with the new mdoc visit.
beth

Mari,

I've always told all my doctors I'm BP when they ask what else I have. I don't know why I do though. I hope you and I both feel better.

Waves, thanks for the recipe. I'd never use all those spices or ingredients though to make it worth my while to buy. On the other hand though I may be able to borrow enough to give it try.

BF, I hope you feel better also.

barbara

You know the verapimil is also used for blood pressure and headaches.

So even if you put that down they may feel its for one of those.

Personally I would tell them I think that anxiety goes with the job.
And then wait and see how you like the doctor for the rest.

Donna

Dear Beth,

Twenty years ago when I was diagnosed with bipolar, the pdocs did not distinguish between BP1 and BP2. I never got an update on exact dx.
Having said that, even though I was seeing a very good pdoc and closely following his instructions, it took him FOUR years to get close to stability, during which time, I lived in horrible bouts of mixed episodes -- which, from what I read, could put me in BP1 territory, depending on who is dx'ing.
Before dx and bad drugs, I did not have intense mixed moods so I a have no idea of dx.
Current pdoc writes "BAD" on my paper work.

Thanks for the luck.


Dear Friend,

Yes that practice really stinks. One reason I stayed with them is because the practice before this one was worse.

A true story:
About 18 years ago I had a Chief of Infectious Diseases at a fancy hospital talk to me like I was stupid.
After a few minutes, I decided that I had enough and had to get out of that office in the next 2 seconds.
I tore off my robe in front of him and his assistant, looked around for my clothes, and got dressed as he scurried out of the room like a rat.
Fully dressed, I ran out and told the receptionist that I would not be back.
I called the insurance folks when I got home and lodged a complaint.

When I was younger, I was willing to put up with much less than I do now.




Dear Waves,

I'm sorry that you had a someone (a person and a medical doctor) respond so horribly to you. But thanks for the laugh. I really appreciate the humor.


Mari