Tag: therapist

Catch up and a little today stuff, too haha

by Midnight Demon, posted in Bipolar Disorder, blogging, Chronic pain, chronic physical pain, CRPS, depression, mood disorders, transgender

Catch up and a little today stuff too haha

So yesterday I didn’t write a blog because after my two appointments in Boston, I was tired so took a nap that lasted longer than I wanted it. Then it was game time and after I took my night meds, I was struggling to stay up till the 9th inning. I thought about posting a blog on my phone but I hate doing that because autocorrect sometimes either guesses a word wrong or substitutes words that are spelled right but think it is wrong. Then I feel bad when I read it because it makes no fucking sense. If you ever read a blog that has errors, know that I probably wrote it on my phone and please tell me so I can fix it.

I got pain after the game. Just getting into a comfy position upset my ankle. We won game 1, 5-4. I was freaking out because we were leading 5-0 and the snakes were clawing their way back. I watched one inning on TV and hated the announcers. I figured the Sox half they would talk about the Sox, nope. All Snakes. Fucking hate network analysts. So damn biased. I posted a pic saying I was worried after the score was 5-3 and people were freaking out. Um, hello, did you NOT see my post about baseball posts ahead, you’ve been warned?? God I hate when people do that, because when I respond baseball, they get all pissed off. Ya, well you pissed me off too by not paying attention. I mean, I was wearing my Sox shirt and hat and watching/listening to the game. Geez!

Yesterday’s appointment with the pain doc was useful and useless. Apparently, I am “using my meds appropriately” yet there will be no changes to how I use it or whatnot. But if I need adjustments, come back and they will make it. I have been seeing him for the past 3 fucking months for an adjustment and did not fucking get it so what the fuck!!!??? I asked him if my PCP can take over. He said ya, I thought that was the agreement and then he went on and on how we don’t do this because the practice is small and there isn’t enough rooms available for a large thing yada yada. What the fuck do you accept new patients for then??? So instead of HIM contacting my PCP, I will be asking when I see him this coming Friday.

I am 100% convinced this guy has no clue about CRPS or chronic pain because the stories he tells me I am just like he has no clue. He was telling me that he sees degenerative pain patients and they really can’t help but to try and control their pain. It “wasn’t my case” as even he has back pain while doing dishes after 5-10 minutes (the guy is more than 60 I say). No shit. I am no where close to his age and yet my back hurts after the same amount of time doing dishes. I have degenerative disc disease as well as cauda equina syndrome and four fucking back surgeries. If he read my record, he might know this. Asshole. I really hope I don’t have to see him again or find another doctor that is more compassionate.
After his appointment, I saw my psychiatrist. Told her what went on and she said that I was probably right as most doctors have no clue about chronic pain unless they experience it themselves or at least can empathize with their patients. We talked about the T shot and how my left thigh is still giving me grief. I didn’t put a lido patch on last night but I was close to doing it. She then asked if I had any mood changes. I said not yet but you will be the first to know. I told her how I need a new therapist, again. He just isn’t helping me. I asked if I had the wrong perception of a therapist and she didn’t answer. So now I don’t know where to go. The thought I searching for a new one is just too overwhelming for me right now. I want to stay within my radius as I don’t have a car. I thought about calling the LGBT clinic but that will be a pain weekly for me as the pain program is starting. It will take so much energy because it is such a walk to the clinic from the train station. Maybe after the program I can go there or somewhere close to there. But the thought that I have to do this again fills me with doubt that there is a good therapist out there that WILL help me deal with my problems and not just say will work on this and never do. I mean, it is one thing if I defer, as it is my right. Not so much for the therapist. They should want to actually help you with your problems not say yes we will and then drop the fucking ball.

I am reading a book called “Helping the Suicidal Person”. It is a very useful book and already I have a few books and articles to look up. Some I already have but she quoted new research and I am not on top as I once was. It also gives me insight into the therapist’s hesitations on suicide a little better. I wish I could say that for my therapist but he is always willing to listen to me but does NOT do an assessment or even safety plan. I mean I know what to do if I am going to act but am at the point where I just want to act rather than seek help because help hasn’t worked out!! It sometimes gets me more frustrated than be helpful to me. And unless I attempt, I am not going back to the hospital, least not the one I went to. Totally useless and very frustrating.

I have had any changes yet. I am on a low dose so it might take a while before I see them. Maybe after my second shot. I don’t know what to look for. I should probably look for blogs or something to help as a sort of guide but fricken WordPress changed their search so it takes a long time to look for blogs on a tag or a general word (don’t recommend that at all, it will take hours!) I know there must be an FTM group or something somewhere but I have yet to find one publicly. I know there is a lot of harassment and even death threats and abuse out there. I’ve been fortunate, so far, not to encounter it. I think it might send me over the edge if some stranger goes off on me for being transgender.

Guess who…

by Midnight Demon, posted in Bipolar Disorder, Chronic pain, chronic physical pain, CRPS, mental illness, mood disorders, painsomnia, physical pain, transgender

I was able to shave and shower this morning. I had a ton of time before I had to leave. I took my time getting ready. I guess the bus I needed to take to the Square was delayed as the other bus came. I decided to take it rather than wait. I figured in doing so, I would have time to write when I got to Starbucks. I had to stop at the post office and it was busy. Goodbye writing time. The postal clerk didn’t even look where I was sending the cards to, just said I had enough postage and I went on my way. If they come back to me. I am gonna be pissed.

I got to Starbucks and ordered a sandwich, espresso, and lemon loaf. The sandwich had sausage but it didn’t taste right. I ate half and then dived into the lemon loaf. It was very lemony. I loved it. I just hope when I try to make it tomorrow, I can get the right consistency for the frosting.

After I ate and played on my phone. It was time for the train. I put another 5 bucks on my temporary ticket as my pass didn’t come over the weekend. When I got to my stop, the bus wasn’t coming for another 20 minutes or so. I decided to walk. My mother needed something at Walgreens so I went in to get it. There was a line for checkout. I waited and then left to walk to my therapist’s office. I got halfway there and needed to rest. I checked the time and had 10 minutes before my appt. I rested another minute and then went.

I showed my therapist what I wrote for the pain doc. He said it was perfect. I just hope the fellow and attending see the damn paper and read it. Then we talked about my anxieties that is going on for the week. Told him about how upset my mother made me yesterday. How she can’t accept me other than what she holds in her mind of me. Told him how my family has a pedophile they refuse to acknowledge as one. Then time was up.

I walked back to the station. I had less than 5 bucks on the card. When I got back to the Square and got on the bus home, I noticed it didn’t allow no payment for transfers. That was why I had to put so much damn money on this fucking temporary ticket. It was charging me the reduced fare on every bus and train I took. Fucker.

My legs were killing me by the time I got home. I’ll probably be sore tomorrow. My mother made dinner and after eating we both didn’t want to get up. We both hurt. I cleared the counter for her then went up to my room. Mail had came and my pass was in it. Weird they had my name change as the address but not on the fucking card! Ugh!!! Card doesn’t expire until 2023. Least now I can buy my monthly pass and not have to pay per fare.

I had some stuff from Amazon come in. A friend had sent me some eczema cream. It is a lower amount of colloidal something that I have so hope it will work on the patch under my eye. I stopped at my sister’s to talk for a while. We griped about our mother being ridiculous. I didn’t tell her that she laughed at me yesterday. I didn’t want to talk about it. I told her I’d be starting T Wed.

Hope I don’t flare tonight. Last night was horrid. I didn’t sleep till 330 am. Seems every time I got comfortable my foot or ankle or both acted up. I am really tired after all the walking I did. It is cold tonight so might have to put on the fleece blanket. I took it off my bed the other night because I was looking for something. I was working in an app on my phone when I accidentally disconnected my SD card. When I went to take it out, it went flying. Damn sucker was in the pillow case on my bed. I thought it was in the void in my room and I’m glad it wasn’t. I’d have to tear my room apart trying to find it. Luckily, I found the SIMM card on my bag for goodwill. Totally freaked me out. But all is right now. Wish the makers of Samsung would use a toggle rather than a pin thing to get the card out. Stupid design.

About Therapists

by Midnight Demon, posted in Bipolar Disorder, blogging, Chronic pain, chronic physical pain, CRPS, depression, mood disorders, suicide, suicide attempt

About therapists

I have been thinking about writing this for a while, just an overview about the many therapists I have had from all different degrees and orientations. I started off seeing a school counselor. She was getting her degree in counseling, though I am not sure if it was as a school counselor or a social worker. We only saw each other for a few months and then when school started again, I started seeing a social worker that worked at another school. She was good. Had the idea that I shouldn’t use drugs or alcohol. We had a “safety contract”, which my first 10 or so did. It mostly said I wouldn’t kill myself until the next meeting and if I did feel like acting to go to the emergency room or call 911. I only saw her for about 10 months. She left and I saw someone new, a person who was also seeking their degree. I basically feel like she took advantage of me and was only interested in collecting my insurance. Nothing got worked on. I was hospitalized every three months, the last one was when I came out as “gay”. Transgender was never talked about with any therapist until the one I saw prior to my current therapist.

As I had state insurance, therapists were coming and going. By the 10th one, I was tired of them leaving so I left the system for private as I then had private insurance. Only problem was that this therapist didn’t take my insurance. When I switched in 2001, we saw each other for a month before my disc blew and then I didn’t see her again for another three months. We kept in touch by phone. It was a lot to go through. I didn’t talk about my psych issues as I just had my physical health jeopardized. We worked together for sixteen years. All throughout, I was suicidal. But I had the odd hospitalization because we worked on stabilizing using frequent contact. We saw each other sometimes three times a week when I was bad. Then we saw each other twice a week. She moved offices until she moved 30 miles away from Boston. It was tough because I didn’t have a car. I did but it broke down. We just had phone therapy. This went on for about five years. I would get a zipcar once a month to see her but that took some planning around my pain and weather.

The suicidal ideation I had made my therapist nervous. We tried different things, but she never consistently held me to them. I chided away from it because I knew what she was looking for or rather had an idea. I knew it wasn’t going to change. During the last year of therapy we had, we were constantly fighting over my suicidality. She just wasn’t listening to me anymore. I couldn’t explain why I was suicidal. I just mentioned it and she would “hog” the rest of the session with her endless talk, which I just took as her anxiety. It was interfering. I found out she was seeking consultation over me and I felt threatened by that. Eventually we just called it quits. I didn’t see anyone for few months. I had to collect myself. She gave me a few therapists but they weren’t taking on new clients.
Enter my current therapist. He had called back within a few hours of me leaving a message and we had set a time up with in a few days. He sent me his paperwork and other insurance stuff. All throughout seeing the previous therapist, we had tried different suicidal safety planning and scales and whatnots. This guy was not for it. I think the less paperwork, the better. And it bugs me! He just wants to talk things out. For the first six months I didn’t know if this was going to work out. But I had no where else to go. I was tired of searching for therapists only to be told no when I revealed I had a suicidal history. He wasn’t afraid of me talking about suicide and I ease up. Even when I told him I had a plan, he didn’t freak out on me. He understood why I felt that way and we talked it out. It decreased my feelings so I didn’t feel like no one was on my side. I often felt better after sessions but there were a few where I was more frustrated. I texted him a few times and got supportive responses, something my previous therapist did not do, at all. She only responded if we had to change appointment times.

I have been seeing this guy for 16 months. I still find it totally weird that we have an understanding of why I am suicidal yet there is no plan in place, so to speak. He is okay if I live and okay if I die, as long as I don’t do it in his office. He hasn’t taught me things I don’t already know. He would like me to be more social, but that is kind of hard with my physical pain. I like being alone anyway as noise can irritate me, like it is today. Hell, just being in Starbucks when their music is loud is enough to have me leave after I finish eating or when I am ready to write. He doesn’t try to pin things down and my biggest annoyance is when he says we will work on something but doesn’t go further than that. And then when I bring it up next session (I have to bring things up, he won’t), it still doesn’t go anywhere. But I have had that happen with the last therapist I saw, too. She would say we need to work on this and we never did.

I don’t mean to write this to defer you from seeking therapy, that isn’t my goal. I just wanted to write about my experiences with therapists and how they react to suicidal thoughts. Everyone is different. And maybe you started seeing a therapist and then the suicide thoughts started happening. The therapist freaks out and you are then forced to see someone else. Or you attempted and now the therapist doesn’t want to work with you anymore. That is sad and unfortunate but I know it does happen. Suicide is like an elephant (or hippo as someone called it that the other day) in the room that you both know is there but don’t want to face. Or maybe your therapist is trained and does work with you on the issues as long as there is a safety plan in place first with contact numbers and you collaborate on what will work and what will not work. The focus has to be on YOU not the therapist’s comfort level. While my therapist does that and gives me the time to try and work things out as well as support me in any way he can, I still sometimes feel like he just doesn’t get it or dropped the ball on an issue that is never going to see light of day again. I know they are busy people. They have lives outside the office. They see so many patients per day and then deal with the wonderful insurance that can or cannot accept their claims. I don’t know. I am not making excuses for them but if you have a therapist that cares about you and takes your suicidal thoughts seriously, works with you on keeping you safe, and the chronicity of the matter, great. I just am still trying to work with someone and cope with a therapist that says you can kill yourself as long as it isn’t in my office.

back pain sucks!

by Midnight Demon, posted in Bipolar Disorder, blogging, Chronic pain, chronic physical pain, CRPS, depression, mood disorders

Back pain sucks!

I woke up in the same position I went to sleep in, which is weird because I almost never do. My back was hurting. I slowly shift so I could take my meds and get up. Standing hurt like a SOB. My legs were hurting so bad. And I could not stand up straight. Not a good sign. I went to the bathroom and did my business. I wasn’t hungry. I wanted coffee but decided to hold off. I wanted to go into town so I could get a new disability pass for the T. Bus was coming in like 4 minutes and there was no way I was rushing as I hurt too bad. There was another bus in 25 minutes. That was better. By the time I was ready, I had like 9 minutes before the bus showed up. I walked to the bus stop and was half way down the street when I needed to rest. My back was not having it. I stopped where some stairs were. I checked when the bus would come and I still had some time. I just had to cross the main street and hope that the bus stop had a seat because there was no way I would be able to stand waiting.

I got on the bus and was chatting with my BFF. She totally gets how the back pain is. I got to the train station and carefully made my way to where I had to go. It was at a train stop but it was on the other side of the station. I walked down the wrong concourse. Then when I was going the right way, there were stairs everywhere. WTF There was a guy drinking when I got to the final staircase and I said are you fucking kidding me and he yelled at me. I told him it wasn’t directed at him and I apologized. He didn’t care what the fuck I was doing or where I was going. I finally made it to where I was. I should have brought water with me as I was thirsty. It was quick and then I got home. I was almost at my stop so I stood up. OMG my spine moved and it hurt so bad. I sat back down. When the train came to the stop, I got up gingerly and was okay. I got on the escalator. Bus was coming in a few minutes but I knew it was just an estimate. I waited at the stop, standing, for at least 15 minutes. I was hurting so fucking bad. I was just worried about walking the block home. I needed coffee.

Mail had come when I got to my house. My back was killing me. I put the barrels in the driveway so my sister wouldn’t yell at me. I separated the mail and then made my coffee. I took off my braces as it was making, so I thought. I got back and the Keurig needed water. Fucking fuck. I filled it and it made a full cup of coffee. Sometimes I get ¾ of a cup. I carefully brought it and the mail upstairs. I gave my mother her mail and then went to the kitchen to rest and make something to eat. As I drank the coffee I didn’t know what I wanted. I made my go to, a fried egg. When I finished that, I was still hungry so I had a burger. I ate it with my coffee.

Yesterday I complained to Starbucks about how I had to wait for a cookie that didn’t have to be warmed because of their new system. Once you place an order, the Starbucks person needs to wait for a sticker to do the order. The cashier wasn’t doing anything. All he had to do after I placed my order was get the cookie. I waited like 10 minutes for the thing. I was so mad. I got $7 for my inconvenience. I am glad because the new system sucks. I have no idea why they are wasting paper instead of writing on the cup. So stupid. Casi Cielo is back. I am getting another bag along with Pike. I am running low on coffee. I am going to get some more on Monday. I am also going to try and get a reusable pod thing so I don’t waste coffee. I saw them in CVS and hope they still carry them. I will try and get them online if I can’t find it.

Monday is going to be a busy day as I got a doctor’s appointment and then see my therapist. I am going to be out all day. Hope my legs are up to it. I do have Tuesday as a rest day. Not a busy week but therapy takes a lot out of me, just physically and emotionally. Last night I was thinking of writing a blog about it. I might do that later today if I can remember my thoughts. I think it will be interesting to write about how different he is from the other therapists I have had. He is number 14. I have had a lot, from all different degrees. Maybe I will write it on paper and then type it up. We’ll see.