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Anxiety/OCD/meds (merged)

  • Thread starter Thread starter nate1982
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nate1982

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sure i passed with flying colours...can do any CF trade i want...but one prob
i had anxiety probs from age 16-19 so they want more medical reports and my family doctor is a **** and told me that i should find a real job and that the army is not for me because i couldnt handle people dropping bombs on my head.

so here is a letter that i am wrting to hand in with the crappy med report my doc is gonna write for me.

anyone think that it will help. cause my doc doesnt see things the right way.

ATTN: Reviewing Medical Officer
Please Read

This document pertains to my own personal experience over the past six years in my dealing with anxiety and panic attacks. As I will explain from age sixteen to today.

Somewhere in my sixteenth year I was sitting watching television and felt heart palpitations and increased heartbeat. It felt like I was going to die. I felt very weak, dizzy, and numb. My parents knew something was wrong and rushed me to emergency. MD's did all the standard heart tests (ECG) and told me that it looked fine but they didn't know why my heart started beating so rapidly. After a few visits to the ER with the same symptoms, I was referred to a Cardiologist.

The Cardiologist performed all of the standard tests and ultra-sounds he could. After reviewing my results I was informed that my heart was strong and healthy. It seemed peculiar to me so I asked for a second opinion. Upon my second visit to a different Cardiologist I was relieved to the same results. A good, strong, healthy heart. From there I was referred to a Psychiatrist.

The Psychiatrist diagnosed me with Generalized Anxiety Disorder w/ Panic Attacks. I was then put on an SSRI (Paxil) 20mg/day. I only saw the psychiatrist two times, as my GP would from there on prescribe my medication.

I was on and off Paxil for 3 years, between the ages of 16-19. I would go in to see my GP and he would ask â Å“how are you doingâ ?, then write a few words in the books and write my script for 2 months. Every 2 months I would go back and see him. Numerous times after being on it for a year straight I wanted to get off of it because I wasn't feeling myself from being on it for so long. It felt like it was making me sick. But it did take off the edge of anxiety, which worked for a while. I had asked to go off of Paxil and my GP told me that I should be on it for a really long time because I couldn't handle myself. STOP.

With support from family, friends, and starting regimented workdays in various jobs my anxiety seemed to be somewhat non-existent. I was able to cope with â Å“flare-upsâ ? when they came. In my thoughts I believe that I was growing out of it, seeing as I was now graduated and had a real job and all of the of the pressures of high-school were gone. These are all things that my GP did not see. All my GP saw was a young man coming in once every other month to get more meds.

I have not needed Paxil for about two years now. My GP has no possible way of knowing how I have been doing in a prompt 5-minute babble between us. We have never been able to communicate effectively either because he made me feel like Paxil was the only way to go. All he does is write my scripts. I know that he thinks I am on Paxil but have been not filling my scripts because I know I don't need it anymore.

At my last visit with my GP I told him that I planned on joining the army. But what he told me made me very angry. I was told that I would have to be on Paxil a long time and that I knew nothing about the army and all the things that could go bad. Also that I couldn't handle it due to the fact that it's not nice what people see and have to do and that I would not be able to handle bombs dropping on my head. It sounds like someone has misconceptions about the army and doesn't have a whole lot of info. Anyhow, I was told by my GP that the CF is not for me and I should go find a â Å“career-counselorâ ? to find a real job.

It has been a dream of mine ever since I was a child to someday be in the Forces. If I can be a successful, hard-working Electrician Apprentice who is always on the road working long days; then why could I not be a part of the Canadian Forces? I am almost 22 now, an adult, and I don't want something from my teens to hold me back from a dream. Since I decided I wanted to join I am on the internet researching more everyday and training for BMQ with hopes of starting this summer.

Furthermore, I feel fully capable of dealing with any problems that may arise while training. If you think you can do something, then it must be done.

I know that ultimately this is a decision is up to qualified medical staff but I hope that my words are also taken into consideration.

Sincerely,
Nathan Joseph McGuire
 
Hi blue82,

I cannot comment on whether or not the letter will help you get in. (Although it is well thought out and detailed)

However, I would suggest that you may want to consider getting a second opinion on the subject from a different Psychiatrist.

Sometimes it helps to have an unbiased opinion for a medical condition. i.e. You Psyc assumes that you suffer from this condition every time you walk into the office.

If you went to see another Dr. he would be unbiased when he examines you and would either confirm or clear you of the condition from the first Doctor.

Maybe bring that letter you wrote to him/her, let the new Psychiatrist read it and then examine you. Then have the new Psychiatrist write a letter for you if need be.
 
Entirely my own personal oppinion here, but your letter is likely NOT going to help your application in anyway.

Simplest solution would be to spring for the cost of a consultation with a real psychiatrist, as somone else pointed out.

I assume it was your GP who prescribed paxil to begin with? It should be noted that unless your GP is ALSO a psychiatrist (unlikely, as if he were a pyschiatrist, he‘d be practicing psychiatry, for more money), he‘s not a particularly good final authority on your mental health.

If you are, and have been stable for the past three years, then I wish you best of luck with your application.
 
Hi Nathan;
Well, I‘m going to be completely honest with you here. Don‘t send the letter.
I‘m also in the application process but my background is Medical/Hospital. I deal with confidential medical information.
Doctors are part of a "unit", and like us, they support eachother. The first thing that the medical examiner will see is your disagreement with your own doctor‘s practices. When a doctor diagnoses you with an illness, it becomes part of your legal medical file and also the property of your doctor. The letter will not deter the medical examiner from further persuing information from your family doctor.
As Pieman suggested, try to find a different doctor to examine you for anxiety and further reconsider a diagnosis, while the process with your application is underway. But do not, at any time, comment on your previous doctor‘s practices. I‘ve seen too much of this backfire on the patient.
Paxil is not a strong anti-depressant. If you‘ve ever been prescribed Zoloft, for example, it may reflect negatively on your file.
Many people are given Paxil for many reasons including post-traumatic stress disorder.
Let the family doctor send in his report. He isn‘t going to write a letter suggesting you not be accepted. The form he is required to fill out is very point blank and questionnaire-oriented.
It‘s common practice to receive an ECG when you arrive in ER with palpitations. They are trying to rule out atrial fibrillation or any type of cardiopathy.
Anxiety may result from a traumatic past experience or simply a hormonal or serotonin imbalance within the brain.
If you have been off of the Paxil and not taking attacks you may be cleared by the doctor you receive the second diagnosis from.
All of your opinions in your letter are valid, but if I were you, I would wait until asked to relay those opinions to CF personnel, but if asked, relay them without anger or judgements.
The letter gives the impression that you are trying to explain yourself or justify a situation that hasn‘t arisen yet.
I hope I have given you some sound advice. I wish you the best of luck.
Hang in there,
Cath
 
Nathan,

I‘m going to backup everything said here. Despite the apparent eloquence of your letter, you‘re essentially saying "my GP doesn‘t know what he‘s doing, I know better and am not going to follow his advice." It sounds very poor, and will not work in your favour.

I would speak to a Psychiatrist who can confirm your condition, your need for Paxil (or lack thereof), and gauge your admissibility to the CF with a bit less bias than your GP is showing.
 
if i cannot get a psych to re-assess my condition
am i s.o.l?
so when my doctor writes about my condition and the md that reviews the file justifies me as inadmisable, IS there any chance that i can re-apply to the CF at a later date?
or am i gonna be screwed over for life?
any opinions?
 
There is no reason why you wouln‘t be able to get a psychiatrist to reasses your file.

On the other hand, if he also thinks you‘re not cut out for it, consider taking his advice, maybe there‘s a reason for it.
 
Only thing I‘m going to suggest is to edit your name (if it‘s in fact your real one) from the bottom of your first entry as a privacy issue. Although you may be comfortable with the general users of the forum knowing this information about you at this point in time there may come a time in your life when it‘s information you don‘t want available to others. As search engines such as Google index these pages, a search for your name will probably retrieve this information.
 
If you have 2 or 3 phychiatrists in addition to a GP saying that you aren‘t cut out for the CF or any other high stress job, then it would REALLY be in your best interest to take their advice.

However, with a reassesment from an MD that‘s clear of any problems, they should consider you for application. They may also give you a deferral; ask you to stay off the meds for a while and then reapply. If you have a serious, uncurable medical condition (diabetes, epilepsy etc.), then they will likely turn you down and black list you. However, something like the condition you describe can come and go, and it‘ll be up to the doctors to determine if they think you can cope with the stresses of army life.
 
thanks for the replys
im kinda screwed on getting a pysch to re-assess me cause i just got a call back and they want $200 plus more after that...blah!!
so i‘ll just have to see what happens with my family doctor.
if things dont work out then its happened for a reason i guess..
 
it took me 9 months to fight a borden dicision on my mild case of a.d.h.d. i wrote my own letter for apeal and attached it to my doctors report and that of a phyciatrist i found. they reversed thier decision but in thier letter they gave no reference to my personal submision. all they care about is the hard medical evidence. get some good reports and you might stand a chance.
 
Well i just got the letter saying i have a medical restriction and cannot join the army even after i got my doctor to write them that i was fine and that i could handle the stress which cost me seventy five dollars.  They said because of my small anxiety disorder i am unable to do the job that would be required of me. Once all symptoms are gone i have to wait a year then they might reconsider me joining. Looks like its going to be a long wait but i want give up until they tell me i have no chance of getting in.  Is there anyone else out there thats its the same situation as me and are waiting to re-enlist?
 
Thats awful... I'm really sorry to hear that :(  On a better note though, a year will just fly past and you'll get another shot at it!
Best of luck with recovering, mate.
 
Same here if out for a year for asthma that i dont have. But i have proper documentation saying i do not have asthma.
 
So you either have one or all of the below?
http://www.mentalhealth.com/dis1/p21-an07.html
1 restlessness or feeling keyed up or on edge
2 being easily fatigued
3 difficulty concentrating or mind going blank
4 irritability
5 muscle tension
6 sleep disturbance (difficulty falling or staying asleep, or restless unsatisfying sleep)



 
Give that person a rifle and put them on sentry better yet give them live ammunition and put them on the range.  Sweet Mother of all Good Gods.
 
Original poster composed this message Sept '04 - I wonder how he is feeling today - it has most definately been a year.
 
Zoomie said:
Original poster composed this message Sept '04 - I wonder how he is feeling today - it has most definately been a year.

I'm betting he's all anxious about it !!
 
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