question about meds

May 18, 2002

Dear ,

Thanks so much for your reply. Yes, it does help ... it helps to

hear that that the meds *do* lessen the bad thoughts, and also very

helpful was your response to someone else (I think it was Anne)--

that we should keep in mind that the " success stories " are not as

well-represented on this list. That should have been obvious to me,

but it was a wake-up moment when I read it. Thank you for that; I

needed to hear it. I had been so focused on the many difficulties

and side-effects of medication that I've read here, and so I was very

worried about trying out meds with . It also helped to hear you

and others remind me that medication is not necessarily forever.

Thanks again for your input.

Blessings,

> Dear ,

> Medication has helped Annie with her bad thoughts a LOT.

She is a

> pro at using the techniques learned in therapy to boss back

more " physical "

> OCD things, but has not had much success with " thought stopping " or

any of

> the other techniques used to help with intrusive thoughts (and

we've tried

> everything in the book - loop tapes, the whole nine yards). The

first thing

> she noticed when we stopped meds was the return of the " bad

thoughts " (many

> of which she doesn't want to share with me and which torment her

non-stop)

> and the first thing to happen when she started back on medication

was the

> lessening of the bad thoughts. Some of the thoughts remain, but

they don't

> really bother her.

> Hope this helps a bit.

>

May 18, 2002

Dear Kathy,

Thanks so much for your reply. It was very helpful to me.

You wrote:

>

> Yes, not telling you her bad thoughts (or doing other compulsions

>to reduce anxiety) will over time cause them to fade, and not come ?

>as often or as intensely. To avoid being overwhelmed, an exposure

like this needs to be chosen carefully, to maximize your daughter's

chance that she can do it successfully. We had a lot of good luck

using a timer, beginning with short periods when my daughter agreed

to hold off doing the compulsion, and gradually increasing the

length. With reassurance rituals, she agreed to only ask or tell " x "

number of times about something, and this number was reduced over

time.

I started this by accident recently -- my husband and I were talking,

and I asked to hold off telling me an intrusive thought for 5

minutes. Within that period of time, my husband had her laughing

about something, and I thought she might actually forget the need to

tell me. But, alas, a few minutes later, she was back, wanting to

let it out.

>We offered a lot of rewards and incentives especially in the

>beginning for this hard work! OCD has a way of making standing up

>to it seem nearly impossible, but this is often anticipatory anxiety

>and actually doing an exposure was almost always much easier than my

>child expected. After awhile a child may catch on to this dirty

>trick of OCD's and not have such a hard time deciding to confront a

>compulsion.

This is good and helpful to hear, too. I know that I need to

progress from my " casual " approach of trying to have hold off

to actively involving her in the fight, and offering rewards for her

work.

>

> As far as bossing back thoughts, no one can do this, OCDer or not!

>The idea here is to not fight them, and let them roll on through

>without trying to control or suppress them, or relieve the anxiety

>they cause by doing a compulsion. Cognitive work about the thoughts-

>-that they *are* just thoughts, they are unpleasant yes but can't

>hurt you, and don't offer deep insight into the true nature of the

>person--can be helpful.

Ooh, this seems the hardest part for her. I've tried giving her a

short checklist to deal with the thoughts (1. It's the Worry Wart!

2. It's just a thought that can't hurt me! 3. It's not what I want

to do! 4. I'm not going to waste my time thinking about it!)

AGain, it's slow-going, but we're just beginning in so many ways.

>

> I hope tomorrow is an easier day for your both.

>

Thank you. :-) If she'd been home with me all day, I might have

defined it as just as bad a day (though I was less hormonal today,

and better rested and that makes a huge difference...) But my

husband took the kids to the park, and for a long walk, and she also

played outside with friends, and all of that is very helpful to her.

She only voiced one bad thought to her daddy, but she had " saved up "

a couple to tell me when they got home.

Thanks again for your helpful response,

Blessings,

May 18, 2002

Dear ,

Thanks very much for your reply.

> At times, people become depressed, which gets in the way of

>treatment. When someone is feeling comfortable with themselves,

>they are more able to understand why they need to change things

(ie.stop asking so many questions,...).

Of course that makes sense ... often, lately, feels like

crying, but says she " doesn't know why. " She also often wonders " why

am I like this? " How could this *not* be spiralling her into

depression?

> You mentioned that your using Dr. Chansky's book as guidance. Does

> this mean that you do not have a therapist working with your family?

> If so, don't be shy to post your questions here, until you do find a

> therapist, I'm sure you will have a lot of questions.

We have a therapist, but she is about 2 and 1/2 hours away.

has only seen her once or twice so far, and both the dr. and I think

it's more helpful at this point for *me* to go in. I discuss our

strategies and progress with her, implement, and report back.

just doesn't talk much to the dr. She's the best (and closest) that

I've found. A psychologist here in our town was just awful with

, and I dropped him immediately.

We had gone months without seeing the therapist at all, but in early

March, this latest flare-up began, and it hasn't let up. So I'm

looking at seeing the therapist at least 2-3 more times before the

baby arrives (I'm due in late July.) Since she's not an MD, we'll

have to go through someone else for meds; she had suggested that

she'd be willing to work closely with our family doctor here.

>

> Above all, don't forget to take care of yourself! You are the

> pillar that is holding everyone is place - you collapse and everyone

> suffers. Please don't forget that when you are feeling good, this

> influences everyone around you.

Thank you -- Oh, yes, I know how true this is! :-) The hormonal

swings of the pregnancy haven't helped (and that third trimester

fatigue, when it's so hard to get comfortable and sleep!) but I'm

doing my best to eat well, stay rested, get rid of all unnecessary

activities, etc. But keep reminding me I'm the glue, okay?

Sometimes this glue wants to spill out of the bottle and make a huge

mess. :-)

Thanks again,

Blessings,

April 11, 2005

Tammie,

I think you really need to take ALL your meds. Who changed your insurance? Is

this a group policy from an employer? Is there a person in charge of the

insurance/human resources that you can go and talk to? They may be able to find

a way to get your meds for you. There is usually some type of provision for

people with ongoing medical treatments when a company changes insurance

companies. Don't let them brush you off. I can't say for sure, but this may be

covered under HIPAA requirements.

Good luck,

Claudine

>>>tammster62 <t1d1r1d1@...> wrote:

My insurance has just changed and I feel sure that I am going to have

some problems getting my last batch of meds. I have enough to take my

45th shot out of 48 treatments,...

April 11, 2005

Tammie, ideally you want to take the entire treatment, but missing the last 2 or

so probably isn't a biggy. Talk to your doc about it. And do what Claudine

says.

Good luck!

Alley

April 11, 2005

My husband changed jobs and we are getting set up with Cobra insurance

for the in-between time. They say it will take 30-60 days to get things

set up and then it will be retro active to the time our old insurance

stopped, but I can't wait that long to get money back. I will

definitely call and see what I can do before I give up, but I don't

know how far I am going to get with these people. They really have this

thing set up so that you will mess your payments up and they can drop

you. It is a very tricky deal right now. I am afraid if my insurance

ever drops, I won't get any coverage again. The company that I have to

deal with to get the meds is always getting things messed up. At least

half of the time I have dealt with them, there has been a problem that

I have had to call about to get cleared up. It is a mess and now that I

have changed over to the Cobra, I figure it will be a thousand times

worse. BUT, I will see if there is anything that I can do before I give

up. Thanks for the input.

<><Tammie><>

> I think you really need to take ALL your meds. Who changed your

insurance? Is this a group policy from an employer? Is there a person

in charge of the insurance/human resources that you can go and talk to?

They may be able to find a way to get your meds for you. There is

usually some type of provision for people with ongoing medical

treatments when a company changes insurance companies. Don't let them

brush you off. I can't say for sure, but this may be covered under

HIPAA requirements.

April 12, 2005

HI.I don.t think missing the last three shots will make much

difference.However it would be better for yr own mind if y finish the

treatment.You could phone(or better write with a note from yr Docter) the

drug-company and explain the situation.I.am pritty sure they will supply you

with the last three shots free of charge.The good news is that y will get a

SVR because it has been a long time since somebody on the group sustained

one.Simply a matter of statistics.You lucky girl.Willem.

question about meds

>

> My insurance has just changed and I feel sure that I am going to have

> some problems getting my last batch of meds. I have enough to take my

> 45th shot out of 48 treatments, but there is NO way I will be able to

> put out that much cash until the insurance can repay me (I also take

> Neupogen and Epogen shots too...about $6000 total). What I am wondering

> is how bad it will be if I don't get my last 3 shots? Will I be

> competely messing things up if I miss them?

> <><Tammie><>

> ps. I really need some good news

>

April 12, 2005

In a message dated 4/11/2005 5:35:39 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,

claudineintexas@... writes:

I think you really need to take ALL your meds. Who changed your insurance?

Is this a group policy from an employer? Is there a person in charge of the

insurance/human resources that you can go and talk to? They may be able to

find a way to get your meds for you. There is usually some type of provision

for

people with ongoing medical treatments when a company changes insurance

companies. Don't let them brush you off. I can't say for sure, but this may be

covered under HIPAA requirements.

Dear Tammie,

I think that you should take all your meds, too. Especially in light of the

fact that they are working.

Even with the insurance change, the doc and or pharmacy still has to bill

the insurance company, which takes awhile, then you get to stall, and they

rebill, then you get to stall, again. By that time you will have had time to

take the issue to whoever at the new insurance has five firing brain cells that

work at the same time, and resolve your issues with them. They cannot, by

law, interrupt your treatment, but they can carry on a 6 month battle trying to

do just that. They may pay without quibbling, ya never know. If it sounds

like I've been there and done that, it's because I have. In the middle of

mine, the gov't. decided to not renew their contract with Humana and award it

to

Health Net Fed, which is/was one of their worst mistakes of late. Health Net

Fed has somehow decided that Champus doesn't exist and therefore we have no

primary insurance. This too shall be resolved. In the meantime, I continue

on as before, MCV screams at them, I scream at them; I write my congressmen;

MCV screams some more; I scream some more; and eventually, they get paid.

Took almost a year, but it got done. So do not discontinue your treatment.

Now, I get to fight to get the docs paid. One battle at a time. I started

with the highest bill and am now down to the lesser ones. The ones they think

I'll pay, if they keep refusing. I pay my co-pay, period the end. Your docs,

etc. are used to dealing with snarly insurance companies, they'll

understand.

Hang in there,

Anne

April 12, 2005