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Dr Amen

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Don't Berate,- Educate!

Barked: Fri Mar 6, '09 3:36am PST


	Has anyone heard of this guy? Been to one of his clinics? What was your epxerience? A month or so ago, my mother found this guy's book (Change Your Brain, Change Your Life). I'm not really sure where she got it from, but she was really excited about it. So, she makes me go out and buy the book. I started reading it, and this guy has some interesting stuff to say. Nothing I've never heard before though. But, then, my mother started talking about how there was a clinic nearby and how she and my grandmother were going to save up money for me to go this fall. Okay, whatever, I'm willing to go, and by then I will (hopefully) have my disability stuff sorted out and thus have insurance. Now, I've started seeing a new prescriber. She isn't a docotr or anything (NP), so I'm not exactly happy about seeing her, but she's working in tandem with my new therapist. Or so they say. But, she listened to my list of medications I've been on, and decided to stick me back on a medication that I've tried already that stopped working. I've been on it for about a month without much effect (yes, yes, I know if can take longer for things to actually start working but just about everything has been rather immediate with me in the past), so I'm not too thrilled about this. I was plannin on saying something to my prescriber when I saw her next. I mentioned something about this in passing to my mother. Just that I was on meds and they were making me agitated and I didn't want to talk to her because we'd just argue. Or something like that. So, she calls me earlier today. We get into a conversstion I really didn't want to have with her and wind up in a combination of in tears and wanting to rip her throat out. I told her I really didn't want to talk about it. About five minutes later, she calls back. I assumed to talk to me about what I didn't want to talk about, so I tell my hubby to answer the phone. He listens to her and scribbles something down. It turns out that the local Amen clinic has an opening for next week. So, she scheduled the appointment and is taking out a loan to pay for it (she already has money troubles). I'm more than just a little irritated about this because it's such short notice. I'm in the middle of a really stressful time, trying to find a new apartment, starting new meds, starting with a new treatment team, having issues with my MIL, and quite a few other things. On top of al my current stressors, I'm really worried that not only will they prescribe some medication that I cannot afford, but my mother thinks this is a "magic bullet." She told me just last week that she thought that "being the way I am" is something she hoped I would grow out of -- this after all the insistance that it was my diet or thyroid or whatever. I thought she finally accepted that this is the way I am, that there is actually something "wrong" with me. Now I think she's expecting this doctor to be able to prescribe the perfect medication that will cure me. I talked over my concerns with my father (before I knew that Mother had actually made the appointment), and he is of the opinion that seeing this guy will drastically help, but not be a cure-all. I hope he can make Mother understand. On top of this, I'm worried about the actual proceedure. It mentions in the intake packet about sedation and litocane (sp?). I'd much rather be sedated, but it also made it sound like maybe they can't. So, I don't know. And I'd have to show up early to get the litocane, but I don't know if my mother would agree with that -- she'll probably tell me to suck it up or something. But I've had an LP before, and it hurt like crazy. I'm not looking forward to it again, and I want to be sedated for it. I'm going to have to call them in the morning to figure out what to do about that, and what to do about Spike. I mean, I'm sure they would allow him, but I think he might go alert-crazy if I'm in that sort of situation. Anyways, has anyone had any experience with this guy? Or read his book? Or anything? Maybe some advice for a similar test?

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Tesla

SDIT - Ontario, Canada

Barked: Tue Mar 10, '09 6:07pm PST


	He sounds interesting. Last year, my mother found something for me that she believed would be a "magic cure" like you described. It was a nutritional supplement (TrueHope / EMpower Plus if you are interested), supported by hundreds of excellent testimonials but absolutely no valid research. No double-blind studies, control groups, or test sizes large enough to prove anything at all. I have been taking the product for almost a year and notice absolutely no difference (except that it makes me nauseated a lot of the time). My mom wants so badly to believe in a magic cure that she gets very upset when I tell her the truth so I've just given up; I take the medicine because it makes my mom happy and do my own thing (ie treatments that actually work) on my own time. If I were asked to shell out a lot of money for something like this, though, I absolutely would not. I hope that this Doctor has all the answers you need, but I'd spend some time looking at the research he's got backing him up before you do anything really expensive or dangerous to your health. I totally understand wanting to try ANYTHING that might help, just be careful with alternative treatments that you are making a decision based on more than testimonials. Studies should have a test group (people who are given the treatment) and a control group (given a placebo), each group consisting of at least 35 or so people. They should ideally be double-blind (neither the patients nor the test evaluators know which subjects are given the real treatment and which are being given a placebo), and of course administered by a reasonably unbiased team. Haha but who's unbiased nowadays? It seems that most research is paid for by the company, just try to look at all the angles and get as good an idea as possible. Best of luck.

Don't Berate,- Educate!

Barked: Tue Mar 10, '09 6:44pm PST


	Well, we had our first appointment at the Amen center today. We were a little bit late because the Navi took us in a really roundabout way to get there and the traffic was worse than we expected. When we got there, the receptionist was really excited to see Spike. Apparently my mother called ahead and told them that I was bringing him. I let her hold him, which I probably shouldn't have, but she was just so excited and I was so scared about this whole thing. So, she petted him for a while. Then, we sat down and waited. The receptionist told us we could put a DVD on, but it was missing, so we didn't watch it. Instead, I played with Spike (brought a few toys and some chews because he wouldn't be able to stay with me the whole time) and Mom dozed because neither of us slept very well last night. We waited for quite a while, and the administrator came out and introduced herself. Then, the history taker came in. I filled out more paperwork then went into her office with her. She asked me a ton of questions, quite a few of which I had a hard time answering. Partially because I was really tired but mostly because I have trouble doing that. The history made me feel really bad because it reminded me of everything that I hate about myself, everything that's wrong with me and I had to spell it out to a complete stranger. She wanted to know why I wasn't on disability... When I was done, I went to go wait again. There was a woman there who was sitting by my mother (the waiting room was suddenly very full) who was having a lot of trouble. Among other things, she has migraines. She was missing her cat and was in pain because the doctors at the clinic ask everyone to not take their medicine (if possible) for a while before the appointment. We talked about Spike and Amber and then her cat, who is a beautiful white furball. She had a picture of him. She seemed to be in a lot of distress, so I offered to let her hold Spike. She did and petted him until it was time for her appointment. So, part of the next part of this process was for me to be injected with radiotactive iostopes (woo hoo.... not), and they offer a lidocane cream to numb the area. I took that option, but the reception kept forgetting to go back and tell the lab technician. So I waited even longer. Finially, after my next appointment was supposed to have already started, I got to go back for the cream. I left Spike with Mom because I didn't know what was going to happen. They said I could bring him back, but I was scared that he would sense how scared about this whole thing I was and would react badly to that. Mom took out his toys and chewies and put him on the floor. He got upset when I left, but seemed to be okay with being occupied with his toys. The application of the lidocane was very simple. She just put cream on my arm, after tapping it for a while to find the vein. I have to get another IV tomorrow, so they wanted to use my left arm for this one. Usually, they do my right arm because they have a lot of trouble with my left. So, it took her a while to figure out how she was going to do it. Then, she wrapped my arm to keep the cream from getting everywhere. Back to the waiting room. We waited for a while longer for the cream to take effect. Then, the tech came to get me again. It took her a little while to find the vein again and had to move the needle around while it was actually in my arm. It felt strange. It didn't hurt on the surface, but it was still very uncomfortable. She finally got it going then explained to me the next part. There was a computer "game" where I had to push the space bar every time a letter flashed on the screen except for the letter X. Of course, I pushed the space bar most of the time when the X came on. It reallly frustrated me, especially because I felt like I would have been able to do better if I had gotten enough sleep. The tech told me that probably wasn't true, that the test was designed to be difficult. That made me feel a little better, but I guess I'm still scared about what this might mean about me. Mom and I talked about it and decided they would probably declare that I'm dyslexic, which I was pretty sure I am anyways. At some point, the tech came back in while I was doing the test to actually put the isotope in. Of course, this was very distracting, not to mention she talked to me during this. I wondered if she was supposed to do that. When she put the isotope in, my arm hurt and burned all the way up to my shoulder. I was still taking the test, so I didn't get a chance to ask if that was normal. Of course, this makes me paranoid that I'm going to have an allergic reaction tomorrow (takes two exposures to have a reaction). If I get as scared tomorrow (which I'm sure I will be), I might ask the tech if they have eppy on hand... After I finished the test, I waited a few more minutes before going to get the tech. Partially because she told me to wait for her (then told me she was the only one working in the back so it was hectic and she got distracted because of this) and partially because I was trying to keep from being so frustrated and upset. In retrospect, this might have been a mistake because the point of this scan is to see how my brain works when it is active. But, there was a rolly chair I rolled around in for a little bit before I got her. She had been preparing the machine when I went out to get her. The machine itself was big, just in the middle of the room (there was a second one in the room that had laundry piled on top of it), but it wasn't as big as I thouht it would be. I don't know what I was expecting, but not this. Mom told me she had had a SPECT scan (same type) for her heart and that the machine was big and open. This was not the case. There was a very narrow metal tray for me to lay on that was VERY uncomfortable. There was a lump in the tray that I suppose was to make sure my head was in the right possition, but it made my neck hurt. The tech strapped my arms and then my head. The part where my head goes was very small. My shoulder was up against the panels on one side. It was like sticking my head in a can that rotated inches from my nose. To make it worse, she strapped my head down. I wasn't supposed to move. I couldn't keep my eyes from moving around, though. I tried focusing on one thing, but because I couldn't have my glasses on, I couldn't focus on anything close. Everything close that I could focus on kept moving and was at an angle that made it painful to look at. I tried closing my eyes, but I couldn't tolerate that. It was trying very hard not to move and I felt like I kept twitching. It didn't help that I felt like panicking the whole time. I felt like crying and screaming and ripping off the straps (not that I could because they strapped arms down) and just not being there (or maybe passing out) but then I would have to repeat the computer test and the scan so I tried very hard not to move. I think I did okay, but I'm terrified they're going to tell me tomorrow that I have to repeat it. After we were done, I realy wanted to just sit down and cry, but my mother was sitting in the car waiting with Spike. She wouldn't have understood and would've told me to stop cry and being like that, and I couldn't have dealt with that. Mom was upset that Spike had been barking the whole time she was sitting in the car. Well, what did she expect? But then we went to Panera Bread to eat lunch. It was allright, not as good as I remembered it being. Mom still hasn't accepted that Spike is my SD, and keeps telling me to not bring him in or to go sit somewhere where no one would see him. She wants to go to a movie later, and I will NOT leave him. I hope she realizes that. When we got back to the hotel, we both took a nap, but she woke me up before I had gotten enough sleep. And I had (still have) a very bad headache. She still turned on the TV and the lamp. Bah. Now she wants to go to a late movie, even though I have another appointment tomorrow. It's not as early tomorrow, but still in the morning. I have to do the isotope IV again then into the machine again. I really want to be sedated for it, but I have to be all the way awake. This scan is the "resting" one, though, and I don't know how they expect to get a good picture of resting when I'm freaking out like that. In any case, I'm not looking forward to it. I think Mom does realize that this is harder and more stressful for me than she wants to admit. She got us a suite at the hotel, even though we have to pay for it this time. Normally when we travel, we use my dad's work account and get to stay for free. But, he's currently off somewhere and we can't use it at the same time he is. (I guess that makes sense.) We have a jacuzzi tub and two rooms and a fridge and microwave and two TVs and a computer and ten pillows and four comforters and some other stuff. So, that's nice. Like I said, I think Mom got this suite because she's actually realized that this is a bit more of an ordeal than she initially thought. But one thing that really annoyed me was that she got a room in the pet-friendly hotel, as opposed to the other one that is closer to the clinic. She's doesn't feel comfortable with Spike as my SD yet. I wonder waht she's going to do when I get my Shiloh. After all, I won't be able to hide it under my jacket. She didn't let me go in to check in (and brought breakfast up so I wouldn't have to bring Spike into the breakfast room), but she did actually tell the front desk that he's an SD. Despite this, I think she's making an effort. In any case, I'm scared about tomorrow. Doing the next scan, having an allergic reaction. I'm going to try not to think about it too much. And take a bath. ^.^

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Don't Berate,- Educate!

Barked: Tue Mar 10, '09 6:57pm PST


	Tesla, you posted as I was typing. ^.^ If it were up to me, I don't think I would have done this. Not for the money, anyways (especially knowing that this is a business coporation and not whatever most doctors' offices are). But my mother and Mamaw are the ones paying and they are very adamant that this will help. One thing that I have to say, though, is that there is actually science behind this. It's not an alternate treatment like an herbal supplement or something. They scan your brain and, based on the scans, prescribe medications that target the area of your brain that isn't functioning properly. I don't know that this is going to be effective with me, just because of the history with medication I have. I'm trying not to be judgemental about it, though. I mean, I'm trying not to have the idea that this won't work at all. I'm triyng to have an open mind. I just don't think it's going to be the miracle Mom thinks it might be. Another interesting thing about this guy is that he has a lot of critics, but the critics don't say much about his actual practice -- just that he's becoming celebrity-like and has a big ego. Which, after reading his book, I completely agree about, but I want to hear about why scientifically this is bad. I also want to hear about his failures, but I can't find any information on that. Mom read some of the bad reveiws on his book, but they were mostly from PhDs criticizing his publicity, once again, not his actual scientific methods. Whenever the doctor actually prescribes me something, whatever it is, I'm going to do research before I take it. I always try to do that anyways, but particularly in this case. But, I am also very scared about what their findings will be. I mean, I know there's something "wrong" with my brain, but I'm scared to know exactly what it might be. In this guy's book, there's one part where he got a scan himself, and he was talking about how he was scared what his brain would reveal about him -- what if he had the mind of a serial killer and stuff like that. I feel like that, but I'm trying not to think about it too much. Whatever happens, I'll try to keep everyone updated.

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R.I.P.

Barked: Sat Mar 14, '09 9:11am PST


	Hi Spike I've seen his program on PBS. Here is a link to this on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mudf4-ngvUk I don't believe there is any cure all but all types of therapy are valuable. We can learn from all sources of information. Take what you can from this and apply it to your own situation. Some of what you take from Dr. Amen will be helpful and some may not be due to your own unique circumstances but it never hurts to gain knowledge and understanding. I wish you well in this new endeavour.

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Tesla

SDIT - Ontario, Canada

Barked: Mon Mar 23, '09 12:33pm PST


	Post again and let us know how it went! I am definitely waiting to hear.

Don't Berate,- Educate!

Barked: Sun Mar 29, '09 12:25am PST


	I've been putting off thinking about this because I'm not exactly happy about the whole thing. The second day was the "at rest" scan. The tech forgot to put the numbing stuff on me, so it hurt. And they wouldn't let Spike go back with me. The whole experience wasn't anywhere better than the first time, except I didn't have to wait as long. The third day was the consultation witht the doctor. I don't remember exactly what the first thing he said was, but as asoon as it was out of his mouth, I knew he was going to give me "natural suppliments," which he did. Despite this, it was very interesting. Basically, my brain doesn't function right. But we knew that already. He pinpointed the problem areas (a lot of them) and told me things I already knew -- that biology dictates behaviour, etc. etc. He said he didn't want to give me any "labels" but he had to for the final paperwork. I now have fifteen diagnoses, including "psychotic disorder," which probably means schizophrenia but that he just didn't want to officially diagnose me with it. So... That was wonderful fun. I'm now taking six different suppliments three times a day, and so far, I feel much worse. Constant headache, no improvement on anything. Gah, I meant to actually explain things here, but I feel like I'm not making any sense. I guess if anyone has anything they want to know specifically, feel free to ask. But my basic feeling about this is that the scans are really cool, but I don't know how this is helping so far.

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Kipper

*hiccup/burp*

Barked: Tue Mar 31, '09 7:08pm PST


	That sucks that it hurt, they messed up! Personally I'm sick of all the people trying to get inside my head to figure out what is wrong. I know they are just trying to help but I feel like I'm being invaded. But after I over dosed 2 weeks ago and went to the hospitle I have no choise to go to these couselers or else they'll put me in a group home. Hopfuly some good will come of this maybe they'll finally figure out why I have panic attacks, or why I'm so scared of people. But I'm getting ahead of myself here................................................................ ................................... 15 diagnosis. Wow is all I have to say, because I really don't know what else to say. Sorry, I'm going insane.

Don't Berate,- Educate!

Barked: Mon Apr 6, '09 7:28pm PST


	Oh, Barkley! You're not going insane... I'm so sorry that things haven't been going well for you. As much as I've complained about the whole thing, I do think that getting the scans is worth it. Maybe not so much the other parts to the whole experience, but the scans really help. I mean, they show why I am the way I am, that it's not "all in my head", that there is something tangible, proveable about my issues. I think that is very important. I'm working on getting the scans scanned (ha ha) and when I do, if you'd like, I can send a copy of them to you, along with all the other info I got about "healthy brain" stuff. Speaking of the "after" part of the scans, I've been having issues with the stuff they put me on. I finially got ahold of a doctor (not the same one I saw before, he's out of town) and she told me to quit taking everything but one thing and to go up on the dose of that. So, I'm a little bit upset about that whole thing. mumble, grumble It's like everything I've ever tried is supposed to work on the vast majority of people and only a small percentage it doesn't work for. I feel like (and thus far it has proven true) that I'm always part of that small percentage it won't work for. What's so different about me that nothing will work for me? And it frustrates me because I've met other people who are in that small percentage that tell me I'm not, that I'm doing it wrong or haven't tried enough different things. For example, someone told me that something like only 5% of migraines are the unresponsive type and that I'm not one of the 5%. Well, how do they know that? Are they my doctor, have they seen my medical file, do they know everything I've done and taken? I don't think so. So they really shouldn't be trying to tell me that I'm just not doing it right, that I'm not in the same boat as them. It's like they think that I'm not really disabled -- how could I be when they so clearly are? Bah, it really upsets me, that attitude, especially in a community where everyone is affected in one way or another. What right do they have to say they are disabled and you are not? Bah. Tangent. Rant. But people like that really upset me. The original point to this was my annoyance at the turn of events with my medicine. Not that I should be surprised about it. It just makes me feel frustrated, like I should give up entirely and just suffer through my symptoms with no help. Not that anything I'm currently taking is helping in the least bit. It's actually making it worse... But you guys know what I mean, right? sigh I feel like I'm going crazy. Or maybe that I'm already crazy and my delusions are just getting worse. Lately, I feel like I haven't been able to relate to people at all or make sense or be coherent. I feel like when someone says something I react in the totally wrong way. And I'm babbling. I feel like throwing my computer out the window because of the way my head feels right now. I think I'm going to try listenning to music or something....

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Kipper

*hiccup/burp*

Barked: Tue Apr 7, '09 10:57pm PST


	Amen to that! There is the medican that works wonders for me, but it is really expencive and we can't afford it anymore and I have to stop it. We are in the process of finding something else that works but I have a feeling that non are going to work as well. But I learned somthing interesting from my counsler...... Me being controling is part of my panic disorder! I mean I'm REALLY controling! I want to tell everbody what to do and how to do it. I was "high" today (not on drugs, just from bi-polor). And tonight I crash from this. It is bad this time and I wonder if I'll be able to go to my appoinment tomarrow. I've been high alot lately so I wonder if this crash is going to be worse. Sure feels like it now. I just want to go and hide and never come out again.

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