cognative behaviour therapy.

[joyce59]

just had a phone call from a nice lady at the mental health she has decided along with her team members that cognative behaviour therapy wouldnt be the answer for me. She has however referred me to another agency to deal with my emotional state.

[LtAngua52]

Did she say what therapy would be better?

[joyce59 in reply to LtAngua52]

Not really she just thinks i should go back to the gp as ive explained to her iam concerned about the symptoms iam getting including neck pains.

[LtAngua52 in reply to joyce59]

I'm surprised she didn't say why cbt wasn't right, or suggest alternatives. Wasn't very helpful was she! I've had cbt and found it useful to change negative thought patterns, which is its main goal. Person Centred Therapy is good too, certainly more beneficial for me to explore thoughts, feelings and behaviour. It depends on what you want from it. I hope the agency helps you. Cbt is useful to help deal with all the effects of dealing with an illness.

[joyce59]

This is the 3rd time this year ive been referred to mental health then been discharged back to gp. However this other place seems more promising its called spoke recovery services i had an appointment for the 6th of june but ive had to change it to the 13th due to other appointments.

[Mbarber in reply to joyce59]

This is not unusual considering the state of mental health. In a recent case, I know someone who had to complain to the Care Commissioning Group for their region in order to get the help they needed, and even then, it didn't turn out as they had planned. Keep on at your GP, and if they don't offer help, repeat as this person did. Do not allow yourself to be passed off or brushed by.

[joyce59]

quite agree i feel as if every-one is passing the buck and iam getting no-where.

[Mbarber in reply to joyce59]

Pull all your records from all sources and start looking at your situation from a 'person centered' approach. ie. I am the person suffering here, so I need to put some time into getting my records and doing the research, and pointing the health system in a direction. Take no prisoners. Write letters to your GP and to Hospital Doctors ; ask for second opinions, and make life tougher than if they were to put the effort in for you and think outside the box. Always get 'breadcrumbs' from all your appointments and interactions, and ask online if you don't understand anything. If you repeat the process of looking into your own care often enough, sometimes the GP's and the health system gets fed up and starts to turn over rocks that they should have been looking under in the first place!

[joyce59 in reply to Mbarber]

ive found a dr who is researching into thyroid diseases through the PALS team at the hospital (where i am also a nurse) he said hes more than willing to see me for a second opinion if i can get a reference letter from the gp but i cant some-how see the gp agreeing.

[Mbarber in reply to joyce59]

Doctor, I insist on a referral to.... I have a personal connection to 'referrer' through my being a nurse at ..... and in passing I mentioned my symptoms and he has suggested that I ask you for a referral letter so that I be seen in his clinic. In the event that you disagree, I will be writing a letter of complaint to the CCG in the area as I believe this will improve my health condition.

Take no prisoners! Yeild not to fools.

CCG assumes UK!

[LtAngua52 in reply to joyce59]

You could try a charity in your area that offers different therapies for mental health. I went to a women's only health information centre. I only waited 2-3 weeks to see someone and the service and treatment were great. It was nothing to do with the NHS. Have a look around. Good luck.

[Mbarber]

Agreed!

[Jazzw]

Great advice from mBarber there. It shouldn't be the case but sometimes we really have to fight for the treatment we need. And it still looks like the most likely reason for your emotional health problems - in part if not in full - could be undertreated hypothyroidism. I'd love to know what your FT3 is, for example. Liothyronine (T3) is a recognised treatment for mental health issues - recognised but oh so rarely used.

Keep on asking the difficult questions, don't accept flannel from your doctors. You deserve so much better, especially as you're a nurse yourself.

[joyce59]

i asked for the T3 test several times and each time was refused no gp or any of the endos i saw will do it even when i offered to pay. Think my only option will be one of those self-testing kits you buy on-line.

[LtAngua52 in reply to joyce59]

If you can do the self testing kit then go for it. It certainly helped me to see exactly what was wrong. Now I knew what treatment I needed and feel a million times better. If you do it through thyroid uk they will get a small donation too!

[Marz in reply to joyce59]

thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/testin...

joyce59 - here is the link to the Thyroid UK website and the Private Blood Testing website that so many people on this forum uses.

I agree with others - you need to know the FT3 result

[Treepie]

Cognitive behaviour therapy can be more useful than othe forms of therapy for those that need it for mental health problems not thyroid!

[Hidden in reply to Treepie]

I agree with you, this has helped me in the past. x

[Musicmonkey in reply to Treepie]

CBT has its uses, but is overrated in my view. Research showing its effectiveness is misleading (don't forget it's a short term therapy and can be delivered by mental health services cheaply). In a way, its a bit equivalent to saying Levo is proven to be the most effective way to treat thyroid problems!

[Treepie in reply to Musicmonkey]

I think you are wrong.It is not as intrusive as other methods physically and concentrates on behaviours. I know a number of people who have had private treatment with CBT .Maybe its cheap in the NHS just like NHS physiotherapy with several patients being treated at once with tens machines .At least that was my experience.

[Musicmonkey in reply to Treepie]

Treepee you are of course entitled to your opinion. It's horses for courses. What research does show is that effective counselling is more dependant on the relationship between client and counsellor that makes the biggest difference, not the type of therapy.

[Greenwall in reply to Musicmonkey]

From experience I can say you are right on this.

[Jillkh]

Hi Joyce. I am qualified as a CBT psychotherapist but originally worked as a generic psychotherapist. CBT is a very helpful therapy to address thinking styles that effect mood and behaviour. But it is often seen as only addressing specific issues such as anxiety and depression, however CBT is very successful in a much wider application. I would be interested as to why you were turned down for CBT. It might be worth asking what criteria they were working to that you did not fit!! CBT is very able to work with psychological distress.

On another note, I was on Levo for 13 years and constantly suffered from anxiety and depression. Switched to NDT and my mood is so much better. It's still early days but I am hopeful

If you want any more info on CBT. I am happy to help

Jill

[joyce59]

hi jillkh the lady who phoned said she hadnt thought it was suited to me as she feels its my thyroid issues thats causing the problem but gp said as bloods are normal there shouldnt be any issues (pains etc). The hospital have discharged me back to the gp but everytime they referr me back to mental health then mental health send me back to the gp so i feel i get nowhere.