I saw my new shrink today. He's nice, looks vaguely like my old one AND has an English accent,a lthough I can't place where. And I didn't ask.
I had a lot of nervous energy and the session lasted the full 1 1/2 hours. He asked me a lot of questions and a couple of times commented on how self aware I was about some things. (I'm not self aware of other things it seems). Even though he knew my diagnosis he treated me like I was a "virgin" patient so I got to talk about some things and I think I missed a few of symptoms/problems that used to be really troubling.
Basically it's crystal clear I have bipolar disorder. He's less sure about the ADD diagnosis, but only because he said it's not *that* bad and that people who have the kinda struggles I did growing up tend to have the same kind of problems I was talking about, but it's not ADD so much as having a wonky childhood.
Also he told me something I didn't know about Seroquel. It does cause weight gain, but some people level off with the weight gain, and it's usually about 40 lbs over their starting weight. Which is roughly where I am - (not including the Zyprexa weight gain). So if I stay steady at this it's probably where I'll stay. And I may be able to lose 10 lbs (give or take) but losing 20 or more pounds probably won't happen while I'm Seroquel. I need to exercise and eat right for health but I won't see the weight loss.
He did say I could try other medications if I wanted to and he'd be willing to do that if I didn't want to stay this weight.
And he gave me a prescription for Ambien. He said if I developed a resistance to it he knows a few things we might be able to do. I told me that when left to my own devices I tend to stay up until 2 or 3 am and then sleep for 10 hours. He said if that's what comes naturally to me and my schedule allowed it there was nothing wrong with it.
sorry this is long, I've been kinda processing this all day.