If Practice makes perfect. . .

Then why is my doctor still "practicing medicine" after 28 years? Don't get me wrong. . .he is a great guy. And not the only one who seems to have a track record of making "educated guesses" when it comes to patient care (I'm looking at you Gregory House). But here is the deal. . .

I've been on anti-dperessants for 6 years. SIX YEARS. And at first. . .all was well. Magical even. Its amazing what a small amount of brain altering chemicals can do for your outlook. But about 3 years ago, I went to the doctor complaining of fatigue. Tests were run. Nothing conclusive was found. "You are probably still depressed" was the Doctor's decision. After all - fatigue is a symptom of depression. So they doubled my dose. And I didn't get better. So I went back after about 6 more months. Tests were run. Nothing conclusive was found. "Try to exercise more and get more rest." And I didn't get better. Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

I would go to the doctor, they would run tests, they would find nothing, they would either A - up my dose of anti-depressant or B - give me great advice like "try to avoid caffeine - it might be disrupting your sleep". In which case I would look at them like the crazy person they OBVIOUSLY are because caffeine is the only thing that gets me through the day without collapsing. Then I finally got fed up. And decided to pester my doctor until he figured out what was wrong with me. And in May of this year (after running tests and finding nothing) he finally sent me to a sleep disorders lab. And I racked up over $10K (yes - that is not a typo - $10,000) in sleep tests. AND. . .THE RESULTS ARE IN. . .I don't have a sleep disorder. Not Sleep Apnea (First guess) nor Narcolepsy (second guess). Nor anything else. I sleep like a baby. However. . .what I do have? Is apparently "fatigue caused by the secondary effects of my antidepressant". Translation - one of the side effects of the antidepressant is fatigue. . .and so for three years - THREE YEARS - they have been increasing my dosage - making me more and more and more and more and more tired. Nifty - ain't it.

I wonder how long you have to practice so that it doesn't take three years to make a patient better.