Should You Get a Second Medical Opinion?
My thought on getting a second medical opinion is that it doesn’t hurt to get one if you have any qualms about what your provider is advising you to do or not to do. Even if you don’t have any qualms about what your provider is telling you, it still wouldn’t hurt – if that’s what you choose to do – especially if the medical opinion is regarding something of particular concern to you. I say to get the second opinion because you don’t know what you don’t know. The same goes for your medical professional – there’s just no way he or she can know everything.
I will provide you with a personal experience. I want to say this particular medical appointment that I’ll be reffering to occurrred shortly after I got married in December of 2021. I told my psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner at the time (she has since moved away) that my husband and I wanted to try to start a family soon, so I wanted to know her thoughts on discontinuing one of my psych meds. Her response was an absolute no. She explained to me that, although the research on taking my medication while pregnant was scant, what the existing literature was clear on is that the pregnant person should not discontinue the medication because doing so would probably do more harm than good.
Let me explain. Collectively, the research says very little about what taking my medication does to the person carrying the child, and it says even less about what my medication does to the fetus while in utero. That in mind, my nurse practitioner’s professional opinion was that it was in my best interest to continue taking my medication because of what could happen to me (and thus, the unborn baby) if were I to stop taking it.
Fast forward to May 2022. I am in my first trimester of pregnancy with my first child. My husband and I attended my very first ultrasound appointment early in the month for an estimated due date. A couple of weeks or so after that visit, my obstetrician at the time had the front desk call to ask me if I was still taking that psych med because my physician wanted me to stop taking it.
In October of the same year, I scheduled an appointment with my current nurse practitioner. It was my very first appointment with her, and, after learning that I was 32 1/2 weeks pregnant, the first question she asked me related to my treatment was, “You’re not still taking [insert name of psych medication here], are you?”
I use this as an example, but, as you have probably gathered, I did not actually seek out a second or a third professional opinion. Their stance on the matter was unsolicited. To me, though, it speaks volumes that not only did my obstetrician want me to stop taking my medication, but my current nurse practitioner wanted me to also. This was significant to me because, of course, my obstetrician is more likely than my psychiatric nurse practitioner to have my baby’s best interest in mind; nevertheless, my current nurse practitioner and my obstetrician were in agreement regarding this medication. At the end of the day, my message to you is to advocate for yourself, and, if it applies to you, advocate for your unborn child, too. Whatever you choose, be sure to consult your provider(s) and allow them to provide you their medical advice and supervision.
Signed,
Lai (Bipolar I)
