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Do You Think Doctors Over Medicate

Old 09-07-2008, 11:44 PM
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Do You Think Doctors Over Medicate

I remember starting out with maybe one or 2 rxs now I have a whole bagful.
The doctor said I was hard to treat with meds.
I am on paxil 60mgs klopin 3 mgs vistrial 400mgs inderal 60mgs tradzone 100mgs tomamax 40 mgs requip as needed 100 mgs.
plus I had neck surgery in march now also on soma was on flexrall
lyrica 60 mgs loratab 7.5 4 a day phenergan 25mg as needed.
I was on darvon it did nothing and was on forciet it did nothing and lortab barley helps the headaches. I had cortdone shots put in my neck friday a little better. I have been on lithiumn sequeral abilify rememorn wellburton prozac lezapro effexor buspuar zoloft depacoat the one that causes a rash which I got and it worked good some other I canot remember.
When I had surgery I was nervous they had to give me two shots of valiumn
to relax me which hardley did anything. I usually have to take a nap most days. I have taken all these meds and still awake. I feel like at times a torando could come right through and I would be like no big deal. My shrink said he was running out of meds for me to be on.
I guess he said I was restaint to many. The ones for bipolar I am on now seem to work okay the deprission has lifted mood swings not as bad but I am sick of all these pills. Now they are trying to get my pain under control since my surgery I have had horrid headaches which I never had before andmy neck hurts but I had no choice in my spinla surgery. I worry about what all these pills will do to my body down the road but once you are on them getting off some ofthem is very very hard paxilis one of them and of course klopin.
Lithiumn started making my hair come out and I said no more I have very thick hair and Itoldthe doctorgetmeoffthis now. I was shedding like a dog.
Does anyone else take all this crap.
Kelli....
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Old 09-08-2008, 03:02 AM
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Only you know if the meds you are taking is too much for you.
You are in a partnership with your doctor. They prescribe what the pharmacutical companies say are the effective dosages. For *me* that's way too much. I am sensative to medications.

It took a while for my doc and I to learn this fact, but, now, we're both on the same page, and deal with it effectively. For example, I take 100 mg of welbutrin, rather than the recommended 300 mg. I still get a dose that is effective, but, I get no panic attacks, (that I get on 200 mg or above.)

The point is, you are in partnership with your doctor in your health care. Discuss these things with the doc, and if you are experiencing side effects, discuss alternate therapies. But, you need to work *with* the doctor.

Hope this helps.

Shalom!
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Old 09-08-2008, 03:19 AM
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HI KEL1961,

I HAVE HAD SOME OF THE SAME MEDS & ALSO THE SAME SIDE-EFFECTS. I AM ON EFFEXOR XR 300 MG ONCE A DAY, LEXAPRO 10 MG ONCE A DAY, & XANAX 0.5 MG EVERY SIX HOURS.

I JUST GOT OUT OF THE HOSPITAL 5 DAYS AGO & WILL SEE MY DOC TOMORROW. I WAS HAVING A SEVERE MANIC ATTACK. I WAS PUT ON DEPAKOTE IN THE HOSPITAL & STARTED ITCHING FROM HEAD TO TOE & HAD A RED RASH THAT TURNED BRIGHT RED WHEN I SCRATCHED IT...WAS TAKEN OFF IT BY THE DOC ASSIGNED TO ME.

I DID NOT KNOW I WAS ON ARACEPT 5 MG UNTIL I WAS COMING HOME & READ MY DISCHARGE PAPERS. THEY ALWAYS REFERRED TO IT BY THE GENERIC NAME, WHICH ISN'T AVAILABLE YET, SO DIDN'T CATCH ON. THE DOC USING THE GENERIC NAME TOLD ME IT WAS TO HELP MY SHORT TERM MEMORY PROBLEMS. :wtf2

I AM GOING TO ADDRESS THIS WITH MY DOC TOMORROW & HOPEFULLY WILL BE TAKEN OFF OF IT. I TAKE OTHER MEDS FOR MY ARTHRITIS & FIBROMYALGIA, SOME OF WHICH ARE OVER THE COUNTER MEDS. I, TOO, TAKE TOO MANY MEDS IT SEEMS EVEN IF SOME ARE VITAMINS. I USE TWO MEDICETS SO FILL MY MEDS IN THESE FOR TWO WEEKS AT A TIME. IT IS A VERY BIG HELP TO KEEP FROM BEING CONFUSED ABOUT WHETHER OR NOT I HAVE TAKEN MY PRESCRIBED MEDS.

I AM DIAGNOSED WITH CHRONIC DEPRESSION & ANXIETY. I HAVE BEEN DOING VERY WELL THE PAST TWO YEARS & ENDED UP WITH TOO MANY STRESSORS WHICH SENT ME TO THE PSYC UNIT IN A HOSPITAL 3 HOURS AWAY FROM WHERE I LIVE WITH MY HUSBAND.

SO YOU ARE NOT ALONE. I AM SURE YOU WILL HEAR FROM OTHERS WITH SIMULAR STORIES TO SHARE WITH YOU. :ghug3

KELSH (SIMULAR--HUH?)
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Old 09-08-2008, 03:28 AM
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HI HISTORYTEACH,

YOU MAKE A VERY IMPORTANT POINT...I, TOO, AM VERY SENSITIVE TO MEDS AND CAN'T SEEM TO TAKE MOOD STABLIZERS OR PAIN MEDS OR I GO INTO A MANIC ATTACK AS THE DOSE IS TITRATED UP.

IT IS DOUBLE TROUBLE IF I AM PRESCRIBED THESE MEDS...ESPECIALLY WHEN I AM SO CONFUSED IN THE MIDDLE OF MY MANIC ATTACK. MY FAMILY KNOWS TO RECOGNIZE WHAT IS HAPPENING & IF IT IS ON THE WEEKEND OR AFTER OFFICE HOURS TAKE ME TO THE ER.

KELSH
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Old 09-08-2008, 12:23 PM
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History Teach is quite right, working with your doctor in a partnership for your health is the best possible way to find what is right for you. Every med reacts slightly differently in each person. What might be right for me may be very wrong for you to take. An example is I have taken Lamictal for several years now and it has worked well for me without side effects.

Yes, sometimes I feel like a walking drug store. Here is an example of what I take each day. OTC means over the counter---not doctor prescribed
AM
Simvastin for high cholesterol
A Blood pressure med
Omega 3 and 6 fish oils (OTCto help with depressionand mood swings)
Baby aspirin (I treated my body so bad for so many years that at the age of 43 my doctor called me a walking heart attack and started me on this)
Calcium (OTC to promote bone health being an older woman this is a preventative measure)
Lysine (OTC because any cholesterol lowering drug causes fever blisters if I don't take lysine to off set the problem)
Garlic (OTC to aid in cholesterol)
Vitamin B 12 (OTC aids in cognition/memory)

PM
120 mg Cymbalta (Bi polar depression)
100 mg Lamictal (bi polar)
Vitamin E (OTC promotes cell health)
Vitamin B1 (aids in memory)
Vitamin C (OTC to help the Lysine work)
Magnesium (OTC promotes cell health)

AS NEEDED
Klonopin (for anxiety)
Oxycodone (for back pain---bad discs from car wreck)
Flexeril (for back pain)
Tylenol (Works synergistically with oxycodone causing both to work better)

So you are not alone. Do I feel over medicated? Sometimes yes, but I make a point to know what each of the meds I take does, what meds it reacts with, side effects, etc.... I also make sure my doctor is fully aware of all the OTC meds I take and concurs that they are of benefit. Do I feel better when I take my meds? Yes. I can tell when I have missed a dose.

Some people will say that I am crazy for taking so many meds but I can tell the difference as each one provides something my body is in need of. For example, my depression and mood swings from the bi polar were helped immensely with the addition of the fish oils. I no longer have the rapid and wide mood swings I was having prior to starting the fish oil and that is the only thing that has been changed or added so I feel it is what has helped. Before it I was all over the board with my mood swings.....suicidal one minute and hyper the next. It was frightening and my psych doc wanted to just add Prozac to the mix and change my mood stabilizer.....
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Old 09-13-2008, 06:46 AM
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I didn't have the pain problems you did but I tried many medications such as Anti Depressants like Paxil, Zoloft, Effectzor, Clomipramine *recently which resulted in lower blood pressure and no eating for like 1 week and a half*... forgot the others, then Anti Physchotics like Seroquel, Lamictal, Risperdal... and others but I forgot again, man my brain sucks :|
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Old 09-13-2008, 10:36 PM
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Do You Think Doctors Over Medicate?

No, I think recovering addicts tend to be sensitive and needy, so most doctors go script happy because they want to "help" the person. They are simply responding to the patient's cry for help...not intentionally drugging them like lab rats.

Besides, its almost impossible to tell which med is doing what when you're on 10+ different kinds at once.
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