I ask two questions whenever any physician wants to put me on a specific medication:
1) Is the med weight neutral? Being fit is one of the few positive things I have in my f**ked up life. Thus, I won't let any medication I take make me over weight or obese.
2) Can I take it prn (as needed, as opposed to every day)? This affords me the flexibility to trial and error to limit the toxic intake of my medications. I strive to juggle the least amount of toxicity with the maximum amount of benefit.
If the answer is "no" to either of the above questions, then I ask what my options are where both my concerns are met. Sometimes, like with my thyroid, there is no option, so I take Synthroid every day.
@Sheri. Gabapentin can be taken prn, as confirmed by my former psychiatrist. Let me read your Gabapentin thread to see what you have to say over there. I'll comment either here or there as to my experience on it currently.
@Sheri, one thing I'll observe is that you seem to be given plenty of medications. Some physicians are conservative and stingy with meds and others hand meds out like candy. There is no guidebook from med school to govern each physician's approach - each uses their discretion, but keep in mind they oftentimes receive perks and kick backs from the pharmaceutical reps, as illustrated in the above article. You seem to potentially have a physician(s) who falls into the latter category, and they are treating this stuff like candy, especially the doctor giving you Zyprexa exclusively for insomnia.
My most recent psychiatrist fell into the "candy" category, and he tried to add a bunch of additional meds each time I saw him, and I said, "no" to him every time. Dude was a quack, and I no longer see him.
As soon as any physician tries to give me another med to offset side effects from one of my existing meds, it's a huge red flag in my book. I always decline this option, and if warranted that is when I seek out a new physician.
I was physically addicted to this drug after taking it for nerve pain. It was ineffectual so I was quickly bumped to the maximum dose of 3600mg daily without being warned of its addictive effects. After they messed up my prescriptions I went cold turkey; even when I managed to get it again and tried to taper off it was the most awful experience of my life. I was extremely ill for months and they did nothing to support me...
Same with Tramadol; decent painkiller but with a hidden SSRI side that they don't talk about and that you generally aren't aware of until you experience the side effects and/or research it yourself...
Now I never take anything without extensive research first!!
I'm sorry to read your story. It's unfortunate, but stories like these are extremely common with all these meds used to treat, at least in part, psychiatric conditions.
The medical community turns a blind eye to these issues. In fact, when they do acknowledge "potential" (haha) withdrawal issues, the industry sugar coats its nomenclature and calls it "discontinuance syndrome". F**king joke.
The community hides behind lack of evidence regarding withdrawal for any of these meds. Golly, why is there lack of evidence? Because, the pharmaceutical companies are not going to fund anything that jeopardizes their cash cow(s). Anyone think any pharmaceutical company is going to fund a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study to investigate withdrawal symptoms from their medications? Never in a million years. Hence, the "lack of evidence".
The internet is full of people suffering from withdrawal from all these psych meds. This is all the "evidence" I need to form my own conclusions. Thus, I'm extremely cautious with my decisions regarding what meds I decide to take, and I would never blindly trust any doctor to put me on any medication.
Everyone should do their own research. It does not take much to learn from other's experience through Google or from this forum.
My endocrinologist recently was yelling at me, because I researched and opted not to go on statins given my personal variables. (Talk about an over prescribed, shakey/scammy medication surrounded with flawed research, which makes billions of dollars annually). He screamed at me in pure frustration for me to "stop being my own doctor". Haha. That is not going to happen.
I read the mathematically probabilites of having a cardiovascular event in the next ten years based on my coronary calcium score. The research shows the reduction of risk with statins is mathematically insignificant, for my situation, in my opinion, especially when considering the common side effects.
In an effort to get me on statins, my endo told me that he blindly listens to his own medical specialists and does exactly what each tells him, and I thought "well, that's your problem, and I'm smarter than that, because I do my own research and read the studies".
