Posted by Squiggles on August 20, 2002, at 7:51:26
In reply to Re: To...Addiction vs. Medical dependence, posted by hiba on August 20, 2002, at 1:54:20
Hi Hiba,
You ask me what other thing can be done, but
to give addictive or habituating drugs for
certain serious afflictions; 'should we give
opium and antidepressants for anxiety' for
example. This is a rhetorical question and
not a scientific one. For all i know opium
may have less long-term dangerous effects if
given at a small dose, as well as antidepressants,
maybe even lithium - this is a medical question.
At the end of the day, one has to measure the
cumulative adverse effects against the advantages --
that would be the right thing to do.
Ideally, it would not be JUST the symptom (turned
into a disease through language and lack of
scientific perception) that is treated but the the
cause. So, that you do not get cases such as
my friend's for example, who never used to have
anxiety in her life, but given a certain AD which
stimulates the serotonin uptake or some such,
has life wrecking anxiety every day; and for which
the drug companies see as an opportunity to develop
another drug to treat that symptom, and on and on.Ideally, a symptom would be recognized by a doctor
as just that a symptom and NOT a disease. So, that
if a person has Graves' disease and exhibits exophthalmia,
he wand hyperactivivity, he would not be treated with Valium
without considering an endocrinological cause of that
symptom first.Ideally, the course of the drug, in due time, resulting
in tolerance and resulting in panic attacks and anxiety
of a greater and heitherto, unknown degree would not
be considered as evidence of an underlying condition
getting worse, but the drug itself having an effect.But this is not an ideal world.
I said before - I am not against benzos - i have
recommended them to my friend for anxiety which
is a side effect of another drug she is taking.
Nor, do i think that all benzos have the same
qualities.As for Klonopin and bipolar disorder,
two grave questions have plagued me about this
prescription - first was i correctly diagnosed
as bipolar (since i was taking Valium and there is
a real possibility i was withdrawing without knowing
and mimicking the signs of bipolar disorder, and two -
is Klonopin as an anti-convulsant prescribed to bipolars
because they are believed to be in the class of
epileptics. And here is the coup de gras - even
if that were the case, i can no longer get off
these drugs after so many years; i cannot reverse
a possible mistake. This is the sad case with
many drugs which change your CNS after a long time,
including benzos.I got off Xanax and i no longer
have panic attacks which were induced by reaching
tolerance; i was not so lucky with Klonopin and i
believe the attempt almost killed me through seizure
or stroke or both. I know that the same is the
case with beta blockers, and many other drugs which
do not even fall in the narcotic category. I am not
sure what pharamaceutical class they are in. The point
is that anxiety, treated with anxiolytics is a condition
with a myridad causes and thus, the benzos are far more
frequently prescribed than any other psychiatric drug.I do agree with you on this though: when a drug is
necessary for an illness, then one must tolerate
its side effects, in a minimal risk/maximum gain
kind of plan.Squiggles
poster:Squiggles
thread:116708
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020814/msgs/117068.html