Posted by Squiggles on November 18, 2002, at 16:49:18
In reply to Re: How do I let me doc know I'm not joking this t, posted by utopizen on November 18, 2002, at 16:37:02
It is not a question of how many benzos
are given out, so much, as "what for";
About 20 years ago, when i was dx'd bipolar,
GAD was all the rage, and so was the prescription
of clonazepam for GAD; Somebody, probably
the manufacturer convinced the medical
community that clonazepam was good for
GAD, unlike Valium, and the other 100 benzos;Then, gradually the whole medical picture shifted
and they realized that anxiety need not necessarily
go along with depression (bp or up); so a new theory
came up - that bipolar disorder was a species
of epilepsy; therefore clonazepam could STILL,
indeed MUST still be prescribed as it was an
anticonvulsant. This must have been a real
joy for Hoffman La Roche (whom i believe is the
maker of this drug, primarily for epilepsy).This sounds very fishy to me, but after
some time on the net i am beginning to see
the trends in "spin-offs" as a marketing
scheme, not only in drugs, but cosmetics and
other products as well.Strangely enough Valium became demodee. This too
would have been good for GAD - infact, any long-term
benzo would.So, with all this shifting around; what do you
think the doctors do--i doubt very much that
you will see them joining the likes of the anti-psychiatry
movement and marching with placards in front of
BigPharm. Rather, i think they follow the instructions
which have trickled down from the meetings between
doctors and pharmaceutical companies and other
agencies on what's up;So the point of this is that the doctor is really
at the mercy of these movements and must follow along.Squiggles
poster:Squiggles
thread:128043
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021116/msgs/128167.html