Posted by viridis on March 15, 2003, at 14:26:34
In reply to Does your Pdoc believe your side-effects??, posted by Eggy on March 14, 2003, at 21:03:36
I had this problem with my GP. I've told this story before so won't go into all the details, but the key points are that he prescribed Wellbutrin; I told him that I wanted to be cautious since I have major anxiety problems, and he said that since Wellbutrin and other modern ADs can't cause side effects, this wasn't a concern. He added that there's no such thing as an anxiety disorder; all anxiety is the result of depression, so antidepressants almost invariably prevent anxiety.
I didn't buy any of this, but tried the WB (at 1/3 the dose he wanted me on) for two months. I had a bunch of very strange side effects, including extreme dizziness, sensitivity to light, intense pressure in my head, shaking hands, bursts of anger etc. -- things I just don't experience normally. On top of this, it sent my anxiety through the roof.
When I told my GP this, he said it was "impossible" and that I must have "psychological" problems because clearly my side effects were imaginary. They did stop, though, within a day of discontinuing WB.
So I went to a psychiatrist, who said that WB was just about the last med he'd consider for me. He wasn't at all surprised by the side effects, and said some were actually fairly common. I'm doing much better with benzos and Adderall, but the ignorance of that GP (who must deal with quite a few people who suffer from mental problems) really shocked me.
poster:viridis
thread:209199
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030314/msgs/209406.html