Posted by gromit on June 15, 2005, at 18:14:50
In reply to Re: I LOVE lithium » gromit, posted by yesac on June 14, 2005, at 10:37:34
> You're right, there is such a thing as being too patient. I think I have a hard time findign the right balance too. I stay on drugs much longer than other people would, put up with annoying side effects, struggle to see if there's any chance it's working, push the dose up higher to see if it might work. It's difficult with these drugs because a lot of them take so long to work, plus they are so "finicky" so sometimes a small adjustment or the addition of another drug or a switch to brand name or whatever else might make all the difference.
You are right of course, 200 mg of Provigil was a sugar pill, 300 mg and I was like a new person until it stopped working. We need to give these things a fair trial before moving on.
Here is a short story that explains why I came to the conclusions I did. My pdoc thought I might be bipolar so he put me on depakote, 500 mg to start. I got sick, I mean physically sick, I've posted about the side effects before, I can find it but it's not really important what the problems were. So I go back after a month and he says ok try 250, I don't mention that I've been taking 250 for the last week. Another month goes by and I'm on to Lamictal. Ok, 2 months is not very long, I've stayed on meds that did nothing for much longer, but I really believe if I had continued taking depakote it would have killed me. It's like my immune system system just shut down.
Anyway, I relate this experience to my family doctor and she asks me "why the h*ll did you keep taking it"? If I could do ascii art I'd draw a picture of a lightbulb over my dumb head. This my life, as far as I know there is one shot at it. No longer am I going to accept treatment that isn't working, a doctor who is condecending, who minimalises my troubles or the side effects of medications. If I hire an interior designer and I absolutely hate what they come up with, I'm not going to defer to them. If the gardener kills my lawn he's fired. Anyone who works for me, including my doctor who WORKS FOR ME, that isn't producing the results I want is fired. I'm tired of being nice, I'm tired of being patient. I don't know if this makes any sense at all.> Really? I'm not sure that I do believe that anymore.... I've been coming to a different conclusion that perhaps there are no answers at all!
I refuse to believe there is no answer, fingers in ears, la la la la la...
Rick
poster:gromit
thread:509665
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050611/msgs/513291.html