Posted by yxibow on January 29, 2009, at 19:25:30
In reply to If you are feeling better STAY ON YOUR MEDS, posted by HyperFocus on January 29, 2009, at 18:16:08
> I've read too many tragic stories on this board about people who respond to a particular line of treatment, discontinue it for any number of reasons, and then attempt to return to it only to find that it no longer works at all for them. It may not seem logical, but there are too many cases of this happening to make these some random ocurrences
Yes, I don't quite know why but I'm rather annoyed that a medication I take that I'd rather not take isn't working at its original 100% or even 80%.
> If you are responding to your meds, stay on them - there is no reason to discontinue unless there is a major problem with side effects. If your doctor wants you to stop because "you've been on them long enough" or "you're better now" or he/she wants to experiment with the latest pharmaceutical concoction, consider carefully what could happen when you stop and get a second opinion at least. Don't reduce the dosage or substitute one for another, no matter how logical and straightforward the adjustment might seem. No doctor can peer into your brain and understand what is going on. Nobody is concerned more about your welfare than you. Understand that if you adjust, switch or stop then there's a good chance you well not get the same good response again, and let your doctor know that
>
> If you have minor to moderate SEs consider carefully if it would be worth staying on the meds and looking for another med that can manage the SEs, rather than discontinuing. Understand that if you stop there is a significant chance the meds will longer work for you. If you have severe and life-threatning SEs then you may not have a choice, but at least find out all the options available for treating them and maybe weigh the risks to your health - always mindful than quitting this particular med might mean permanent lack of response from this line of treatment.
>
> Get well and stay well.
I do agree though. I mean if you and your doctor are confident that anxiety or depression or whatever ails you has gone way down, and you are on polypharmacy (many medications), there is one counter to this in that the least number of medications is always the best, because the more you have, the more interactions and even the best psychopharmacologist can't predict everything.
Still, if you're on a MED (minimum effective dose) of things you take, which reduces side effects -- I would agree, if the benefits outweigh any strong side effects you might be having, medications are largely palliatives -- that is, when you are on them, the transmitters that they are occupying, raising, lowering, etc, are at a state they should be if they are working for you.But if you go off them, one may discover -- and this is common for example with SSRIs, that a person was better off on it than off.
I agree -- something to ponder
-- tidings
Jay
poster:yxibow
thread:877077
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090104/msgs/877089.html