Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 2027

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Finding a Doc

Posted by Bill Jones on January 4, 1999, at 0:06:11

I have been treated for depression since the late 80's with varying degrees of success. In that time I have had three doctors, one for each of the places I have lived.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to select a new doc? I had very good results with my previous Doc but he is not an option since I moved out of state. He started me on Dexidrine in addition to an SSRI with pretty good effect. I was concerned with addiction at first but from what I have read this is not really a problem. I was on 40mg for some time but dropped it to 30mg because I thought I was too focused.

The doctor I have been seeing for the past 1 1/2 years is also associated with a drug treatment center and seems to be very focused on addiction. I personally like him but I am worried that most of his experience with stimulants is with getting addicts off of them rather than using them as an effective tool. While he is willing to continue prescribing Dexidrine (actually I asked to switch to Adderal) he made it clear from day one that he does not believe in using stimulants like this. Now everytime there is a problem he suspects the stimulants are the cause. I finally decided to try eliminating the stimulants but I am not sure this is the right approach to deal with the problems I am having right now.

It doesn't seem like a good idea to call all of the Docs listed in the yellow pages to ask if they are in favor of using stimulants for ADD/Depression, especially since I have moved to one of the "Meth" capitals. What I really want is someone who is experienced with difficult to treat depression and will consider all of the potential treatment options, including stimulants.

Any sugestions on how to choose?

Bill

 

Re: Finding a Doc

Posted by Pam on January 4, 1999, at 2:16:59

In reply to Finding a Doc, posted by Bill Jones on January 4, 1999, at 0:06:11

> I have been treated for depression since the late 80's with varying degrees of success. In that time I have had three doctors, one for each of the places I have lived.
> Does anyone have any suggestions on how to select a new doc? I had very good results with my previous Doc but he is not an option since I moved out of state. He started me on Dexidrine in addition to an SSRI with pretty good effect. I was concerned with addiction at first but from what I have read this is not really a problem. I was on 40mg for some time but dropped it to 30mg because I thought I was too focused.
> The doctor I have been seeing for the past 1 1/2 years is also associated with a drug treatment center and seems to be very focused on addiction. I personally like him but I am worried that most of his experience with stimulants is with getting addicts off of them rather than using them as an effective tool. While he is willing to continue prescribing Dexidrine (actually I asked to switch to Adderal) he made it clear from day one that he does not believe in using stimulants like this. Now everytime there is a problem he suspects the stimulants are the cause. I finally decided to try eliminating the stimulants but I am not sure this is the right approach to deal with the problems I am having right now.
> It doesn't seem like a good idea to call all of the Docs listed in the yellow pages to ask if they are in favor of using stimulants for ADD/Depression, especially since I have moved to one of the "Meth" capitals. What I really want is someone who is experienced with difficult to treat depression and will consider all of the potential treatment options, including stimulants.
> Any sugestions on how to choose?
> Bill
>> Do you have a hospital around you that has
a Psychiatric unit with a teaching staff? Teaching hospitals seems to be most up to date
on all the available options and interactions.
Since you seem to have ADD as well, they may be in a better place to help you and monitor the meds.
Good luck to you

 

Re: Finding a Doc

Posted by Victoria on January 4, 1999, at 17:58:58

In reply to Re: Finding a Doc, posted by Pam on January 4, 1999, at 2:16:59

I think it depends what you're looking for. If it's primarily medication management, look for a psychopharmacologist (try a local university or med school). If you get a couple of names, you might look them up on Medline or another medical data base to find out what their research focuses on. If you are looking for "talk" therapy, too, then you may need to experiment and meet a couple of doctors to decide who's the best match. I was incredibly lucky picking a doctor out of the phone book, but there was some method to my choice: I picked someone who practiced close to the university/med school and who listed himself under both "psychiatry" and "psychoanalysis" (because I wanted someone flexible, not an automatic pill-pusher). I talked to him on the phone, asked the standard questions (Where did he train? Is he board-certified? What is his clinical orientation?) and set up a one-time appointment to discuss my situation and hear how he would approach it. I met similarly with two other therapists, and made my decision. As it turns out, I'm rather hard to medicate due to extreme susceptibility to side-effects and there have been some problems because he is, admittedly, not an expert on medications. So he referred me to a psychopharmacologist for a consult, to get some recommendations on medication strategies. That combo is working out well for me.


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