Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 898348

Shown: posts 1 to 25 of 27. This is the beginning of the thread.

 

I 've given up hope

Posted by ihatedrugs on May 29, 2009, at 20:35:01

Hello all,

It has been 21 years later since my first attempt to treat my depression via the medication route. I have tried pretty much everything. There have been moments of improvement but for the most part I can't say I am not the same happy, and super optimistic person I used to be except for the periodical visit from the beast, every two years or so. I also used to be so fit and people considered me very pretty. Now I am 50 lbs overweight, which makes me look old and makes feel tired and on top of that still don't feel any better since starting meds, if anything I feel worst.
Is this all there is? Twenty years is quite a long time to be trying to find something that works. I get so excited each time a new med comes out because I think this is the one. But in all honesty, I am beginning to give up all hope; and resign myself to a life of mental anguish and misery.
I have tried so hard. I have been a good wife and mother. I have even managed to send both my kids to great colleges, one of them to MIT. But none of this means anything when my heart is in such pain and my mind wants to run away to another place that is not my body.
I know there are many of us out there and some of you are in worse condition than me. For this, I apologize, because you should be the one complaining and not me.
I guess I just wanted to let this out because it is consuming me, and my family like I'm sure some of yours is getting tired of the same ole' story.
Sorry for the nonsense.
ihatedrugs

 

Re: I 've given up hope » ihatedrugs

Posted by Frustratedmama on May 29, 2009, at 20:55:14

In reply to I 've given up hope, posted by ihatedrugs on May 29, 2009, at 20:35:01

I understand fully what you mean! I have been on this med-go-round for 17 years....I used to feel relief but now it's horrible. I was so happy to get an hour of relief this week from the rage and anger that it made me cry! Then, it all comes back again- why is it that we need to suffer so much? I wish you well and hope you know we are here for you. I applaud you for being a good wife and mother as I am now a horrible parent, and haven't had a relationship in YEARS (and that includes a date)so, know that you are still hanging in there.... Don't give up! There has to be an end- I keep telling myself that and maybe someday it will come true- relief from the anguish and a day of happines- that's all we really need!

 

Re: I 've given up hope

Posted by shasling on May 29, 2009, at 20:56:50

In reply to I 've given up hope, posted by ihatedrugs on May 29, 2009, at 20:35:01

Ive always try to explain to non depressed people how it feels.I explain if you had surgery and your arm hurt,u can take a pain killer and probuably go on and be ok.

But what do you do when your own mind turns aganist you!!! Reading your posts reminds me of this,and its absoluty terrifying.I read your post and although it doesent help but there are people at least understand and go through it too.

With all the celebs that are listed as depressed,its a shame we dont have a spokes person out there,this disease will never get better as long as things stay the same.We need to get it out and talked about,so the meds can chance and we dont continue to get the same meds just tweaked usualy for patent reasons.The best i seen was the pbs special where they spoke of vns,along with a person immediatly treated succesfuly with a small dose of ketamine.

One executive in the show said these people come to us in dying need,if a person with a flamed appendix came in we treat their pain immediatly.Yet depressed people are given a med,told well try that for 6 weeks and see what happens.

NO he said,we need tohelp them immediatly,treat them as we would a patient with any disease.

I hope everyone seen this special,let me know i can direct you to clips of it as well as the entire special.

To the poster my heart goes out,i live by twisting meds daily,im exhausted but like you im terrified of living with my mind aganist me.

 

Re: I 've given up hope

Posted by floatingbridge on May 29, 2009, at 21:10:03

In reply to I 've given up hope, posted by ihatedrugs on May 29, 2009, at 20:35:01

Please, no apologies necessary. I think you speak for many of us here. Considering the burden you've borne for years, you have many accomplishments to point to. For that, and your strength, I applaud you.

Are you still on pristiq? I take it from your post you are not experiencing benefits.

Thank you for writing from the heart,

Candace

 

Re: I 've given up hope » ihatedrugs

Posted by Sigismund on May 29, 2009, at 21:51:36

In reply to I 've given up hope, posted by ihatedrugs on May 29, 2009, at 20:35:01

You've answered your own question, I felt: It's pushing sh*t uphill.

I would take whatever pleasure you can from the fact that you have done so well with your family, accept that you are going to feel f*ck*d, look after yourself as well as you can (which in my case, for example meant finding out I was poisoned with mercury), accept that it's not your fault, and try to find some pleasure in this often beautiful (if painful) world.

 

Re: I 've given up hope

Posted by Phillipa on May 29, 2009, at 23:43:44

In reply to Re: I 've given up hope » ihatedrugs, posted by Sigismund on May 29, 2009, at 21:51:36

New show on I think Fox called MIND about a psychiatrist and his patients he's caring and smart. You seriously must watch this show. Phillipa

 

Re: I 've given up hope

Posted by greywolf on May 30, 2009, at 3:33:02

In reply to I 've given up hope, posted by ihatedrugs on May 29, 2009, at 20:35:01

I sympathize with you regarding the drug rollercoaster. It never seems to end or get better.

Can I recommend something that might help? A good therapist. I have found my therapists invaluable during those many times when I have been despairing over the lack of improvement through medications. I can't talk to my friends and family about this stuff, so it's wonderful to have an educated person help talk me through the tough times.

Good luck.

Greywolf

 

Re: I 've given up hope

Posted by ihatedrugs on May 30, 2009, at 6:15:05

In reply to Re: I 've given up hope, posted by greywolf on May 30, 2009, at 3:33:02

Thanks to all for your kind words. I'm still taking Pristiq and it's helping the same as other meds...it keeps me functioning. Of course there are better days than others. I think the weight gain is really hurting my self esteem which in turn sinks me down the spiral. I have begun to exercise which should help lift my spirits. I have a husband who is the happiest person in the world. Nothing affects him except for a Gator football game loss. He can eat and enjoy food and drink and savor wine and derives such pleasure from everything. On top of that, he doesn't gain one pound. Don't get me wrong, he is my rock and he has been through it all with me. But at times, I secretly resent his blissfulness. Why can I enjoy just a little bit?
Anyways, enough complaining, I will continue trying, and checking back with you guys hoping someone discovers a magic potion.
Greetings,
ihatedrugs

 

Re: I 've given up hope

Posted by bleauberry on May 30, 2009, at 14:32:53

In reply to I 've given up hope, posted by ihatedrugs on May 29, 2009, at 20:35:01

I think the problem with you and me and many of us is that we become consumed in a game of manipulating brain chemistry, without even a distant thought to what is causing the brain chemistry to be screwed. We don't even care what is impacting the brain. We just assume IT, the depression, is the brain.

Ever had a hangover? It is kind of like depression? The chemical waste product of alcohol is the same one excreted by things like yeast and bacteria (Lyme or Clamydia for example). Not to mention ammonia, formaldahyde, and a couple dozen others common to unseen unsuspected infections. It's a toxic world. Amalgams, produce, meat, industrial air, amalgams our mother had...we consume a lot more pesticides, mercury, and lead, than did generations before us. And our diets are a lot worse, heavily based on sugar. In other words, I think recent generations have unknowingly created serious unseen unrecognized diseases that are far ahead of the medical profession's ability to see them, acknowledge that they exist, explore them, or treat them. The things I mentioned above, I believe, are extremely common, much more than anyone suspects, and all of them impact brain and hormonal chemistry profusely. It is no wonder to me that merely manipulating neurotransmitters doesn't do much good with many people.

When it gets to be 5 years into treatment without much progress, one HAS to ask...what is the diagnosis that I missed? Sure, the diagnosis of depression was made, but that is just a cluster of symptoms...the visible part of an unseen disease. Depression is not the disease itself, it is only the visible sign of a hidden one.

One cannot say, "I don't have yeast. There is no smell, no jock itch, no vaginal smell or infection, no acne, I don't have yeast." That is absurd. One cannot say, "I don't have Lyme". Because they don't know they don't have it any more than they know they do have it. One cannot say "I don't have a problem with heavy metals". How do you know?

All I am saying is that when someone is treating a disease, any disease, for a long time and getting nowhere, pure logic says "revisit the diagnosis, something was missed".

I think one reason we all get entrenched in the lopsided world of psych meds is because there is just enough success in it to lure us, kind of like the ocassional winning in Las Vegas. It keeps a lot of people playing, and losing.

I think another reason we get entrenched in psychiatry and don't look for the real problem is because...we don't know how and neither do our doctors.

But that doesn't mean we can't. Technology brings knowledge and science to our fingertips. We can weed through the vast field of knowledge and judge for ourselves what is hype and what is realistic, after we have seen both sides. We can do trial and error tests of different things the same as we blindly do with potent brain altering meds. It's funny, we are willing to subject our brain to a risky assault of a potent antipsychotic or antidepressant, but we wouldn't even think of trying Nystatin blindly to see if we have yeast or not. We wouldn't even think of taking DMSA to provoke any hidden heavy metals to show up in otherwise clean urine. But, we'll take every psych med in the world and care less about why we're sick.

I'm just saying, there is a lot more to depression than the brain. The brain is the final pathway that is impacted by something else. It is up to us to read, research, ask questions, try things, and move forward. Back in the Civil War, all that doctors knew for bullet wounds was sulfur or amputation, with alcohol as the anesthetic. That was cutting edge medicine. Our modern doctors are just as primitive as that when it comes to treating the causes of depression.

It is up to us to explore and try things. That is where hope comes from. Hope can be created by moving forward, by refusing to be stuck. If it has been 15 years, 20 years, whatever, on psych meds, is any more time really needed for someone to open one's eyes?

"This poster is crazy. I don't have Lyme. I don't have parasites. I don't have leaky intestines. I don't have yeast. I don't have heavy metals. My thyroid is normal. My blood tests look good. I am not sick. They just haven't invented the right antidepressant for me yet." I can hear it already.

 

Re: I 've given up hope

Posted by bulldog2 on May 30, 2009, at 16:53:51

In reply to Re: I 've given up hope, posted by bleauberry on May 30, 2009, at 14:32:53

> I think the problem with you and me and many of us is that we become consumed in a game of manipulating brain chemistry, without even a distant thought to what is causing the brain chemistry to be screwed. We don't even care what is impacting the brain. We just assume IT, the depression, is the brain.
>
> Ever had a hangover? It is kind of like depression? The chemical waste product of alcohol is the same one excreted by things like yeast and bacteria (Lyme or Clamydia for example). Not to mention ammonia, formaldahyde, and a couple dozen others common to unseen unsuspected infections. It's a toxic world. Amalgams, produce, meat, industrial air, amalgams our mother had...we consume a lot more pesticides, mercury, and lead, than did generations before us. And our diets are a lot worse, heavily based on sugar. In other words, I think recent generations have unknowingly created serious unseen unrecognized diseases that are far ahead of the medical profession's ability to see them, acknowledge that they exist, explore them, or treat them. The things I mentioned above, I believe, are extremely common, much more than anyone suspects, and all of them impact brain and hormonal chemistry profusely. It is no wonder to me that merely manipulating neurotransmitters doesn't do much good with many people.
>
> When it gets to be 5 years into treatment without much progress, one HAS to ask...what is the diagnosis that I missed? Sure, the diagnosis of depression was made, but that is just a cluster of symptoms...the visible part of an unseen disease. Depression is not the disease itself, it is only the visible sign of a hidden one.
>
> One cannot say, "I don't have yeast. There is no smell, no jock itch, no vaginal smell or infection, no acne, I don't have yeast." That is absurd. One cannot say, "I don't have Lyme". Because they don't know they don't have it any more than they know they do have it. One cannot say "I don't have a problem with heavy metals". How do you know?
>
> All I am saying is that when someone is treating a disease, any disease, for a long time and getting nowhere, pure logic says "revisit the diagnosis, something was missed".
>
> I think one reason we all get entrenched in the lopsided world of psych meds is because there is just enough success in it to lure us, kind of like the ocassional winning in Las Vegas. It keeps a lot of people playing, and losing.
>
> I think another reason we get entrenched in psychiatry and don't look for the real problem is because...we don't know how and neither do our doctors.
>
> But that doesn't mean we can't. Technology brings knowledge and science to our fingertips. We can weed through the vast field of knowledge and judge for ourselves what is hype and what is realistic, after we have seen both sides. We can do trial and error tests of different things the same as we blindly do with potent brain altering meds. It's funny, we are willing to subject our brain to a risky assault of a potent antipsychotic or antidepressant, but we wouldn't even think of trying Nystatin blindly to see if we have yeast or not. We wouldn't even think of taking DMSA to provoke any hidden heavy metals to show up in otherwise clean urine. But, we'll take every psych med in the world and care less about why we're sick.
>
> I'm just saying, there is a lot more to depression than the brain. The brain is the final pathway that is impacted by something else. It is up to us to read, research, ask questions, try things, and move forward. Back in the Civil War, all that doctors knew for bullet wounds was sulfur or amputation, with alcohol as the anesthetic. That was cutting edge medicine. Our modern doctors are just as primitive as that when it comes to treating the causes of depression.
>
> It is up to us to explore and try things. That is where hope comes from. Hope can be created by moving forward, by refusing to be stuck. If it has been 15 years, 20 years, whatever, on psych meds, is any more time really needed for someone to open one's eyes?
>
> "This poster is crazy. I don't have Lyme. I don't have parasites. I don't have leaky intestines. I don't have yeast. I don't have heavy metals. My thyroid is normal. My blood tests look good. I am not sick. They just haven't invented the right antidepressant for me yet." I can hear it already.

Maybe the answer is much simpler. Our society has evolved much faster than our brains have evolved. We basically have cave man brains living in this high tech society. We no longer have our psycholical needs met and we are deprived of stimuli that me need to thrive. A little more than a 100 years ago people lived on farms surrounded by the forest with in rural society. Not that some people didn't have depression but I believe more people than had healthy minds and were happy. Our new high tech society starves our minds of our basic needs.

 

Re: I 've given up hope » bulldog2

Posted by Sigismund on May 30, 2009, at 17:02:14

In reply to Re: I 've given up hope, posted by bulldog2 on May 30, 2009, at 16:53:51

>Our new high tech society starves our minds of our basic needs.

A very complicated and intricate society with basic forms of interpersonal communication. It's like an inverse of how things were, I think.

 

Re: I 've given up hope

Posted by bulldog2 on May 30, 2009, at 17:35:28

In reply to Re: I 've given up hope » bulldog2, posted by Sigismund on May 30, 2009, at 17:02:14

> >Our new high tech society starves our minds of our basic needs.
>
> A very complicated and intricate society with basic forms of interpersonal communication. It's like an inverse of how things were, I think.

Yes look at internet relationships. Many now try and meet their social needs on the internet. None of our five senses are involved other than seeing written words come back to us. People can terminate the relationship at will by just disappearing. Sometimes a person reappears with a different handle. Often people pose and lie about who they are. Mind games abound. Very often these relationships are superficial and lack any true meaning.
Our social institutions have been battered and are severely weakend. People use to try and draw their sustanance from these institutions. Now people flounder and look for the meaning of life.
These institions used to give us meaning. No one thought about what would sustain people after these institions were destroyed. People now flounder about like fish on the shore.

 

Re: I 've given up hope

Posted by Sigismund on May 30, 2009, at 17:50:28

In reply to Re: I 've given up hope, posted by bulldog2 on May 30, 2009, at 17:35:28

There was a time before technology when people talked all night, told stories, performed religious rites and played musical instruments and put up with discomfort.

Some of the technology is good. I'm one who believes (why?) that the quality of online interaction is interestingly good (maybe I just enjoy it?), perhaps because of the lack of any other thing to relate to than the meaning in the text.
It's not like it tells us about the heavens though which every indigenous culture knew about because they lay around at night looking at them.

 

Re: I 've given up hope » bleauberry

Posted by Frustratedmama on May 30, 2009, at 19:52:01

In reply to Re: I 've given up hope, posted by bleauberry on May 30, 2009, at 14:32:53

Just wanted to say that I agree with your take; however, I was SURE it was something else and have had extensive testing done (thyroid, RA, lupus, lyme, MRI's, EEG's, allergies, homeopathic tests, etc). All of the "specialists" agree that it is "psychiatric" in nature. One doc (a mean spirited rheumatologist) looked in my chart and said "You don't have RA, why are you here? You are bi-polar and should be seeing a shrink". I responded that my doctor said I had low IgG and IgA levels and had referred me to him. He then shook his head and said "Unless you are in and out of the hospital several times a year with pneumonia, I see no reason for you to be here with a simple immune deficiency. Follow up with a good shrink." So, sometimes, digging for anwers can be hurtful- just saying......

 

Re: I 've given up hope)frustratedmama)blueberry

Posted by ihatedrugs on May 31, 2009, at 0:52:59

In reply to Re: I 've given up hope » bleauberry, posted by Frustratedmama on May 30, 2009, at 19:52:01

> Just wanted to say that I agree with your take; however, I was SURE it was something else and have had extensive testing done (thyroid, RA, lupus, lyme, MRI's, EEG's, allergies, homeopathic tests, etc). All of the "specialists" agree that it is "psychiatric" in nature. One doc (a mean spirited rheumatologist) looked in my chart and said "You don't have RA, why are you here? You are bi-polar and should be seeing a shrink". I responded that my doctor said I had low IgG and IgA levels and had referred me to him. He then shook his head and said "Unless you are in and out of the hospital several times a year with pneumonia, I see no reason for you to be here with a simple immune deficiency. Follow up with a good shrink." So, sometimes, digging for anwers can be hurtful- just saying......

I believe that the consensus amongst us is that depression is a symptom and not a disease per se. The problem however lies in the lack of training, desire, ingnorance and arrogance in the medical community who continue to overlook possible causes despite the literature supporting it. To find a dr. who is willing to do a battery of tests
is uncommon and if they do, like the poster above, when they send you to a specialist they blatantly dismiss you and treat you as hysterical and resent the fact that you as the patient may be up to something.
My brother in law is a dr. and he is the most condescending, arrogant sob, who if I dare to suggest something possibly unconventional, smirks at my audacity to question the actual state of medical care today.
And to the above poster frustatedmama, I agree with you that searching for answers is so hurtful and exhausting that you just rather stick with the status quo and give up.
Perhaps we should all organize a strike against some of these doctors and the meds and hit the pharmaceutical industry where it hurts most(their pockets)maybe then they can come up with a good antidepressant to cure their suffering.

 

Re: I 've given up hope)frustratedmama)blueberry

Posted by ricker on May 31, 2009, at 1:14:46

In reply to Re: I 've given up hope)frustratedmama)blueberry, posted by ihatedrugs on May 31, 2009, at 0:52:59

> I believe that the consensus amongst us is that depression is a symptom and not a disease per se. The problem however lies in the lack of training, desire, ingnorance and arrogance in the medical community who continue to overlook possible causes despite the literature supporting it.

I have to disagree respectfully.
There's many a person that's had all tests known to man, all with non-remarkable results. The medical community can look only so far and so often, then reason sets in.

And for all those that bash the p/docs, well, don't shoot the messenger. It's not like they have a desk full of magic pills hidden in their drawers, under lock and key, just in case they become depressed. They work with the drugs made available by the pharmaceutical companies. So, in a way, their hands are tied in as far as possible treatment options.

They stand between us and the drug makers, nothing more. How can we expect them to "make us right" if were all screaming bloody murder in regards to the terrible, side effect producing drugs???

Take a look at the topics scattered throughout this site, or any mental health site for that matter........ Drugs kill us, my pdoc is incompitent..... don't shoot the messenger, please.

 

Re: I 've given up hope)frustratedmama)blueberry

Posted by ihatedrugs on May 31, 2009, at 11:08:38

In reply to Re: I 've given up hope)frustratedmama)blueberry, posted by ricker on May 31, 2009, at 1:14:46

> > I believe that the consensus amongst us is that depression is a symptom and not a disease per se. The problem however lies in the lack of training, desire, ingnorance and arrogance in the medical community who continue to overlook possible causes despite the literature supporting it.
>
> I have to disagree respectfully.
> There's many a person that's had all tests known to man, all with non-remarkable results. The medical community can look only so far and so often, then reason sets in.
>
> And for all those that bash the p/docs, well, don't shoot the messenger. It's not like they have a desk full of magic pills hidden in their drawers, under lock and key, just in case they become depressed. They work with the drugs made available by the pharmaceutical companies. So, in a way, their hands are tied in as far as possible treatment options.
>
> They stand between us and the drug makers, nothing more. How can we expect them to "make us right" if were all screaming bloody murder in regards to the terrible, side effect producing drugs???
>
> Take a look at the topics scattered throughout this site, or any mental health site for that matter........ Drugs kill us, my pdoc is incompitent..... don't shoot the messenger, please.

So you mean to tell me that these doctors don't have a say in the matter. They just go by what the pharmaceutical companies tell them. They don't reflect on what their patients repeateadly complain about (which are the same complaints in this forum). Funny how if I survey every poster in this forum and ask them how many times they have switch obgyns, family doctors, or others vs. pyschiatrists the latter would win by a landslide.
All they do is push the next novelty drug hoping this one will do the trick. They are as clueless as we are. Yet how many of these psychiatrists have send a patient to get a complete and exhaustive lab work before they prescribe any medication. Mine surely (3 out 3) have never done it and they are supposed to be among the best.
I as a teacher always have to make an assessement of my students deficiencies before I continue with a lesson. And if one strategy doesn't work, I lay awake at night trying to come up with a new way for them to get it. I just don't rely on crappy research-based strategies from education journals which all they seem to do is dumb education down. So as far a psychiatry go, they are just not doing enough, seating behing their desks, waiting for the next pharm rep to bring them the next new cloned med from past years and hoping their patients like it. We need to demand better and more compassionate care. We need to let the pharmaceutical companies that they are not doing enough. We have to come out from the woodworks as incapacitated as we may feel and speak up loud and clear. Otherwise nothing is going to change.

 

Re: I 've given up hope)I meant ricker)nm

Posted by ihatedrugs on May 31, 2009, at 11:11:59

In reply to Re: I 've given up hope)frustratedmama)blueberry, posted by ihatedrugs on May 31, 2009, at 11:08:38

s

 

Transcranial magnetic stimulation -- fda approved

Posted by TriedEveryDrug on May 31, 2009, at 11:50:06

In reply to I 've given up hope, posted by ihatedrugs on May 29, 2009, at 20:35:01

Hi there

have you heard of this?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/07/AR2008110703325.html


I'm thinking about trying it myself. Though the cost is very high and it doesn't help everyone.

list of providers:
http://www.neuronetics.com/Contact-Find-Provider.aspx

 

Re: I 've given up hope)frustratedmama)blueberry

Posted by ricker on May 31, 2009, at 12:11:09

In reply to Re: I 've given up hope)frustratedmama)blueberry, posted by ihatedrugs on May 31, 2009, at 11:08:38


> So you mean to tell me that these doctors don't have a say in the matter.

No, that's not what I said... they may have a say, just like we have a say. Point being, p/docs prescribe the meds, not create them? They can only prescribe whats available, nothing more.

> They just go by what the pharmaceutical companies tell them. They don't reflect on what their patients repeatedly complain about (which are the same complaints in this forum). Funny how if I survey every poster in this forum and ask them how many times they have switch obgyns, family doctors, or others vs. pyschiatrists the latter would win by a landslide.

Thanks for validating my point! P/docs require more support by way of medicinal options...plain and simple.

> All they do is push the next novelty drug hoping this one will do the trick.

Again, what else can they push?

> They are as clueless as we are. Yet how many of these psychiatrists have send a patient to get a complete and exhaustive lab work before they prescribe any medication. Mine surely (3 out 3) have never done it and they are supposed to be among the best.

My p/doc is not clueless, I'd even bet he's smarter than I.... he better be, I trust him with my life!!! A good GP should rule out all possible underlying condition prior to p/doc referral....unless there clueless too?


>So as far a psychiatry go, they are just not doing enough, seating behing their desks, waiting for the next pharm rep to bring them the next new cloned med from past years and hoping their patients like it.

Once again, it's not in their job description to head over to the lab after work and try and invent a more effective drug.


>We need to demand better and more compassionate care. We need to let the pharmaceutical companies that they are not doing enough. We have to come out from the woodworks as incapacitated as we may feel and speak up loud and clear. Otherwise nothing is going to change.

Bingo! we finally agree.

 

Sorry, above message for ihatedrugs (nm)

Posted by ricker on May 31, 2009, at 12:12:58

In reply to Re: I 've given up hope)frustratedmama)blueberry, posted by ricker on May 31, 2009, at 12:11:09

 

Re: I 've given up hope

Posted by bleauberry on May 31, 2009, at 14:18:37

In reply to Re: I 've given up hope » bleauberry, posted by Frustratedmama on May 30, 2009, at 19:52:01

You are so correct, it is like running into a brick wall trying to find a doctor to help find the origin of the depression. Their training is extremely too rigid and narrowly scoped to deal with that. The easy way out is, "See a shrink".

When I say dig for answers, I don't mean see specialists. That is actually the WORST thing to do. What I mean is personal research. Personal trials and errors of your own discretion.

Probably the best doctors to help in this area are ones who call themselves Integrative MDs. Their training is more rounded in the complex whole body view. While none are experts, they are at least familiar with all the things behind depression that other doctors aren't. They also commonly work with you as a partner in a cooperative manner, not as a dictator. And they often do no rely on tests alone. They go by hunch, presentation, history, and experiment, with tests just being part of the overall picture. For example, even in the face of apparently normal thyroid numbers, if they have a patient with an average temp in the 97's, thyroid is likely to be tried, and throw the test out the window. You won't see that happen with a specialist.

Besides, very few "tests" that any doctor or specialist can do are going to be much help. Most have inaccuracies, built-in flaws, built-in bias by the interpreter, and miss the bigger picture. Thousands of people who have Lyme disease, for example, tested negative, and are today walking around (or not) with labels such as Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, or Depression, when they are actually severely ill from a bacteria attacking their joints and brain. Just one example. I could list many many more.

> Just wanted to say that I agree with your take; however, I was SURE it was something else and have had extensive testing done (thyroid, RA, lupus, lyme, MRI's, EEG's, allergies, homeopathic tests, etc). All of the "specialists" agree that it is "psychiatric" in nature. One doc (a mean spirited rheumatologist) looked in my chart and said "You don't have RA, why are you here? You are bi-polar and should be seeing a shrink". I responded that my doctor said I had low IgG and IgA levels and had referred me to him. He then shook his head and said "Unless you are in and out of the hospital several times a year with pneumonia, I see no reason for you to be here with a simple immune deficiency. Follow up with a good shrink." So, sometimes, digging for anwers can be hurtful- just saying......

 

Re: I 've given up hope)ricker

Posted by ihatedrugs on May 31, 2009, at 22:57:58

In reply to Re: I 've given up hope)frustratedmama)blueberry, posted by ricker on May 31, 2009, at 12:11:09


> > So you mean to tell me that these doctors don't have a say in the matter.

> No, that's not what I said... they may have a say, just like we have a say. Point being, p/docs prescribe the meds, not create them? They can only prescribe whats available, nothing more.

>> But if they see that time after time what they are doing seems not to be helping the majority of their patients, don't you think they should be looking into other venues or perhaps insist on better development of products because their patients are not getting better.
>
>> They just go by what the pharmaceutical companies tell them. They don't reflect on what their patients repeatedly complain about (which are the same complaints in this forum). Funny how if I survey every poster in this forum and ask them how many times they have switch obgyns, family doctors, or others vs. pyschiatrists the latter would win by a landslide.
>
> Thanks for validating my point! P/docs require more support by way of medicinal options...plain and simple.
>
>> They are medical doctors, they are the ones treating the patient and it is their duty to try to get as much medical information about their patients via any means possible. They know there are quite an array of conditions that mask as mental illness but they don't seem to be interested in pursuing that route. It is just; treat the symptoms.


>
>> All they do is push the next novelty drug hoping this one will do the trick.
>
> Again, what else can they push?
>
>>So finally we agree, this makes them drug pushers because according to you this is all they can do.
>
>> They are as clueless as we are. Yet how many of these psychiatrists have send a patient to get a complete and exhaustive lab work before they prescribe any medication. Mine surely (3 out 3) have never done it and they are supposed to be among the best.
>
> My p/doc is not clueless, I'd even bet he's smarter than I.... he better be, I trust him with my life!!! A good GP should rule out all possible underlying condition prior to p/doc referral....unless there clueless too?
>
>> I have a wonderful GP yet neither her nor my psychiatrist have ever spoken and discussed my case. I'm glad you have a brilliant psychiatrist, mine seems to be up there also but do I think they are doing enough? I don't think so. They are just doing, as you put it, pushing drugs because is the only tool they have to work with.
I will let you in a little secret, I have been to many gatherings where quite a few doctors attend and the jokes, commments, about us patients are appalling. An OBGYN counting how many hysterctomies he needs to perform this month to pay for his private plain. A Rehab specialist laughing at the patient who cannot precisely tell where it is that it hurts. And the psychiatrist bragging about the hot chick who came in crying but all he noticed was her breast size and was questioning whether they were real or not. So if I don't trust doctors with my life, I have my reasons.


> >So as far a psychiatry go, they are just not doing enough, seating behing their desks, waiting for the next pharm rep to bring them the next new cloned med from past years and hoping their patients like it.
>
> Once again, it's not in their job description to head over to the lab after work and try and invent a more effective drug.
>
>
> >We need to demand better and more compassionate care. We need to let the pharmaceutical companies that they are not doing enough. We have to come out from the woodworks as incapacitated as we may feel and speak up loud and clear. Otherwise nothing is going to change.
>
> Bingo! we finally agree.
>> With all due respect, we don't!
>

 

Re: I 've given up hope)ricker » ihatedrugs

Posted by ricker on June 1, 2009, at 11:24:47

In reply to Re: I 've given up hope)ricker, posted by ihatedrugs on May 31, 2009, at 22:57:58

> I will let you in a little secret, I have been to many gatherings where quite a few doctors attend and the jokes, commments, about us patients are appalling. An OBGYN counting how many hysterctomies he needs to perform this month to pay for his private plain. A Rehab specialist laughing at the patient who cannot precisely tell where it is that it hurts. And the psychiatrist bragging about the hot chick who came in crying but all he noticed was her breast size and was questioning whether they were real or not.

I'll let you in on a little secret too!! I work at a hospital!! I even interact with a few of them after hours1 Yes, the doc's are regular human beings...just like us! wear socks like us, and they even joke around like us.... go figure?
They are not God's, I think he works in a Church?

> > Bingo! we finally agree.
> >> With all due respect, we don't!

I appreciate your opinion, it's part of life.

Have a good day........ Rick


 

Re: I 've given up hope)ricker

Posted by ihatedrugs on June 2, 2009, at 8:36:51

In reply to Re: I 've given up hope)ricker » ihatedrugs, posted by ricker on June 1, 2009, at 11:24:47

Ok enough of the back and forth. We really could go on forever but I'm sure neither of us have the time.
You are a good sport and kept me amused as I hope I did you.

Sincerely, best of luck.


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