I Need To Recommend A Medication To My Gp

[Ed Norton]

@void...yes I seemed to have misunderstood. Thanks for clarifying. Only very minor psychiatric problems such as mild to moderate short term anxiety should be dealt with by a gp major depression is very far out of their purview.

That being said in the US a medical license which only requires one post graduate year of internship to obtain is a legal blank check...anyone who finished their internship and passed the last exam can legally perform brain surgery lol.
Of course there are innumerable barriers to that actually happening.

 

[Queen Boudica]

All atypicals can result in sudden death. I really believe that they should be used rarely if nothing else works.

Yes that is true. Over here in Australia, the drug company that manufactures Seroquel (is it Glaxo?) were pushing for it to be approved by the PBS for use with major depression. The PBS looked at research by the drug company, and were really concerned at the huge weight gain some people had over a few weeks. They were also concerned how it is being prescribed so much by GPs and stated GPs need to be warned off prescribing it. It is handed out to help with sleep, and used liberally in hospital mental health wards to sedate. My GP didn't even measure my blood pressure when she gave me a script. I think the drug companies push it for depression. I am glad I went to the psychiatrist in the end. Actually went to 2 and they both said not to take it. And the psychiatrist I have now told me about the sudden deaths. There is absolutely no warning about it that I could see. I was just prescribed it. Really unethical

And that is the other thing I am on Zyban and Seroquel is one of the drugs it says not to combine with it due to increased seizure risk. My GP didn't even think twice about it because she did not know.

 

[Ed Norton]

It's a medical minefield out there in psychiatric meds. It's given here for sleep too and I don't agree. Weight gain, of course, is invariably dismissed. The sudden cardiac death warning is there, buried in paragraphs of highly technical inserts..what people can't see that? :rolleyes:

 

[Queen Boudica]

Yes my GP tried to tell me weight gain didn't happen or was minor and you just have to exercise (or rather I am not trying enough with exercising). Weight gain huge risks. Funny how Zoloft and SSRI's also handed out liberally with no mention of Serotonin syndrome. Friend of mine her daughter developed it. Could have died. My daughter on Zoloft, no-one has ever mentioned it could happen. To rely on patients to read the information sheets which are full of stats that are meaningless to your average Jo, is really wrong.

 

[Ed Norton]

Definitely, since not even the doctors read it... :banghead:

Luckily I am able to advocate for myself with doctors. When I get blood work or an EKG my doctor just hands me the print out.

 

[Nikkispurplerose]

This seems wrong to me. Patients don't recommend drugs in Australia. Surely, if the doctor doesn't kn...

Hello,
Years ago this would have been wrong. But not now. Yes, the best method would be for you to see a psychiatrist to be put on medication. I'm not sure what things are like in Australia, but in the USA, there is a huge shortage of psychiatrists. So for a person to even get a first appointment with one over here it's usually a 3-4 month wait. So this is why the medical Dr.s here are prescribing very low doses of medications that you have done some research on or have taken before, etc... basically until you can get in to a psychiatrist.

Hope this helped.

Nikki