Doctor friend's "off the record" advice

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My best friend is almost out of medical school and gave me some disturbing advice yesterday.

We were just catching up on our weekend chat,

I told her I wasn’t doing so great,

She said “of course you don’t feel good, that medication is just poisoning your body”.

Now, she’s not my doctor and she’s not even a real doctor YET, but she’s been through medical school and internship.

It was an informal, off the record comment, but it still bothers me.

I mean, since I’ve started abilify my anxiety has sky-rocketed and my hair is falling out.

I feel like she’s absolutely right,

That I’m giving up my general health to sideline a few symptoms.

Does anyone else feel like this or do you think your medication is worth the side effects?

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I wish that I could get off of all of my meds.
The side effects are just too much, but I can’t afford to do this or I will lose my mind.
I have no choice in the matter.
Off my meds I become a danger towards others and myself.

I know it sucks all the way around.

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Doctors who aren’t trained in psychiatry are pretty clueless and borderline ignorant.

When I was off meds I told a doctor I was getting by on niacin and they said “so long as it keeps you stable who cares”

I later asked a psychiatrist about niacin and they correctly said it has no antipsychotic properties whatsoever.

Your med school friend is clueless about psychiatry.

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Without my meds I wouldn’t survive outside a hospital. The side effects are worth it to me.

Or, at least the side effects of the meds I’m on now. Now that I’ve found the right meds.

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I would be dead if it wasn’t for the medication, I don’t really care if they are harmful.

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This is true,

She’s in school to be a GP and god knows GPs don’t know anything about psychiatry.

Still, her ignorance or lack of knowledge doesn’t change the fact that I feel like (shit) all the time.

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Can you try a different med @GoldenRex?

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It might be time to start talking to my doctor about a new med,

But I’ve tried most everything, granted its been years and years since I’ve tried some.

Only gods know what the side effects of a new medication will be,

It just sucks and I’m mad about it.

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Yeah I’m mad about it too.

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Is she studying psychology? :wink:

Anyways don’t feel forced to stay on meds, you were doing good even off meds, just try some different meds and decide with your family and pdoc if it is worth it…

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The problem is,

I thought I was fine off the meds, but my husband disagrees.

Getting off medication all together just isn’t going to be an option.

But I am going to talk to my doctor about a minimal dose or maybe a different medication.

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I get scared to say the AP sucks in case it’s the illness but yes it’s possible at least regarding the hair that ap sucks regarding side effects.
But for me the thing is if I am off ap and start to hear voices that are manageable and still stay off ap it’s fine. BUT I have heard there is a tendancy for the hallucinate n delusions to get worse n that’s my concern when it becomes unbearable. Which I have experienced. Cos then quite some time may have passed n the longer it’s unmedicated the more difficult it is to treat n then I may have to go on an even Higher dose with possibly higher side effects. So this way may suck even more.
I need to doublecheck with my pdoc though if it’s true that there’s a tendancy for it to get worse n worse with time.wen off ap.

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Ok, better to listen to them then. :slight_smile:

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Can you cut down to 300mg ?

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Yes,

I was supposed to already, but my doctor didn’t have the right injection so we just kept the 400mg one.

Not going to happen again, I’m calling the office today to make sure they have the right shot when I get there.

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id stick with the meds…

sz bad episodes would eliminate any thought of stopping meds

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The side effects are worth it for some people and not worth it for others. That’s the reality. If you need it, then you need it. The problem is some doctors and other people are not willing to admit it’s not worth it for some people.

I watched my physical health completely deteriorate because of the meds. And for what? So I could hold a shitty job that my family doesn’t need to survive? That was the only benefit for me. It wasn’t worth it for me. I definitely feel like I poisoned myself.

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I can relate so much.

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For me, the choice is either give up antipsychotics and spend 80% of my life in a trance arguing with my voices, or accept the side effects and get what remains of my life back.

As far as feeling like crap, ever since I’ve started drinking a gallon of ionized, 9.5 pH water a day, my head has been hurting less and less daily. When I started, my head pain was a 7.5, and now, little more than a month later, my pain fluctuates between a 1 and a 3. I had that pain for 3 years even, and had been to a hospital three times for it!

Life is starting to get good, horizons are opening up again.

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If I’ve learned anything from going to many doctors about various problems, it’s that all doctors are not equal. There are great doctors, and there are bad doctors, and a lot in between. Young doctors still need to get a grip on things. She may have a god complex right now thinking she’s the smartest person in the room, but she’ll find out through experience that things are more complex in the real world.

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