Posted by JohnL on May 11, 2000, at 4:57:13
In reply to Terrible bind., posted by kazoo on May 11, 2000, at 0:05:37
> A few days ago I saw my GI specialist at UCONN who announced to me that (1) my HCV has become
> severe and (2) he couldn't treat me with INFERGEN (Interferon alfacon-I) because:
> "WARNING: AS WITH OTHER INTERFERONS, INFERGEN SHOULD NOT BE USED IN PATIENTS WITH A HISTORY OF SEVERE PSYCHIATRIC
> DISORDERS AND SHOULD BE DISCONTINUED IN PATIENTS DEVELOPING SEVERE DEPRESSION, SUICIDAL IDEATION, OR OTHER SEVERE
> PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS."
>Kazoo,
I'm very sorry to hear of your troubles. The worst trouble of them all seems to me to be the doctors themselves. I mean, they don't seem to be interpretting the words correctly.I'm curious and interested...Is your medical treatment for HCV the cause of your depression? I get the sense from your post that it isn't. I get the impression your depression is a different beast unrelated to other treatments. Is that so? Or not? I mean, this has huge implications. Just because a warning says treatment MAY cause depression doesn't mean it WILL. How often do we see things work backwards? People get more depressed on antidepressants sometimes, right? Some drugs that usually make most people feel pretty bad actually make others feel wonderful. You know what I mean? How the heck can these doctors be so egotistical to think they know in advance these things. They don't. They can't.
I truly believe that your unique chemistry deserves a chance to be healed, regardless of any blanket warning label. Since our chemistries are so unique, there's no way everyone is going to react according to what a warning label suggests. In your case, I think all available options should be tried. If the warning turns out to be true with any particular drug, then discontinue immediately and move to another drug. I'm very disappointed in your doctors.
Here's an off-the-wall idea though that I think is worth considering...SAMe supplements. Why? Well, first of all there are dozens or hundreds of European studies showing it really does work in depression. How does it work? Who cares! Does it matter? As long as it works, right? But the other important thing is that SAMe is also a powerful healing substance for the liver. For you, SAMe would be addressing two problems head-on simultaneously. The advantage...no doctors needed...few if any side effects...results fast. The disadvantage...pricey.
On the subject of hepatic conditions, the herbal supplement Milk Thistle would be an excellent thing to take. The primary ingredient in hepatic prescription medications is the same raw ingredient in milk thistle. One controlled study even showed that participants were protected from liver damage by milk thistle after ingesting poisonous mushrooms. I don't think any of us should underestimate the power of Mother Nature. Maybe with some SAMe and some Milk Thistle, and who knows...St Johnswort with it...those doctors can stuff it.
Is there any way you can seek treatment from other doctors besides the ones you're seeing? I would definitely seek a better doctor, if that option exits. And upon leaving--if that's possible--I would not hesitate at all to share my disappointment with them. These doctors need to hear and ponder criticism if they are to learn from mistakes and improve. Otherwise they'll just continue down their egotistical roads unaware. In the meantime, I would seriously ponder SAMe, Milk Thistle, and SJW if I were in your shoes. God didn't put these powerful plants here for nothing.
JohnL
poster:JohnL
thread:33138
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000508/msgs/33146.html