Posted by JohnL on June 21, 2000, at 5:35:58
In reply to meds brain damage, posted by Steve on June 20, 2000, at 21:23:50
> I've been treated for several years for treatment resistant depression that
> hasn't quite responded to any of the meds. My newest doctor, who knows his
> stuff told me that my history of changing meds not infrequently has caused me
> the sort of brain damage one would see in people who have abused illegal substances.
>
> Does anyone here have any input on his assertion?
>
> SteveSteve,
Believe me, since my pdoc is into his 7th decade he's seen it all. I really appreciate his humble approach when he says, "Anything's possible. We just don't know." That's what he has to say about this topic as well.When a doctor makes a sweeping generalized statement like the one your doctor did, my curiosity flags always go up. And I have a bunch of questions to ponder.
What does he mean by "sort of" brain damage?
What does "sort" mean?
What EXACTLY was damaged?
How did the drug do that?
Which drug did it?
Is there a reputable source I can read more about this?
Is this clinical fact or clinical opinion?
Is frequent changing of meds at lowish starting doses really comparable to 'abuse' of medium to excessive doses illegal drugs?
Don't the words 'use' and 'abuse' have different meanings?
If we knew for sure prescriptions caused brain damage, would this not be a common FDA warning?
Why do patients with a history of dozens of meds (most short term due to intolerable side effects) go on to be completely well?I'll stop there, but I have a lot more curiosity questions that would have to be answered before I could buy a sweeping statement like that.
From an unprofessional point of view, it just seems logical to me that on the contrary, long term use versus short term use (regardless of frequency of changes) would cause more difficult to reverse alterations in the brain.
Sounds more like an excuse to me more than anything else. The curiosity flags are flying. I think most--not all--doctors have their own most comfortable ways to explain away failures so they can sleep at night. Others realize there are just too many unknowns. No sense losing sleep over those unknowns. Rather, focus on getting the patient well to the best of one's ability with no excuses for anything.
But when we get right down to the nitty gritty, there are thousands of people with drug histories just like yours and mine who have gone on to get completely well when they finally found their appropriate medication. No apparent brain damage there. Even if there was, it's irrelevent, because total normalcy has been achieved. It happens.
poster:JohnL
thread:37943
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000619/msgs/37970.html