Posted by MarkinBoston on February 15, 2001, at 11:28:15
In reply to Re: antidepressants are drugs, drugs are drugs, posted by dennis on February 14, 2001, at 22:49:25
>I have just completely lost interest in seeing a doctor because of my past bad experiences with them. My anxiety is getting very very bad right now, do you think I should go to a doctor and have the doc give me something for my anxiety?
YES, go to the doctor and get something for your anxiety! It won't fix everything, or might not help forever, but you will feel better and be more able to function. It will buy you time to find out more about what's going on and how to treat it. Many of the anxiety meds are benzo's which can be addictive, lose potency, and if you are on them too long might give you withdrawl problems. A doc will put you on a very short leash if you have a history of not being able to self-control how much drug you take, if they are willing to give you something at all. You must try to find another medication that works long term during the short time that its best to take a benzodiazapine (Xanax, Klonipin etc.).
FYI, I have a friend who used to smoke regularly, but she had to quit because she developed increased anxiety after almost 20 years of pot smoking, while another friend has no such problems and has been regularly getting high for 35 years. The same drug will do different things to different people (anti-depressants included!).
Nearly all of us have been frustrated with doctors and the whole medical system. Many go as far as educating themselves on the type of brain chemical imbalance they have as much or more as the psychiatrists they've seen, and some order medications overseas and self-treat.
Finding an effective medication for brain disorders is unfortunately much closer to illegal drug use than other medicines. Much closer to "Yo, dude. This sh*t is da' bomb! You gotta' try it!... don't feel nothin' yet? Here, have some more!" than "based on the lab results, there is an excess of X which is successfully treated by taking Y mg. of Z daily."
Most of us have tried numerous drugs looking for something that works well: "Doood, bummer that other sh*t sucked, I got new sh*t that'll fix you right up!"
There's a lot of drug possibilities out there that can help you. If pot helped you, then you know there exists at least one for you. Likely, some legal, pharmaceutical grade drug helps too and you don't have to worry about getting busted or ripped off. You don't need that anxiety.
poster:MarkinBoston
thread:53758
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010212/msgs/54061.html