Posted by Mitch on August 31, 2001, at 17:48:41
In reply to Doc doesn't like cocktails, posted by Kathleen6674 on August 31, 2001, at 9:47:27
> I keep reading all sorts of wonderful advice and information here about how combinations of meds have helped refine everyone's responses. Have any of you had a doc who didn't like combos of meds? Mine doesn't seem especially keen on them - I've been jumping from one med to another instead of piling them on, so to speak, over the past year or so. Does anyone have any advice for working with a doctor who doesn't like to combine meds? Or should I get a new doctor or what? Are there different "schools" of psychopharmacology? I do think that part of his reluctance is that my dosage often gets adjusted, and hence he doesn't want to make more than one change at a time, i.e., if we up a dosage AND add a med, then I get bad side effects, how would we know if it's the new med or the increased amount of the old one? But I'm still curious about the one-at-a-time camp vs. the combination camp, if indeed there are competing "schools" of med management.
That all depends on what your diagnosis is to a great degree and how long the doc insists you take something before switching to something else. I think bipolar and treatment-resistant unipolars have the highest degree of polypharmacy. One-at-a-time might be okay if your symptoms aren't that severe. Also, if you are quite *patient* with all of this then you will have a clearer idea of what med you respond the best to, *then* you can add-on something else to counter a side-effect of the efficacious med or to augment your response. But a lot of us aren't that lucky either due to sensitivies to side-effects or lack of response. Which makes a schema of more rapid switches/combos a necessity-see the Martin Jensen book posts.
poster:Mitch
thread:77066
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010828/msgs/77136.html