Posted by med_empowered on December 21, 2005, at 16:08:03
In reply to Angry Re: Bi-Polar Meds Causing Adult Obesity, posted by corafree on December 21, 2005, at 13:11:45
yeah, its infuriating. My shrinks have referred to it as a "unfortunate side effect" and simply advised better eating habits. One of my shrinks accussed me of vanity when I said I didn't want the weight gain on an aytpical. Vanity? Avoiding massive obesity and type II diabetes is not vanity. Besides...whats the message they're sending? Better off physically ill and unattractive than mentally unstable?
And yeah, to answer your question..some people with mania have been stabilized with dextroamphetamine (dexedrine). Shrinks call it a "paradoxical reaction", I think. Whatever. Its certainly better than loading somebody up on Zyprexa and watching them lose their figures and their lives (to heart attacks, diabetes, etc.). I guess since the atypicals are such big money makers, and shrinks are owned by Big Pharma (something like 20% of the APA's budget comes from Big Pharma money), its understandable that we're being told to deal. When something even newer, and even more expensive comes out that doesn't cause weight gain, we'll all be told that we shouldn't mind the expense, since the new drug is "so much better than the older medications". Sound familiar? Its what happened with the switch from barbs---benzos, TCAs---SSRIs, Thorazine----Atypicals, so on and so forth.
poster:med_empowered
thread:590994
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051221/msgs/591024.html