Posted by yxibow on April 4, 2006, at 1:57:11
In reply to Meds In General, posted by Phillipa on April 3, 2006, at 20:48:08
> Here in the USA it is even scarier. Meds being used off label for everything and if one doesn't work don't change add something else then something else til you're taking so many meds you don't even know where side effects could be coming from.
Well as a user of polypharmacy I take the full trust of a psychopharmacologist who has had extensive years of knowledge at a well known institution here that I won't reveal because it isn't necessary. But I would gauge at least 15 years. And our sessions, which are frequent, are give and take -- he may be steering the bus, and thinking about the impact on my body but I also play a part in suggestions and make ample comments when things are not going correctly.
Its not an easy thing to have to be on polypharmacy -- I have a fairly nebulous and complex visual somatiform / OC spectrum disorder that has been going on for more than 4 years. Its not easy having to juggle medications, refills, and taking sheer amounts of pills. But its not nearly as scary as even thinking of wanting to take my own life if I weren't held in as well as 2006 can give me. I'd rather have the uncomplicated dysthymia I had in college over this 110%, but body chemistry changes over life, and I could spend a long time discussing why fluorescent lights irritate me now. (No, I'm not psychotic, just thought I'd add that, but I do suffer from a lifetime of biologically, genetically induced psychiatric illnesses as probably do a majority of people here.)
Yes, I agree that only trained psychopharmacologists should be juggling 6 medications at the same time, because they're trained extensively to know the P450 system, they attend conferences throughout the year, they have journal clubs between fellow peers, and presumably take extensive CE credits.
Medications sometimes have more uses than one, and sometimes this is discovered by accident. I'm sure more than one person here has taken Viagra. That was an accidental discovery. Amantadine, though increasingly having resistance, was also a Parkinsons drug, that was used for flu.One of the most prescribed off-label (now on label) drugs in psychiatry/neurology is Depakote, for Bipolar and Migraine, an AED first used for epilepsy.
As for the other topic, I fully wish we had universal health care here in the US, although at 298 million people, this becomes unwieldy compared to Canada's 33 million and the UK's 60 million.
However, some countries with even larger populations, such as India have made attempts at providing targeted health care at certain illnesses, and a rather large birth control plan at one point, though universal care in a country that large and impoverished remains a dream at the moment. The former Soviet Union had some form of universal care, which has presumably degraded as Russia wields the remains of a former potemkin village.
Of course there are cracks in the seams of universal healthcare, which are happening in Canada, influenced partially by skyrocketing costs in the US migrating across the border, and by triages causing Canadians who need urgent procedures to bypass waiting lists and buy US health insurance (or pay out of pocket) and have procedures done here. The same can probably said about inefficencies in NHS and long waiting periods that would be unheard of in some of the premier health institutions here. Unfortunately the cost is born on the individual as we have governments that collect far less taxes than do European countries, which of course go to social services. I'm sure there will be arguments from all ends of the political spectrum here about that, but it is the plain truth. Nay, though things cost more in Europe, at least in parts of western Europe.
I'm afraid I'm not an economist, I can't change how we conduct business here, but I know that some form of partial capitalism and partial governmental contribution may work better in this country. Who knows. Its not these "discount cards" for sure. My 2c though.
Tidings-- Jay
poster:yxibow
thread:627071
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060403/msgs/628567.html