Posted by anonymoose on November 24, 2007, at 2:59:38
In reply to Re: linkadge, posted by cumulative on November 24, 2007, at 0:20:52
Cumulative,
I couldn't agree with you more on those points. Especially got a good chuckle out of this one:
>
> >There is more to a doctors decision than simply "will this treatment work or not".
>
> Too bad most pdocs I've met are idiots.
>You're not alone in this observation. Of all the well-meaning pdocs I've met, not a single one has made a medication selection that has ever actually decreased my overall suffering. Most seem to still subscribe to the same overly simplistic treatment model: "Oh, so you've got 'the depression?' It must be a 'serotonin deficiency.' Here's the current SSRI flavor-of-the-month. If that doesn't work, we'll move you onto something 'newer or stronger,' like Effexor or Cymbalta."
My last pdoc, as I was trying to explain to him the particular nature of my depressive symptoms (e.g. anhedonia and apathy, but no anxiety or panic attacks, etc.), so he could make a more informed treatment decision, told me: "Well, to be honest with you, I don't really pay much attention to the proposed mechanism of action for these meds. Because you never really know...you know?" He didn't want to prescribe a dopamine agonist for me because he wasn't too familiar with them...so he passed me off to the Pharm.D. instead.
poster:anonymoose
thread:796324
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20071115/msgs/796795.html