Posted by SLS on January 28, 2014, at 6:39:23
In reply to Re: Corelation does not imply causation, posted by poser938 on January 28, 2014, at 4:29:53
Poser
I'm not sure where the weakenesses are in the system that allowed you to take drugs that harmed you. I don't think one can spread the criticism around equally because there are so many levels that exist between the pure science that leads to the discovery of novel substances to FDA approval to post marketing surveillance.
> I'm currently on Lexapro. And if this SSRI eventually does the same thing Mirapex did, but basically causing a shutdown of my Serotonin system, I am honestly afraid I could become uncontrollable. Possibly become violent even. But I have no other option but to try more meds.
I found myself saying the same things to myself in 1983, when it was proven by Columbia University that drug therapy produced robust antidepressant responses that, unfortunately, never lasted for more than a week. I got angry at the doctors most of all when I discovered that they did not have all of the tools and all of the answers. I was less angry with medical science, and only occasionally angry with God.
Sure... these drugs suck. I could wait another 100 years for psychiatry gets it right for me. Oops... I don't have another 100 years. I want to end the pain today. I want to build a life today. So, I came to the decision that I would invest myself in searching for a successful treatment. I knew that the journey would include even greater pain at times because it was observed that some drugs made me feel worse. Side effects would prove barely tolerable. AND I WASN'T GETTING BETTER! Looking around I realized that I had no better choice but to methodically try doctors' treatments and even design some of my own. I even saw doctors who took me through some alternative treatments, including megadoses of vitamins, supplements, and rotation diets.
It is my conclusion that many psychiatric drugs produce persistent changes in the brain that can remain long after treatment is discontinued. That's part of the gamble. The nature and magnitude of these effects has not been fully recognized by mainstream clinical psychiatry. There is quite a bit to consider when making a decision to consent to, or decline, a proposed treatment.
What better choice do I have?
For some people, it comes down to which is worse - the illness or the cure. Without treatment, I remain immobilized physically, and with no energy and no intelligent thought. I remain vegetative and mute. I lose most of my abilities to read, learn, and remember. I become a shut-in and interact only with computers and family. I lose jobs, marriages, and friends. Yet... I feel very fortunate. Things for me could be worse. I am not homeless or hungry. I am able to take care of myself - barely - but independence is more important to me than having to live by other people's rules. My goals continue to be responding robustly to my medical treatment and rejoin society. Probably the quickest way for me to do that is to go back to work.
What better choice do I have?
I want to live. I am not so much afraid of death as I am of never having lived.
- ScottSome see things as they are and ask why.
I dream of things that never were and ask why not.- George Bernard Shaw
poster:SLS
thread:1059520
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20140123/msgs/1059739.html