Posted by jojo on August 31, 2001, at 11:05:28
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.
Kathleen-Sounds like you have a very careful doc, possibly somewhat older. Textbooks from the '70s used to recommend against polypharmacy, but it is my impression that combinations are more common now, as the drugs used, even though they are used to treat the same condition, act in different ways (all of which are "poorly understood").
If you have 20 years or so to find the right drug and dose, your doc may be correct. In my experience, however, one never finds the ideal drug or combination, as the drug that you are taking is altering your neurological status, and your life situation is constantly changing, so that it is impossible to scientifically isolate the "ideal drug for you".
My advice, for what it's worth, is to try combinations, or look for a different physician.jojo
poster:jojo
thread:77066
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010828/msgs/77071.html