Posted by Elizabeth on January 24, 2002, at 13:07:37
In reply to Re: David Burns is a psychiatrist , posted by Lisa01 on January 23, 2002, at 15:13:36
> I was quite sure that he could not have prescribed drugs as a psychologist--I believe only M.D.'s and psychiatrists only have this 'power'--and he talks extensively in the book about his prescribing experience with the various drugs and the feedback from his patients.
That's right, psychologists can't prescribe drugs (thank goodness). A psychiatrist is an M.D. and as such can prescribe. I haven't read the book; I was going on memory from a discussion about it a very long time ago on Usenet! Sorry about that.
> I would also point out that I did not take the dosage advise from the book alone but also from my family physician, who thought that beginning on the 10 mg. dose would be best.
*Beginning*, sure. That doesn't mean that 10 mg is an effective dose! The 20 mg you're taking is also seldom enough. It is a good idea to increase it slowly (assuming your depression is not serious enough that you need to get to a target dose ASAP) since you seem to be sensitive to the side effects. A good *starting* dose isn't the same as an *effective* dose -- many people have to start at 5 mg/day of Paxil, for example. You might be lucky and find that 20 mg/day is enough Parnate for you, but I wouldn't count on it. You might go back and read Burns again -- I'm guessing that he didn't say that 20 mg is generally a sufficient dose.
-elizabeth
poster:Elizabeth
thread:75408
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020124/msgs/91419.html