Posted by JohnL on October 21, 1999, at 3:25:42
In reply to Anyone not taking meds...by choice?, posted by Tom on October 20, 1999, at 22:58:14
Hi Tom. I think we can all relate. I've never known anyone who wanted to take drugs. But for me I really have no choice. I'm far from being recovered. But whenever I've tried weening down the depression returns in a quick nasty way. If I ever forget how bad it is, all I need to do is drop my dosage for a few days for a reminder.
Docs in the know are skeptical when someone says they tried everything and nothing works. They say nearly 100% of depressions can be cured and that the primary cause of failure is too low a dose and too little time. For example, pdocs who have learned know that some people need between 100mg - 200mg Prozac. And three months is needed, not the usually touted 6 weeks. But for you and me, the problem with that is finding a drug we can tolerate at such high doses.
What dose of SAMe are you on? You can go up to 1600mg a day ya know. Also, some of the European clinical studies on St Johnswort involved doses of 1800mg and 2700mg. That's two and three times higher than we take here in USA. Needless to say, those studies had the best results.
For someone insisting on a psychological approach, you might want to find a therapist trained in Choice Theory. The author (a psychiatrist) of a book by that title claims in his entire career he has cured all his patients without drugs. But it only works with a therapist trained in Choice Theory. Might want to check out that book
I chose not to take drugs until I absolutely had to. I don't like it. But the alternative is much worse.
poster:JohnL
thread:13541
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19991028/msgs/13562.html