Posted by blueberry1 on January 9, 2007, at 16:40:07
In reply to Re: Drug-induced psychosis; anti-psychotic meds? » blueberry1, posted by Kath on January 9, 2007, at 15:00:17
Hi Kath,
The whole psychiatry thing is so complicated. Individual response to medications varies bigtime from person to person. I'm only suggesting things that have a high likelihood of working on ALL his symtpoms...depression and psychosis and anxiety and sleep and any hidden bipolarness, based on...real world experiences of people here over the years, real world experiences of people at remedyfind.com that rate their drugs, reviewing clinical trials, and things that are FDA approved. Zyprexa+prozac meets all of those criteria. Risperidone does not.
Zyprexa's side effects are fairly tame compared to others. That is probably one reason it is handed out like candy these days. Risperidone is not. Another popular one is Seroquel, but it is used more often for insomnia or anxiety. They all have longterm risks, but longterm risks of not being treated are probably worse (suicide, return to street drugs, more hospitalization).
Though it is complicated to explain, risperidone does have decent antidepressant action but only at low doses. A high doses it blunts all emotions and creates some that are similar to depression.
The key with zyprexa (in this case) is to not use it alone, but use it with its FDA approved partner prozac. They have offsetting side effects. If he felt speeded up on other antidepressants, prozac alone would probably do that too. Zyprexa and prozac work in harmony on all the symptoms and zyprexa blocks that speeded up feeling of the antidepressant.
You might just tell the docs, "look, zyprexa is the most popular antipsychotic out there and I want my son on that one. Risperidone isn't used much. Zyprexa according to clinical studies and the FDA works better with prozac so make sure he takes both. I'm merely asking for something with strong clinical proof, strong anecdotal proof, and FDA approval." Maybe???
I have been hospitalized for depression. All the doctors I saw walked around with a sense of arrogance. But you know what? Working in a hospital is just part of the step on the way to going into private practice. Hospitals are where they get their first opportunity to practice what they learned from textboos. In other words, most of the hospital psychiatrists are newbies! The ones that aren't are usually involved more with academic administrative stuff. Another thing. They are only looking to treat short term emergencies. They are not looking at the longterm welfare of your son. They don't have experience in treating things longterm. They have no idea how their treatments turned out after the patient is discharged. So they can keep making the same mistakes over and over and never realize it.
I speak in general terms. My opinions to not apply to all doctors or all hospitals or all drugs. It is a common saying around here, "mileage varies". With that in mind, I try to shoot for things with the highest potential for good mileage. Zyprexa+prozac in your particular situation fits that. Risperidone does not. I usually frown at antipsychotics. I am a longtime veteran with them. But when they are really needed, I am all for them. But it is important to choose the best.
poster:blueberry1
thread:720522
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070107/msgs/720851.html