Psychiatrists:Why do most of you take patient side effects so non-chalantly?

Question: At the risk of sounding nasty, can anyone of you talk to us about the last time YOU had dry mouth, erectile dysfunction, wieght loss/wieght gain, leg tremors/restless leg syndrome, impotence,psychotic symptoms mimicked or amplified by medication, blurred vision, slurred speach, ticks, convulsions and a host of other symptoms associated with psychotropic medications? What would any of you say if someone just told you to "ride it out"? is that th epsych version of "stay the course"!?

Answers:
It comes down to making a choice between the symptoms of your illness, which are not likely to go away on their own, or the side effects of the medication, which usually do subside. It's not a fair deal by any means, and I know from experience what it's like. Mental health medications are far from perfect, and we certainly do have a lot of room for improvement, but at the same time we've also come a long ways.

Because the side effects for meds can be so unpleasant, I think they should be reserved as a last resort, but that's just me. I know there are plenty of docs out there that hand them out without barely talking to you; guess what? These are bad doctors, and its time to go see a new one.

Depending on the illness, there's almost always some alternatives to medication to try out first. Also, there are usually different kinds of medications to try, some of which you may tolerate better. If your doctor isn't willing to discuss with you about these alternatives, I highly suggest finding a new one that will.

Hang in there, and I hope you feel better soon.

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I totally agree w/ you. I think that most shrinks are only in the profession for the money and are pill pushers, since they don't know what else to do!

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