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How many of you were offered medication on your first or second visit to the doctor?

Posted , 2 users are following.

Wonderboyo
Wonderboyo

Hi everyone

I'm just wondering how many of you were offered any type of medication on your first visit to your doctor or GP? Whether you asked for medication or if it was suggested to you? I'm interested because I was really surprised to be offered medication on my first visit, without asking for it. In fact I asked if there was a possibility of psychological help. I turned down the medication and managed my anxiety by educating myself in the end. What was your experience?

1 like, 7 replies

7 Replies

  • dee53012
    dee53012 Wonderboyo

    Posted

    Hi Wonderboyo,

    From the get go, meds were offered to me, but I wanted to know WHY I was having these anxiety troubles for years and it was getting worse. After some tests, they found I had celiac disease and H-pilori. Later down the road they dx Polymyositis and Raynauds as well. 

    I am 57 and because of the Celiacs went undiagnosed, I was badly malnutritioned (under the BMI, anxiety having muscle spazms or seizures, unable to walk without assistance, low iron, muscle pain that was out of this world, and more).  At one point, I stopped breathing and was intubated in ICU for 4 days.

    I am not taking any pharm meds as yet, I have experienced bad side effects in the past, so I am afraid to take them.  I am trying hard to make food my medicine.  It was and continues to be hard, but I cut out all things we know to be unhealthy, sugar, gluten, and much more.

    I have found that doctors are much too quick to hand out pills instead of finding the reason for the problem. Have you been tested to celiacs and other autoimmune diseases? Anxiety is a symptom of a greater problem and docs are not looking.  They often just want to hand out a pill and have you go away.

    Best to you,

    • Wonderboyo
      Wonderboyo dee53012

      Posted

      Thanks for taking the time to reply Dee. I am more or less fully recovered now. I have some minor down days but I know how to manage them much better now. So there was no underlying physical problem in my case.

      I think you are right, doctors are very quick to hand out pills. In the UK at least, I think the main reason for this is time and pressure. I should say at this point that I love the NHS, it is a fantastic institution, but patients are only given 10 minute appointments with their GP (doc) and to make another appointment there is normally a wait of between 1-2 weeks. On top of this, referrals to psychological therapies and therapists often take over 6 months unless it's an emergency. So the easiest thing for the doctor to do is to hand out pills.

      I'm just not sure how well informed people are of the role and side effects of many of the most popular (Benzodiazepines, SSRIs, SNRIs, and betablockers) - just the way they work at different times and in what cases theya re useful and not. My doctor offered me SNRIs and when I told him that i thought they would me most useful if i was also having soem sort of psycholoical therapy he looked ta me blankly. SSRIs and SNRIs tend to expediate learning to think differently about anxiety help to rewire the brain. They can be useful when you're having therapay but they also act like fertilizer for the brain so bad stuff can grow more quickly too if you're still wallowing in negative thinking patterns...and early side effects can cause increased worry. 

      Sorry, that was a bit long! I'm just curious about the experience of others.    

    • Wonderboyo
      Wonderboyo

      Posted

      Excuse the typos - I wrote that far too quickly!
    • dee53012
      dee53012 Wonderboyo

      Posted

      I too am courious about other's experiences. I never thought of brain pills as fertilizer. That is a real thoughtful statement and so very accurate.   

      A phrase that is being used a lot in my community of mental health is "mental illness is a disease of the body, manifesting itself in the brain".  I do believe this is true for many, maybe not all, but it is worth looking into.  Going gluten free has helped a great deal for many who have anxiety and depression. IMHO, it is worth a try.

      Have a great day!

      We need our doctors to take the time and be more courious.  I have better medical help from Google. If I had not had Google, I never would have told the doc to biopsy a rash I had.  He was more then willing to burn it off and get me out of the office. That was how the polymyosits was found.  It was very gratifying to see his face when her saw the lab report.  Thank you google images!

      Sure wish this site had spell check!  I've gotten so lazy! 

       

    • Wonderboyo
      Wonderboyo dee53012

      Posted

      I do think that often mental illness is a result of a disease of the body but I think it works the otehr way around too. The brain can effect the body. I also think modern life has created a perfect storm for anxiety and anxious thinking.

      BTW I should point out that not all anxiety medications act as fertiliser for the brain, but SSRIs and SRNIs certainly do when it comes to thinking patterns. 

      Have a good day Dee.

  • lisalisa67
    lisalisa67 Wonderboyo

    Posted

    This disorder is becoming epidemic and so obvious to a Doctor at this point they feel if they can help a person out they should. Its their job. Its all they can do is to wrote a rx its all they can do.
    • Wonderboyo
      Wonderboyo lisalisa67

      Posted

      I understand that, they are under pressure with the volume of people and most doctors do their very best. However, sometimes medication is not the right choice and can make difficult situations worse, and people can enter long term medication when some reassurance, education, and basic life and mind management skills would have been more helpful and appropriate.
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