Anti-Depressants

[mimin]

1. Can a family doctor prescribe or does it have to be a psychiatrist?

2. If you go to a psychiatrist, do you have to talk or can you just get a px?

[Mona~on~wheels]

A family Dr. can prescribe them.
Probably according to the Dr. how much talking is necessary.

[Le Type Français]

1. Can a family doctor prescribe? Yes.

2. If you go to a psychiatrist, do you have to talk or can you just get a Rx? You will have to talk so the doctor will know what to prescribe.

[Lee555]

Originally Posted by mimin

1. Can a family doctor prescribe or does it have to be a psychiatrist?

2. If you go to a psychiatrist, do you have to talk or can you just get a px?

Family doctors are not really equiped with the knowledge to know what you would specifically need Mimi. And of course they don't know what really is going on with you if they only spend 15 minutes with you in an appointment. Unless of course your doctor is like my ex-GP who was himself on antidepressants and seeing a psychiatrist. Then he could diagnose anyone. LOL!

And of course most GPs will probably not want to see you back for a month after you've started the meds, and any problems you encounter may well be harmful. Depends a lot on what is going on with your condition. My Pain Dr thought we might try Celexa, for my pain you know. Well it's an SSRI and not only was it a seratonin re-uptake inhibitor, but it was also a norepinephrine re-uptake inhibitor. Meaning, not only did it make more seratonin available to the brain and body, but it also made more norepinephrine. This made me excited, hyper, brought back the heart palpitations, clenched my hands a lot, and the worst was it brought back the heavy, stiff legs I was trying to avoid in the first place. Yikes. And this was only after 4 pills.

[lynnifer]

The problem I've found with anti-depressants is that in opposition to the post above, Celexa works awesome for me!

I tried about two before I settled on Celexa. The others made me more depressed or fatigued. Prepare that it won't be a quick fix, but when you happen upon the right one, you'll know it.

I took documentation from Johns Hopkins with me to my family doctor as he was reluctant to prescribe antidepressants. It was documentation showing a link between depression and Transverse Myelitis so if you can find something similiar, it might help.

[SCI-Nurse]

A psychiatrist will be expert on psychotrophic drugs since that is a majority of what they do all day. They will generally know much more about how to select the specific antidepressant or other medications that would best meet your individual needs. There is no one antidepressant that is best for all, but many GPs or internists tend to use only 1 or 2 that they know well.

An interview and history would be the minimum a reputable psychiatrist would require in order determine what is best for you. Beware of someone who does not do that. They may also recommend that you get some talking therapy (psychotherapy, etc.) and while many psychiatrists don't do this themselves, they should be able to recommend a good clinical psychologist who provides this service. The combination of drugs and talking therapy has the best success in the treatment of depression.

All physicians can technically do surgery, but I would not go to a psychiatrist for an appendectomy....see the appropriate specialist when you need one.

(KLD)

[november]

I think talking to a psychiatrist or psychologist at least once would be beneficial before you are prescribed anything. As the nurse said, physicians aren't experts on it.

I would go see a psychologist that you can talk to that can recommend a prescription to your doctor. Is there a rehab near you that has a psychologist? They tend to be better in my opinion because they deal with people who have life altering injuries/diseases on a regular basis. You may not want to talk about things, but it could help. I fear a pill will just be a quick fix and not resolve the real issues.

[bob clark]

Hi Mimi,

I don't believe a psychologist can prescribe any drugs. At least that's what the psychologist that I went to 28 years ago in the SCI rehab center told me. But he got around it by having his psychiatrist friend or colleague write the script. You probably need to see a psychiatrist or MD, who by law can write prescriptions.

Finding the correct antidepressant is more or less a trial and error deal. But as Nurse KLD wrote HERE, a doctor knowledgeable about antidepressants can narrow the choices down by talking with you and finding out just what type of problems you're having and what your personality type is.

In the earlier thread, Nurse KLD divided the two main types of antidepressants into the categories of "sedating" and "activating".

In the past few years I've tried Zoloft, Paxil and Effexor, and none of them helped me. The Zoloft drove me batty, the Paxil didn't seem to do anything and the Effexor gave me diarrhea. Diarrhea in a SCI, as we all know, is very depressing in and of itself!

I think you may need to be "clinically depressed" or have a chemical imbalance in your brain for antidepressants to work. Or at least that's my take on it. I'm fine (I think) other than the fact that I'm SCI'd.

Roses are red
Violets are blue
I'm a schizophrenic
And so am I

Bob.

[slider]

Originally Posted by mimin

1. Can a family doctor prescribe or does it have to be a psychiatrist?

2. If you go to a psychiatrist, do you have to talk or can you just get a px?

Hi Mimi,

Why do think you need anti depressants in the 1st place? For pain?? I am taking one and cant wait to get off it. It's expensive and it makes me fatigued most of the time. I have to take it coz I had a bout of panic attacks while I was driving following a few months of stress, moved housed, etc. I even drowned in agoraphobia for a few months last year. But I'm much better now and have resumed work and driving. It sux having FEAR of panic dominate yr life.

[slider]

Originally Posted by bob clark

Hi Mimi,

I don't believe a psychologist can prescribe any drugs. At least that's what the psychologist that I went to 28 years ago in the SCI rehab center told me. But he got around it by having his psychiatrist friend or colleague write the script. You probably need to see a psychiatrist or MD, who by law can write prescriptions.

Finding the correct antidepressant is more or less a trial and error deal. But as Nurse KLD wrote HERE, a doctor knowledgeable about antidepressants can narrow the choices down by talking with you and finding out just what type of problems you're having and what your personality type is.

In the earlier thread, Nurse KLD divided the two main types of antidepressants into the categories of "sedating" and "activating".

In the past few years I've tried Zoloft, Paxil and Effexor, and none of them helped me. The Zoloft drove me batty, the Paxil didn't seem to do anything and the Effexor gave me diarrhea. Diarrhea in a SCI, as we all know, is very depressing in and of itself!

I think you may need to be "clinically depressed" or have a chemical imbalance in your brain for antidepressants to work. Or at least that's my take on it. I'm fine (I think) other than the fact that I'm SCI'd.

Roses are red
Violets are blue
I'm a schizophrenic
And so am I

Bob.

Hey bob.

I'm sure UTIs can also cause depression huh?? lol