RIDICULOUS DOCTOR QUOTES---ADD YOURS HERE

[[An...]]

When I told my doctor things were getting bad on the klonopin, after years of her prescribing the medication to me told me to "cut the dose in half for a few days and then stop!" Pretty much sums up how I got in this mess.

[[el...]]

 

 

doc. "take just a few minutes a day to feel your symptoms, then just ignore them the rest of the day"

 

So the screaming earache  and headache . . .

[[Fi...]]

mosart--your post about dependence vs. addiction pretty much sums up what I found.  No help for people like us wanting help getting off of doctor prescribed meds.  It's a big hole in our medical system.

[[Fl...]]

Addiction versus Dependence...?!

 

When we moved to a rural area, I had a lot of difficulty finding a doctor willing to do the Ashton Substitution Crossover Taper protocol. I spent months looking before I was finally referred to a state run addiction center. I made an appointment, went in and had a very interesting experience (LONG questionnaire and an intake interview like a cross examination followed by a urine test). When I got in to see the addiction counselor she informed me that I had tested positive for benzodiazepines. I explained that was why I was there; I wanted to work with someone using the Ashton Protocols to get OFF the benzos. She agreed that was a great plan, told me she was familiar with the Ashton Protocols and would help me if I was willing to commit to getting off the benzos.

 

Thrilled and relieved, I practically screamed, "YES!" She then informed me I would have to "give up my supplier" to get treatment, so I pulled out my prescription bottle and showed it to her. She looked at me oddly then said, "You are receiving these by prescription for medical treatment?" I told her I was. She asked if I took them exactly as prescribed and I said I did. She leaned forward and said, "You never take more than you are supposed to? Do you get prescriptions filled at more than one pharmacy or from more than one doctor?" I told her I did not. Then she said, "Well, I'm so sorry, but I can't help you. You don't have an ADDICTION problem, you have a DEPENDENCE problem. We're not funded to help people unless they are abusing drugs and since you are taking them under your doctor's care you are neither a drug abuser nor an addict so we can't help you."

 

Luckily, I eventually found someone willing to work with me on the Ashton Protocol, but I found that distinction between "addiction" and "dependence" an eye opening experience!

 

If only the rest of the medical community could understand the very important distinction between the two.

 

The saddest part about this whole mess is that there IS help available for you if you have a psychological addiction (and as such most likely engaged in illegal activities to feed said addiction) but there is little to no help for you if you are made sicker than hell taking the drugs exactly as your doctor prescribed.

 

There is something very, very wrong with that.

[[Fi...]]

FG-- I agree it's so wrong, but to me the problem is not that the doctors don't understand the difference between addiction and dependence, it's that they think they're so completely different that people who've been made "dependent" by doctors don't suffer the same sort of withdrawal and aren't in need of help.  As somebody said further up the thread, "Oh, yes, this can be addicting, but I'm not worried about YOU."  Well, they should have been!  Being a "nice lady" and not their idea of an addict did not protect me from the mental  ravages of their drugs. 

[[...]]

stupid psych in lithuania who likes real fur:

 

i never had a patient who managed to seduce and marry a rich foreigner.......

 

 

idiot *&^^%!!!!!!!

 

stupide **&*^%!!!!!!!!

 

hate that $#@@@@ so much!!!!!!!!!!

[[Fl...]]

FG-- I agree it's so wrong, but to me the problem is not that the doctors don't understand the difference between addiction and dependence, it's that they think they're so completely different that people who've been made "dependent" by doctors don't suffer the same sort of withdrawal and aren't in need of help.  As somebody said further up the thread, "Oh, yes, this can be addicting, but I'm not worried about YOU."  Well, they should have been!  Being a "nice lady" and not their idea of an addict did not protect me from the mental  ravages of their drugs.

 

The problem can start with doctors not understanding the difference, and what you wrote here highlights that. I was the one whose doctor told me that she was worried about that with me. If she understood the difference between addiction and dependence I might not be here today. Instead she thought that as long as I was not displaying behaviors of a drug addict that everything was ok. No, it was not ok....the drug was causing all sorts of problems while I was on it (depression, loss of creativity, reduced function) and when I came off the true extent of the damage that had been done was apparent with the horrific withdrawal I had to endure. Had she understood that the least of the problems with this class of drugs is drug seeking behavior and such she might have known what to look for, but she didn't. And here I am.

[[Fi...]]

FG --I agree with you completely.  The biggest issue here is just all of our doctors being woefully uninformed.  I  would not be where I am today if the doctors who prescribed my Oxycodone and Xanax had understood and explained to me the workings of these meds on my brain.  The Xanax doc was not enthusiastic about my prescription, but just told me to be careful and not take more than three tabs (.5) a week.  Because I didn't seem like an "addict type" to him, he figured that was enough of a warning.  He honestly didn't know that this level of use over a lot of years could be addicting.  And he still clung to the notion of "physical dependence" as somehow being easier for me to deal with than true addiction.

 

I so hope we can wake these guys up so people in the future don't have to go through this useless detour through hell.

[[...]]

Wow abcd,

 

I did not know about the quotas on surgery! I also had not heard of Dr. Makary before, but I just spent a few minutes watching several of his video clips and I'm so impressed I plan to go back for more — I absolutely agree that transparency is critical to quality care in this country.

 

Thx for that info and link,

 

Mo

 

Here he is being interviewed by Dr. Mercola.  Worth listening to it all the way through.  It's very honest, very revealing and, well, just nauseating really, what goes on.

 

The comment on surgery quotas can be heard within the first 5 minutes or so.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEHfq5f9cC0

[[da...]]

Me---I would like to go off Lexapro.  It's making me sick.  How do I wean?

Doctor---You don't need to wean.  You have only been taking a low dose...10mgs. 

 

I stepped into Hell.

 

Six months later----

 

Me---I think I might have reached tolerance with valium.  How do I wean?

Doctor---no need to wean.  Just like with Lexapro, you are taking a lose dose.

 

Thank god I knew better and found this site.

 

 

[[mo...]]

FloridaGuy and FinallyJoining63 — I hate to say it, but I am actually somewhat relieved to hear that I am not the only one who has run into this situation with the addiction/dependence discrepancy. It was just so bizarre to me since the results of the drug dependence on my brain, body and life, as well as the need for effective treatment, were the same as any "addict". I could tell that she was uncomfortable with my situation and did not want to work with me once she realized I had a doctor's prescription, which was really frustrating because she was the first person I had found who knew about the Ashton Protocols. While my prescribing doctor meant well, he was just uninformed and I think the addiction counselor at the state run center was afraid of "rocking the boat" or "opening a can of worms" — as well as going against the state funding rules. And, when you really come to think about it, it should be the job of the prescribing doctor to help her patients with any and all side effects, and addictions/dependences, of medications she has prescribed. The problem is some are just not equipped or informed enough to do this in a way that meets the needs and best interests of their patients.

[[Te...]]

One thing I don't understand about doctors is that they seem to continually think that a benzo "low dose" is .5 mg. on up. But that "little" amount can get someone addicted in very little time and can cause all kinds of havoc to the body during w/d. From reading on here, it seems that a person could go through just as difficult a w/d on .5 mg. as 10 mg. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's what I'm gathering. 

[[Fl...]]

One thing I don't understand about doctors is that they seem to continually think that a benzo "low dose" is .5 mg. on up. But that "little" amount can get someone addicted in very little time and can cause all kinds of havoc to the body during w/d. From reading on here, it seems that a person could go through just as difficult a w/d on .5 mg. as 10 mg. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's what I'm gathering. 

 

The only experience I have is my own and that was I was like the majority of people that didn't have much

of a problem getting off benzos. I wound up at benzo buddies due to a referral from another board and for

a year I assumed I was going to have a huge problem getting off them. I didn't.

 

I think if a person is going to have trouble getting off a benzo, it's not going to matter one bit if it's .5 or 6mg or more. That's one of the biggest misconceptions that doctors have.

 

[[...]]

f*cking B*tch to my monsters parents that forced me to psych ward:

 

your daughter is a deeply deranged shizo :laugh:

 

poor daughter, she has been given mentally ill mother :laugh:

 

make sure that she is on a hormonal pill, i don't wanna her to get pregnant again :laugh:

 

 

:laugh:

 

 

 

[[Ra...]]

 

 

doc. "take just a few minutes a day to feel your symptoms, then just ignore them the rest of the day"

 

So the screaming earache  and headache . . .

 

That's actually something I read somewhere about dealing with Panic and Anxiety attacks.  What they say is that fighting it makes it worse.  If you embrace it, roll with it, it will pass faster.  Fighting the anxiety increases it and just makes it go on longer. 

[[Te...]]

Wow, Flower Pxwer, I'm amazed! Ativan usually makes people go crazy with anxiety for a number of months, among many other symptoms, with the c/t you did. I continue to wonder how it is that the majority seem to get off these drugs easily. Congratulations!!!

[[Te...]]

abcd, thanks so much for the link to the Dr. Mercola interview! Really fascinating, and Dr. Mercola delved pretty deep and asked a lot of hard-hitting questions. Dr. Makary was very forthright and honest in his answers. A really great interview!

[[eg...]]

Me: Dr, I bought in some information about using Valium to Taper. Dr. Ashton has a highly respected protocol

 

Dr: He is just out for fame and fortune

[[Ro...]]

Me- going through a 9-day taper and entering DT's: Explaining my situation and him examining my vitals. BP 150/85. Pulse- 120 a minute, I'm in a cold sweat, and I'm shaking like a newborn fawn.

 

Pa/Doc- You're weird. I think you've got an underlying anxiety issue. Perhaps I should refer you to a Psych, cause there is NO WAY I'm going to prescribe you going onto Valium.

 

[[Sm...]]

I got a reaction to my SSRI where I got this crazy akasthesia and anxiety (serotonin syndrome)

 

quotes:

 

"if you weren't so sensitive to meds we'd add a mood stabiliser"

 

*really? cause like I would have thought if the SSRI was causing problems removing some of that would help* (incidentally I cut the SSRI and was free of symptoms immediately)

 

"hypermania (bipolar) doesn't always feel good. Sometimes it feels just like anxiety"

 

*so bipolar manic states now are the same as anxiety. That seems faskinating to me given that I didn't feel remotely manic. I didn't feel like my brain state had changed much at all. The feeling was chemical and mostly physical. What is more the feeling went away once the half life of the SSRI was through and came back when I took the pill*

 

"yes you feel relief when the SSRI half life is over but SSRIs can uncover bipolar"

 

*really? Hmm so bipolar is hidden somewhere and the good SSRI comes along and finds it? That is a very interesting idea. Here is a more parsimonious idea: the SSRI is causing the reaction*

[[fi...]]

"You need a referral to a psychiatrist, right?"

No, I don't...

[[Je...]]

Doc:  "Take these prn."

 

Me:  "How often can I take it?  How much should I take?"

 

Doc:  "As often as needed, as much as it takes to make you feel better."

 

Me:  "I've heard that Klonopin is addictive and is hard to quit once started."

 

Doc:  "True, but not 'addictive' per se, but habit forming.  Just go off gradually by cutting each day's dose in half when you

feel ready to stop taking it.  Don't believe the horror stories and all the stuff you'll find on the internet.  It's just a tranquilizer."

 

 

[[...]]

"You need a referral to a psychiatrist, right?"

No, I don't...

 

:laugh:

[[sn...]]

Me:  "When I take the Ativan it makes me angry and my body shakes uncontrollablly.  I'm having a paradoxical effect, right?"

 

Doctor:  "That's a good sign that means your body is rejecting the drug."

 

 

 

She's trying to understand!!!

 

 

[[ME...]]

Doc:  "Take these prn."

 

Me:  "How often can I take it?  How much should I take?"

 

Doc:  "As often as needed, as much as it takes to make you feel better."

 

Me:  "I've heard that Klonopin is addictive and is hard to quit once started."

 

Doc:  "True, but not 'addictive' per se, but habit forming.  Just go off gradually by cutting each day's dose in half when you

feel ready to stop taking it.  Don't believe the horror stories and all the stuff you'll find on the internet.  It's just a tranquilizer."

 

The doctor who gave me Klonopin did not give me precaution or warning.  I don't know if she is aware of the danger, and the severity of suffering I had.