Date:  Sun Mar 11, 2001 6:00pm
 
I've just been accepted by this group, and am so very glad to have found
you.  Right now, I'm dealing with so much anger because of the situation
I'm in - caused by a doctor who refused to take any of my complaints
seriously, since he'd decided - for no explainable reason - that I must
be depressed.  Of course, I was - because I was in constant pain and was
losing strength and physical function.

In terms of dealing with SSRI's, I'm luckier than some of the people
here.  I had bad side effects early on from two of them, so refused
those, and a third made me genuinely depressed after about a month.  I
opted to get off it by going cold turkey.  It was hard, but I wasn't too
deeply into it, so it was doable.

The upshot of it all, though, is that the doctor's refusal to
acknowledge any of my complaints resulted in a signficant delay in
diagnosis, one that resulted in a far more significant and difficult
surgery, a hellish recuperation (nowhere near done), limited likelihood
of success, a lifetime of more pain and physical limitations.

I have also learned that diagnosing my problem should have been easy.
I'm 51 years old, but it turns out that I was born with a mild case of
spina bifida, with a classic external clue (which no doctor ever noted),
and a tethered spinal cord.  (This means that the filum terminale, which
should hang freely from the base of the cord, is tied to the base of the
spine, thus pulling on the cord, with resultant neural problems.)
Everything I've seen on the problem is absolutely clear:  It should be
diagnosed as early as possible, and surgery should be done immediately
because it never ever gets better, only worse, and the longer neural
deficits exist, the less likely they can be recovered.

Aside from the external clue, diagnosis from an MRI is simple.

Of course, none of this happened until I forced it to, because when the
tethering grew worse, the primary care doctor refused to pay attention
to any of my complaints, opting to try to cram SSRI's down my throat.

And, since the surgery two months ago, I've had to deal with a
doctor-induced addiction to oxycontin.  (Rather than allowing me to take
it on an as-needed basis, I was instructed to take it on a schedule.)
In dealing with the withdrawal symptoms, I asked for help - and you know
what happened.  The doctor tried to give me an SSRI, which would, of
course, have done nothing for the immediate withdrawal symptoms, but
would likely have resulted in addiction to that drug later on.

And, since then, after dealing with more than anyone should have to
handle in a short time - incredible nerve pain, addiction, loss of
primary source of income and unable to even start dealing with it
because of dealing with recuperation, realization that new symptoms are
developing since the surgery, permanent incontinence,
self-catherization, realization that friends can provide only so much
support since they do have their own lives to lead, and I could go on -
I hit a point of severe anxiety.  So, I asked for a little temporary
help, something like valium.  And, of course, the doctor tried to give
me an SSRI, which of course would not have done a thing for the
immediate problem.  He was, of course, quite angry when I refused, but
did agree to give me a valium-type drug.  I took three of those, which
got me over the hump.

I am convinced that doctors do this primarily because they're control
freaks.  Nothing could possibly give doctors better control over people
than getting them on SSRI's, which forces you to acknowledge the doctor
as the central figure in your life, and forces you to return again and
again to get the fix that the doctor has prescribed, and for which the
doctor will do everything he (or she) can to keep you from getting off
it.  And you happen to have other, genuine, problems?  So what?  That
requires real work on the doctor's part, and we certainly woudn't want
them to have to earn the obscene amounts they make, would we?

Heidi

Date:  Sun Mar 11, 2001 6:41pm

Response1:
Heidi, sorry to hear that you've been through such horrible stuff!  I think you've 
found a good group to help you.  Hang in there! 

Renee  

Date:  Mon Mar 12, 2001 10:00am

Response2:
Hi Heidi, don't be too hard on yourself about what happened, I have 
been very observing in my life and I feel that I should have known 
better but we just don't know, every situation seems different and we 
never see these things until it is too late. 

Randy

Date:  Mon Mar 12, 2001 3:48pm

Response3: 
Heidi, on which 3 SSRI's were you on ???

Charly

Date:  Mon Mar 12, 2001 4:16pm

The three SSRIs I had were Prozac, Celexa, and Paxil.  I don't recall which was which, 
though one gave me a horrible headache and I stopped taking it after two weeks.  
The headache continued for another week.  It approached the severity of a spinal headache 
(the sort caused by a myelogram gone bad, and I've had one of them).  One made me constantly 
tired, and did so within a week, so I stopped it quickly, too.  The third I sorta thought 
was making me feel better (though, on looking back, I'm sure it was just my wanting it to), 
but then about four to six weeks into it, it sent me into a maelstrom of depression.  
I stopped taking it, cold turkey.  There were a couple of days of utter hell, but I hadn't 
been on it long enough for it to cause me long term problems.  From what I've been reading 
here, I was lucky. By the way, since the surgery for a tethered spinal cord (the one that 
wasn't diagnosed because of being tagged as depressed), I've had two different doctors try 
to put me on SSRIs. One was Effexor.  I brought the sample home and actually took one pill.
I'd asked for something to help with withdrawal from oxycontin (and that addiction was 
because of a doctor's telling me to take it on a schedule, not as needed), and that's what 
I was given! I did a little online research, learned what it was, and dumped the rest of 
the pills. Contacted another doctor and got a little valium, which got me through the 
withdrawal.  Later (just last week, in fact), I found myself spiraling into a severe 
depression/anxiety attack.  (This, by the way, is the first time that's ever happened to me.)
With what I've been dealing with, I don't think it's surprising.  The surgery, recuperation, 
loss of income, and lots more - well, there's just so much a person can take.  I asked for 
some help -something immediate.  And the SOB tried to give me Paxil- and had the gall to be 
angry with me for refusing it.  (Fortunately, I was able to get him to prescribe a little of 
a valium-type drug.  Three pills out of the ten got me through that bad patch.)  Oh yes 
-he was also angry with me when I told him that my medical insurance won't cover mental 
therapy- as if it's my fault. 

Heidi

Date:  Mon Mar 12, 2001 4:34pm

Response1:
Heidi, believe it or not, I took prozac for 15 days,
and I believe I may have permanent damage,  I know
people who have taken only 1 pill and 5 years later
still are having problems. This is the whole thing 
with these drugs, no one knows if that 1st pill
is going to be the one that sends them over the edge
or if it will be the 7th pill. It's just not worth 
taking the chance, and that is what the drug
companies dont want us to know. And yes, 
your pretty lucky..., take care,

Cynthia

Date:  Mon Mar 12, 2001 5:08pm

Response2: 
Saying "the drug companies don't want us to know" may be THE 
understatement of the decade!  From what I am discovering, Eli Lilly, 
for one, spent a lot of money to keep us from finding out what they 
already knew about Prozac, most of which holds true for all the SSRI
antidepressant drugs.

You know, after my life fell apart, I had to practically insist on 
stopping my Effexor, although my psychiatrist finally agreed, 
saying "You might not tolerate antidepressants."  There's another 
classic understatement for you.  So, I decided to read up on this 
class of drugs a bit and see if anyone else had experienced these 
sorts of problems.  What I have discovered (which continues to grow 
by the day) is that these drugs devastate people's lives, do 
permanent damage, and cause people to die.  That's about as bad a set 
of side-effects as you can have, if you ask me.

So why is it so %#$@ed hard for the FDA and the courts to see the 
truth?  It is up to us, the victims, to do whatever we can to fight 
the high-dollar campaigns mounted by the manufacturers, and to 
educate the doctors on the REAL dangers they are exposing their 
patients to when the wantonly prescribe these drugs.  The 30 seconds 
it takes them to write a prescription for one of these meds all too 
often does damage that no amount of time can reverse.  That's a huge 
responsibility -- and I think they are taking it far too lightly.

May we be successful in our war against the drug companies and the 
ignorance they are investing highly to perpetuate!

Dan