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Mental Health  (Expert Forum)
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am i on too much medication?
Questions posted in the Mental Health forum are being answered by Dr. Roger L. Gould, author of the Mastering Stress and Depression program and affiliated with the UCLA. Department of Psychiatry. Topics covered include anger, attention deficit disorder (ADD) , bipolar disorder , dementia , electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) , learning disabilities, memory, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) , panic , personality disorders, phobias , post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) , schizophrenia , stress , transitions, and work problems.

am i on too much medication?

by SC, May 06, 2000 12:00AM
hi,
very briefly i'll try to describe what's going on with me.  first of all i see a psychiatrist who prescribes ativan (3 mg a day), risperdal (1 1/2 mg a day), effexor (75 mg a day), celexa (40 mg a day), ambien (40 mg at night) and two weeks ago he added adderall (adderrall) (30 mg a day) to all these other drugs.  i have been on these meds or something similar for over five years.  in addition to this, i started taking metabolife (ephedra) and xenical (lipase inhibitor) without my doctor knowing.  the metabolife and xenical i don't have a prescription for...i buy them over
the internet.  i can't dare tell my doctor or psychiatrist that i am on xenical or the metabolife because i have anorexia.  i know i shouldn't be be taking these diet aids, but that's a long story.  i'm not in recovery for anorexia.  i am still deep in the disease.  which means i'm not likely to tell my physicians what is going on.  the xenical and the adderall (adderrall) i've only been taking a couple of weeks.  but i am having the side effects:  rapid heart beat, increased sweating, anxiousness, shakes...etc.  i called my doctor yesterday and told him of these side
effects and he told me to take an ativan.  that it was probably the adderall (adderrall), and he wanted me to hang in there with it for a couple of more days to see how it works on me.  obviously, he doesn't have the whole picture of what i am taking.  so, my question is, am i hurting any of my organs by being on this much medication?  i'm i in any danger?  i know the thing to do is tell my real life doctor, but i'm just not able.  any advise would be appreciated.
thanks
s.c.

by HFHS-M.D-HG, May 09, 2000 12:00AM
Dear sc

For any treatment to be successful, both patients and doctors need to have an open discussion about the pertaining issues. You are putting yourself in dangerous situation by not telling your doctor about the other medications that you are taking. There is a high possibility for drug interactions and eventual side effects ( both short term and long term side effects ) from combining the medications that you stated. I would recommend that you talk to your doctor in detail about your concerns for an effective treatment.

Sincerely
HFHS-MD
Member Comments (3)

by Pamelina, May 08, 2000 12:00AM
Are you hurting your organs with the medication?  I don't know.

Are you hurting your body with the anorexia?  Quite possibly.

I have a friend who has irritable bowel syndrome believed to be from her years as an anorexic.  She also experiences missed heartbeats and PVC's, also believed to be from the anorexia.  I hope you will get treatment for this soon.  My lifelong friend will always be a recovering anorexic.  Her boyfriend and I make sure she eats when she gets stressed.  She may give us, "Go to he!!" looks, but by golly, she knows she has to eat.

I hope you will be honest with your doctor.  It's like saying on the outside that you want to get better but sabotaging yourself from the inside.

Best wishes.

by To cutter, May 08, 2000 12:00AM
Can you print this posting and take it to your doctor?  That way you can communicate what is going on without having to really say it. What you're doing to yourself is very dangerous and you deserve a better life.  I'm sure the doctor will respond with specifics here about what kind of damage you can do with this combination of medication. Please be honest with your doctors and get some help.  I suffered for years with the shame and hurt of an eating disorder. Things can get better, but you need to be honest with your doctors.  Please get yourself some help.
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