paranoid....

[whitecat78]

I feel like my psychiatrist is trying make me ill and more unbalanced.  She prescribed me a anti-psychotic.  I heard so many horrible things about this type of medication, like developing permanent neurological problems. I read these horrible stories about doctors prescibing it to infants, why would a baby need a anti-psychotic?  I feel like they just give these medications to anyone without a proper diagnoses.   I feel like the presription was inappropriate.  This is the only doctor I can see because I have no insurance and she is the only state doctor available.

[whitecat78]

Thanks for the advice, the medication freaked me out because I saw two videos on You Tube about babies having Tardive Dyskinesia caused by a anti-psychotic. . One video the mother said the doctor prescribed it at 18 months, now she is 5 with this permanent disorder.   It was just very sad.
I dont think my mental condition is severe enouh to take that kind of medication.

[MMahon]

Yes that is quite expensive alright.  Doctors are always going to go first with the currently accepted 'treatment of choice' among their peers.  There probably are other medications out there but Abilify may be the 'new and improved' treatment.   If you had an infection with bad symptoms would you expect the doctor to prescribe a cheap older medication that took weeks to bring relief or a newer one that did it in days?
Abilify is also used to treat depression and bi-polar disorder and was recently approved for children with autism.  Ask your doctor what your diagnosis is.
I agree with you that doctors all too frequently prescribe medications too quickly.  Americans have become all too demanding for a pill to solve all our problems quickly.
I take 8 different pills each day.  They all have MAJOR potential side effects.   Yet the benefits I recieve from them is well worth the chance I took taking them.  Without them the result would be far worse for me then any of the potential side effects.
If you are getting thru life ok and don't mind living the way you are then taking a chance on medication improving your life may not be worth your while.  Otherwise, call the doctors office and ask for a more affordable generic medication that can achieve the same result.

[whitecat78]

Thanks for the response.  The medication is Abilify.  The funny thing is when I went to pick up the medication from the pharmacy it cost $580.00.  That amount is making me psychotic, its just absurd, I go to a low cost clinic and she prescibes me that? I feel like she is incompetent. I just dont feel like she is working in my best inerest.  This medication has a side effect that can be permanent call Tardive Dyskinesia, she didnt even mention that, she didnt even say it was a anti-psychotic, I thought it was a mood stabalizer.  Later I researched the drug and found infants and kids have been given this medication at low income clinics. I just feel like they give these  medications to anyone at these type of places.

[MMahon]

You should discus your concerns with the prescribing doctor.  Or call a pharmacist and see what they say about the medication itself.  What medication are you referring to?
I seriously doubt a doctor would give an antipsychotic to a baby but there may be off label uses that warrant it for mentally handicapped children.
Why go to a doctor if you aren't going to act on their advice?  Talk to the doctor about why you feel it's inappropriate.  Is it that you don't accept the diagnosis for which it's prescibed or the medication itself.  If it's the medication, there may be an alternative one the doc can give you to ease your concerns here.  
We all tend to over analyze our situations.  If we had the flu, we'd go to the doctor, they'd give us some medicine, we'd take it no questions asked and not give it a second thought. Yet for some reason we ourselves can become the greatest inpediment to our own recovery.  We simply don't want to accept 'mental illness' as the answer and therefore don't accept it's treatment.  We'd rather hear brain tumor, or heart condition, or cancer, because they are far more 'normal' illnesses to have.  But I try to look at it this way.  Our nervous systems govern our ENTIRE body.  The complexities are barely understood even today.  We take it too much for granted and when it goes awry we look at that as some type of moral defect subject to ridicule and see the sufferers as 'weak willed' or lazy.  Yes this is changing over time but I can tell you it hasn't changed all that significantly in my lifetime.
I'm sorry I got into a rant here. I probably need more medication!  :-)
I guess what I'm saying is give the doctor the benefit of the doubt.  They are trained in treating conditions and  see them day in and day out and know the tools to treat them with.
They are not miracle workers and not error free but the best we've got.
Not doing anything hasn't worked has it?  So give it a try and hope for the best.
Take care!