what would a doctor say?

in australia, if I go to the local GP & show him how my hands shake & tell him about sometimes feeling depressed or anxious, or both. Also that I have trouble concertrating, finding it more difficult to work things out compared to other ppl. And also that I sometimes find it out to sleep & sometimes get headaches. What would the doctor say?
Is there a standard prescription procedure?
Would he chuck me on anti-depressents & tell me to get away? then if that doesnt work put me on something else & if that doesnt work put me on something even stronger. Or, would he tell me to see a specialist where I would be tested for things wrong?

Other ppl on here who get medications. uppers, downers, whatever. how did u get to the point where your doctor is giving u what your getting now?
how was it diagnosed & were u put on medications before your current ones? why was the medication changed?

any commenets?

Doctors are extremely wary of prescribing drugs that have abuse potential... Indeed the guidelines (i believe) say that benzodiazepines should never be used for more than 3-4 weeks because of this.

They are sometimes used for people who begin antidepressant treatment to help with the anxiety until the antidepressant effect manifests...

In general GPs will *probably* refer you to a specialist - a psychiatrist - due to the increasing need for knowledge in this area. They may try you on one of the SSRIs to see how that works, but its hard to say.

Stimulants will not be prescribed except by a specialist.

Ditto for opiates.

My friend recently went to his local GP, suffering from mild depression and anxiety problems.

The GP was very quick to prescribe my friend with Xanax (a benzo), and Effexor (an SNRI) to help combat the anxiety and depression, and Stilnox (Ambien) to help him sleep.

I don't know a great deal about anti-depressants and other related medications but I am very wary of my friend being on these drugs, as he has a very addictive personality to various substances. His doctor knows this yet had no hesitation prescribing him the above drugs.

I would probably try and seek a referral to a specialist (psychiatrist/phsycologist) before going onto any prescribed medication. I dont put alot of trust in GP's for some reason :/

Best of luck,

erokr

Hah! Love it!!! Crap medicine from that GP, by the way. Most of us who work in and around the recreational drug scene will absolutely never, ever, give a long prescription for anything that has an abuse / misuse potential.
But this thread does raise an interesting ethical point. Is it right for the recreational user to try and fool doctors, the majority of which are pretty innocent, into providing a user with their next hit? In emergency, we have a wide range of patients who frequently try to score opiates & or benzos, and the potential effect is that some doctors who have been 'fooled' in the past get a bit harsher for genuine cases. I'm sure the same applies for GPs. What do Blulighters think? Are doctors a fair target to blag drugs off?
I'm just curious; I reckon I have a keen eye for the jester !

I seen a doctor today. He game me Lexapro (Escitalopram)
5mg (half a pill) a day. He said I should take it for a week than come back to see him. He said I'll feel better
Ive never done ssris before so could anyone tell me if this is a week or strong anti-depressent & if I'll feel any effects.
could anyone tell me if I can mix this stuff with mdma alcohol & pot too. any info would be great thanks

Check out the Anti-Depressant FAQ

Should answer some of your questions

drplatypus: Out of curiousity, why would you say that my friend was prescribed bad medicine? Also, he didn't get the medicine with the intent to abuse it, but he has used some of the medication for recreational purposes since, which I think is utterly stupid.

erokr

Don't use SSRI's with MDMA- you'll end up sick

Thats odd eroks,Ambien aside thats what i'm prescribed.

If your genuinely suffering from those symptoms FUCK MEDICATION for the moment anyway,theres alot of treatment methods besides meds,and believe me you never want to be reliant on something like Alprazalom if you don't needf to be.......I'm in the process of tapering from 6mg Alprazalom a day,and for me it's harder than stopping a 4 year Heroin addiction was,also consider,if you HAVE to stay on meds like this(and i might)you're never really living,everythings dulled sensory input,emotions etc.It's not a nice way to live.If i miss a dose i feel like i'm having a high anxiety trip,anything touching me is overwhelming,bright lights hurt etc
Seriously explore other oiptions with you doctor first.
As for Anti-depressents,i know some people that they work wonders for,for me i find them generally useless,and the side effects not worth using them alone....again,you should explore different treatment options first.

Lexapro,I've never heard of,I'msure google or RX List(i thinkthats it) can give allthe info you need,theres no recreational value in an SSRI though.

(Sex)(On)(X) said:

I seen a doctor today. He game me Lexapro (Escitalopram)
5mg (half a pill) a day. He said I should take it for a week than come back to see him. He said I'll feel better

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Most antidepressants take 2-4 weeks to manifest their full effect.

Escitalopram contains one of the stereoisomers of citalopram (celexa/cipramil)... It is the most selective of the SSRIs.

Taking MDMA whilst on this medication will produce,at best, little effect.

I'm usually a selfish cunt when it comes to telling people info about gettin scripts, and also feeling a little reserved as i'm not sure if this goes against guidelines? But i guess i'd be a hypocrite if i didn't give ya any tips..., it's really not that hard once you have built a relationship with your gp's, this can take a little while - you'll find some more sympathetic than others. Getting a Dr to prescribe the first time is always the most difficult, there are heaps of methods for doing this, most of which involve lying your arse off. Probably shouldn't be saying much more but its really not hard to work out what to say. most importantly tho, if the gp asks if you've been prescribed x before always say yes, for some reason doctors don't like to be the first (guess they don't like to feel guilty about starting the addiction) however usually have no problems feeding one. Good luck. JaYJ

In NSW they have that computer system that shows all your past perscriptions but even so at 19 having been perscribed benzos regularly for more than a year i don't find it hard to get new scripts with a few well placed words, my mum gets Rohypnol (Hypnodorm) without any hesitation aslong as she makes a script (30) last two months. Normally all you have to do is convince them another doctor has set you on this course after non-drug treatments failed miserably and that its justified because the problem your trying to medicate (insomnia or anxiety) is really having a very negative impact on your life. If they are still i hestitant i find you can always get a script if you explain you absolutely need it now (exams, busy time at work, family problems) but will go off the drug after you get through the script (obviously don't see this doc again for a script).

It's not hard to fake ADHD for an upper script but more trouble than its worth in my opinion, going to a specialist etc.

drplatypus said:

What do Blulighters think? Are doctors a fair target to blag drugs off?

Click to expand...

Yes, i don't think they should be illegal in the first place....Other than this im not a huge fan of GPs if i had more respect for them i be more hesitant to lie to them but i find there are lots of bad ones who dont have a clue and just fob you off to get another paitent through, so if i have a problem i research it myself then see a doctor if i need script (non-abusable/addictive stuff im talking about here) and coax them into writing it so they think its there own idea (they dont like it if you just ask).

I guess you can see from the responses that it will depend on the doctor as to whether they will prescribe straight away, or refer you to a specialist first. I know my doctor sent my sister to a psychiatrist who then prescribed anti-depressants. If you're going to a decent GP, I'd think they would recommend regular follow up visits to make sure you are on the right dosage, not having any ill-effects etc.

I don't know anything about the particular brand you are taking, but just did a quick search: "The usual starting dose of escitalopram is 10 mg once daily. Benefit may not be seen until treatment has been given for up to 4 weeks." Taken from here. There was plenty of other similar info on the sites that google came up with. Most pharmaceutical companies have their own websites with info on each product.

could anyone tell me if I can mix this stuff with mdma alcohol & pot too. any info would be great thanks

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I'm of the mind that if you are taking anti-depressants for genuine reasons, you'd want to sort that out without adding anything else to the mix.

Doctors vary a lot, just like the people that see them. It might all depend on whether you have a close relationship with your chosen GP, or whether you are a "doctor shopper" who just goes around finding what stuff he/she can get from whomever they get appointments with.

And a lot depends on yourself. Are the symptoms you describe above real? If so, yes maybe you have something that treatment might be able to help you with. Are you using recreational drugs? If so, you would know in your own mind whether or not your drug use is affecting you. You might be surprised how much better in yourself you feel if you stop using for a while. Or maybe it's just you and it would make no difference.

Doctors have to be careful. Yes there are prescribing guidelines for most "uppers" and "downers". Yes a lot of Drs will hand them out anyways. Some of them will see straight through you and know what the real problem is, if you are using. And a fair percentage of those may not be judgemental in any case.

There is a big brother out there, recording which Drs prescribe what drugs and how often. A negligent Dr walks the tightrobe much like tax evasion or fraud.

Will you get what you want from your GP? As said before, most would be cautious to hand out benzo's for your "anxiety" or "sleeping problems" until they have a genuine relationship with you. You'd be lucky to just get a script off the cuff, but there are Drs out there that will hand them out. they often are well known amongst the "drug world" as such, and well known amongst the professional community also.

If you've got genuine problems, a GP should be able to sort you out. They may refer you on depending how comfortable they feel in dealing with any psych problems etc that they come up against. But they don't have to. As said, certain drugs can only be prescribed by a specialist though. That said, if you're needing medications to combat your drug use and its side effects, maybe you need to re-evaluate things for yourself.

My 0.02c