jacob m. parnas

No kidding. In fact, for a while Wellbutrin was taken off the market
until they found that the seizure risk
wasn't nearly as high as for people with certain eating disorders. They
still harp on how much the seizure
threshhold is lowered (in other words, it can trigger seizures). Until
they came out with the time released
version, one had to limit any dose to 150 mg maximum (up to three times
per day), very carefully spread
out over the day. It turns out that any higher amount of
Wellbutrin/Zyban even a small amount, raises
the risk way up from the .008% chance (I think) that the maximum
recommended dose with recommended
time between doses does.

Patients, you (we) must do our homework and check the dangers of the
drugs. At minimum read the info
in the package insert. You also might want to get a book published
yearly by a MD & Pharm. D. called
"The Essential Guide To Perscription Drugs", which tells you all sorts
of useful stuff, but doesn't cover
every drug (only about 200-300 of the most perscribed ones). Of course,
there's ton's of information
on the internet. You should discuss your health and ask for the pros
and cons of any drug you're perscribed
by both your doctor and your pharmacist.

Sometimes, doctors write to sloppy to read, or make mistakes on the
perscription and one can really get
hurt. Some drugs are very dangerous, especially if taken at too high a
dosage (and too low a dosage might
not give you enough medication to do any good when your life or long
term health damage may occur if
you don't take it right. Also, if you drive, you could hurt yourself,
family and innocent strangers.

One mistake that happened a lot in the past was doctors would get Xanax
and Zantac mixed up. Xanax
is a benzodiazapine/antianxiety/antipanic drug with pills ranging from
..25 to 2 mg scored. Zantac is a
acid reducer mainly used for heartburn and ulcers and pills range from
75 to 300 mg. Somehow, many
mistakes were made, but I think usually the pharmacist would catch most
errors (I would think). Also,
a milligram and microgram are often mixed up by doctors (1/1000 of a
gram vs. 1/1000000 of a gram)


to not be easily seen. These are just a couple examples.

Then, there's the problem of doctors failing to follow the law to
present patients with all the pros and
cons of any treatment (including drug) before administering it (ie
perscribing a new pill). Few patients
are told how dangerous antipsychotic medication is, especially over
time. Drugs like Haldol, Melleril,
Prolixin, etc... can kill you right away with NMS (Neuroleptic Malignant
Syndrome), but that is rare.
But, over time, Tardive Dyskinesia can cause permanent brain damage,
which is made worse by tthe
fact that the drugs temporarily either hide or lessons the symptoms.
Usually, the brain damage resuilts
in uncontrollable muscle tics/etc, which is often cosmetically bad or
makes it hard to talk, but sometimes
effects the breathing muscles. TD may occur right away, but that is
rare. It usually happens over years.
The risk is something like 1% chance every year taken for the average
patient given their usual dosage.

People have a way of taking chemicals that need to be evaluated not just
by a doctor, but the patient (
unless the patient is unable to be consulted, such as if he/she is not
concious or a danger to others or self
if not controlled either by chemical or phsyical restraints. However,
this is very rare, especially outside
of a hospital or ambulance situation. As soon as the patient is able to
be consulted he/she must by law
be told of the dangers of a medication, and not just given these drugs
to quiet them down.

Jacob kc wrote:

--

Jacob M. Parnas
email: jparnas@comcast.net