Posted by Elizabeth on June 14, 2001, at 13:35:52
In reply to Didn't appreciate my pdoc calling it a feel-good, posted by grapebubblegum on June 14, 2001, at 9:54:17
> Back to my point, my pdoc did renew a klonopin Rx for me recently but with some reservations. Typically I think she is the smartest pdoc in the world, and maybe she is, but I didn't appreciate her mini-lecture that klonopin is ok only for a very short-term therapy because it does not address the root of the panic disorder (like SSRIs DO address it? I think not) and that klonopin is only a "feel-good" pill.
The "root cause" argument is a common error that people make when trying to justify undermedicating anxiety disorders (and pain, for that matter). I get that rap all the time when I mention that I take buprenorphine for depression. The fact is, nobody knows what the "root cause" of panic disorder (or any other psych disorder, for that matter) is. There's no reason whatsoever to suppose that antidepressants "address the root cause" and that benzos don't.
I sometimes think that the "root cause" fallacy is a red herring, that what people really mean when they say this kind of thing is that suffering is good for the soul and that if you have spontaneous panic attacks (or whatever), you must deserve them in some way. Ahh, modern Puritanism.
> I was disappointed in her basically pooh-poohing the only med that has made me feel normal for a long time.
I know just how you feel.
> Keep in mind I only take .125 mg three times per day which is ridiculously miniscule but actually helps me.
Like, a quarter of the smallest strength tablet? Weird. I wonder if maybe you don't metabolise it normally or something. That's a very low dose even for someone who's taking it around the clock (although, as you note, taking it that way has the advantage of preventing panic attacks).
> In my experience, a tiny steady dose of benzo keeps me feeling normal and raises my threshhold for P.A.s; if not prevented, P.A.s once underway require so much benzo it would kill me to derail the attack.
It's hard to kill yourself with benzos. (So don't try, everybody.)
> So, to her credit, she did agree with and praise my theory that P.A.s are best PREVENTED rather than allowed to crop up at which point (for me, anyway) they are VERY HARD to derail; so she gave me an Rx but I am a little irked that she is still suspicious that I might become "addicted" or "dependent" in light of the microscopic dose I am taking. Come on, give me a break.....
Yeah, it seems like a lot of pdocs don't understand the difference between addiction and pharmacologic dependence. Don't they teach them this stuff in medical school?
-elizabeth
poster:Elizabeth
thread:65795
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010612/msgs/66474.html