Medication query: done something stupid!

[stringbean]

Thanks for taking the time to read this. Background OCD for 24 years over the years had mixed results with meds but after a particularly bad time a year ago went to psychiatrist who started me on clomipramine. Over the year I have gone from minimal dose to 125/75mg but for the last six on 225mg. I have read that this is the optimal dose for OCD and I am much better but still not as good as I want to be!

Here's where I did something silly and could kick myself.

I have been thinking that I should try some other med but wanted to make sure i had given clomipramine the best chance and read that you should stay on optimal dose for 10 to 12 weeks, but wanted it clarified.

SOOOOOOO went on line and have paid on line for a answer from a psychiatrist, i am just looking for reassurance and cannot believe i have done it.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

I'm not sure what you're saying here, stringbean. What is it that you think is "stupid"?

 

[stringbean]

sorry was a bit vague. I feel stupid because i have gone on line and paid for advice

 

[David Baxter PhD]

No harm was done. Getting a second opinion isn't a bad thing, as long as you don't act impulsively on any advice you get. In this case, it seems it confirmed your doctor's opinion? If it had not, I would have strongly advised you to discuss any contradictory advice with your real life doctor before making any decisions.

 

[stringbean]

the online doctor was very vague, saying most people, maybe etc, this just made me worry more, and now obsessing about that.

she/he didnt confirm what i have been looking at and that is that you should stay on the maximum dose for 10 to 12 weeks before you decide its not the drug for you. Honestly Dr Baxter do you agree with this, as I have been alot better but having blips (like now)

 

[Retired]

the online doctor was very vague, saying most people, maybe etc

It sounds as though this online person was being conscientious and prudent as one would expect an ethical professional to be. Many factors can affect decisions about how medications are taken, decisions that cannot be made from a distance and without face to face contact with the patient and the patient's medical history.

There are no absolutes in medicine, and we should not be influenced by the way many media messages are delivered, particularly with unproven cure-all ads we see in infomercials where absolute claims are made.

Also many online information sites dealing with medicine are grossly inaccurate and misleading, because there is more to correctly using a medication than what might be copy/pasted from a product monograph.

Medicine is as much art as it is science, and the doctor who treats you face to face is able to make determinations that a distant, online consultant cannot possible ethically make.