Doctors And Medication

[davethailand]

Over the last month here in Pattaya I suppose the bar life had got to me a little bit, that with a month in the UK that I really enjoyed my return to Pattaya wasn't really as welcome to me as I thought it would be nevertheless after about 3 days I was back in Pattaya mode and happy to be here again.

Anyway about 10 days ago I had a few things that were stressing me out and that with having a few bevvys to drown out the worries I suppose you could say that I over did it a bit and my health wasn't up to scratch, It started when I had my usual 2 days off without alcohol of any kind as normal but by the second day I didn't feel right, I felt stressed and a bit anxious so in the end I went to see my usual Dr at Pattaya International and he told me that I'd basically stressed myself too much and prescribed me with a very mild dose of Xanax and Deanxit to calm the brain fluids etc down, I at first refused to take these pills as my worries had filtered away but I still had a funny feeling in my head so I decided to take the Docs advice and take them and I feel great and have done for a few days now as i've knocked the drink on the head, taken some more exercise, vitamins etc, I still have another 6 days to go on them but i've been told that if I choose to I can stop if I want.

(now we're getting to the BPH part)

My business partner who was a bit worried about me booked me to see a specialist which I'd known about for 4 or 5 days or so but as I was feeling good for the last few days I agreed to go today just out of politeness so that's what I did, The Doc asked me why I'd come and I told him the ins and outs and that I'd overdone the week before but since taking the pills (no pills also for 24hrs) I felt like my old self, I explained that I felt that I didn't need to be here and that I'd just come to get some answers and info on my situation before, Great stuff I thought he told me to continue to take the pills until they'd finished etc then it got a bit weird, I was asked whether I wanted to be hospitalised, whether I felt tired, suicidal, anxious etc etc, all answers were no i feel fine now, ok before i felt tired anxious etc but never sad, depressed or suicidal so with this its all OK but! then he recommends I DOUBLE my dose of Xanax (which as said I feel like i don't need) Double the Deanxit (which again I haven't taken for over a day) and also start taking a strong anti depressant in the day ALTHOUGH I feel back to my old self!

I've decided I'm not going to take these medications and after discussing it with my original DR at PI i will finish the course although he said I can stop if I feel OK (which I do).

Basically i felt like they were trying make me think that I'd had more of a problem than before along with doubling my medication and doubling or trebling the time that I had to take these medications although As said I'm sure that I'm back to my old self again.

Can anyone relate to this, I walked out of there feeling like I was in denial of a situation that I don't have and I wondered whether they actually thought that I was a manic depressant alcoholic.

Needless to say I doubt i will go back to see him but apart form that the service etc etc was great and Dr was very nice.

[Mobi]

Dave,

We have to be careful here or the thread will be closed.

Knowing what you, I, and a great many others know about the 'ethics' of BPH, I would take it as read that the treatment and meds the BPH Doc suggested is, at the very least, suspect.

I would say without reservation, that if you feel you're back to your old self again, then the sooner you get off all those kind of meds the better.

If you're still in doubt then I suggest you get yet another opinion from one of the better hospitals in BKK - maybe BNH or Bumrungrad.

Sheryl could no doubt recommend a good name or two.

[davethailand]

No meds tonight and I feel ok, I think he suspected I was in a bit of a panic because I was convinced I was ok. No harm done.

As said he was a good Dr.

[sbk]

actually, I doubt it has anything to do with the hospital at all and more to do with the doctor.

One of our young female staff was getting migraines and went to the local doctor who put her on Prozac determining that she was depressed and anxious (probably because, upon questioning she'd admitted to feelings of sadness--she is newly married, not local, young and does not get on with many members of her husband's family with whom she lives--no wonder she gets sad!) Anyway, he decided that instead of treating the migraine, to pop her on prozac!

She had weird side effects (like extremely blurry vision) and ended up having to wait to go to Surat because the doctor wouldn't give her an immediate referral (ah- the wonders of the 30 baht health care scheme).

Seems to me he decided she was the hysterical girl who needed to be medicated rather than actually check out her symptoms. Suspect you had one of those types, dave.

[davethailand]

actually, I doubt it has anything to do with the hospital at all and more to do with the doctor.

One of our young female staff was getting migraines and went to the local doctor who put her on Prozac determining that she was depressed and anxious (probably because, upon questioning she'd admitted to feelings of sadness--she is newly married, not local, young and does not get on with many members of her husband's family with whom she lives--no wonder she gets sad!) Anyway, he decided that instead of treating the migraine, to pop her on prozac!

She had weird side effects (like extremely blurry vision) and ended up having to wait to go to Surat because the doctor wouldn't give her an immediate referral (ah- the wonders of the 30 baht health care scheme).

Seems to me he decided she was the hysterical girl who needed to be medicated rather than actually check out her symptoms. Suspect you had one of those types, dave.

Maybe, I don't think he had any ill intentions he probably thought I was another mad alcoholic Pattaya farang.

[John K]

No doubt you know I have a very big concern of over prescribed medication particularly when it comes to mental health. You should also know that Thailand is very understaffed when it comes to mental health professionals. Citing a 2006 Bangkok post article Thailand could use about 800 more psychiatrists based on the case load. As a result medication is the first choice because it can quickly hide the problem, but not fix it.

You need to use your best judgement here and be aware of the shortage and patches in place. Thailand is a great place to come to get some production style surgery, but not a place to go if you are looking for a big selection of mental health professionals.

Case in point, I have a client now who is on such high doses of medication his situation is getting worse. The cause of his problem stemmed from lack of business action resulting in financial difficulties resulting in depression. Now because he is so loaded with drugs he is in full ‘mai pen ri’ mode and doing even less thus resulting in the underlying reasons getting worse. He has missed more than half of his appointments with me because he just does not care much about anything now as a result of the medication. To make matters even worse the medication the Thai Psychiatrist has him on rivals heroin on the withdrawal symptoms.

The Thai psychiatrist has not returned any of my calls because I suspect he knows nothing of clinical hypnotherapy, or even hypnotherapy. This however I feel is a bit of an isolated case. As word gets around more and more Thai doctors and psychiatrists are taking a second look and hypnotherapy and sending me their toughest cases.

When I have Thai doctors asking me “Is that Magic” when the see the remarkable and rapid results, it is a bit scary to see they are that far behind the times as compared to the west when it comes to understanding mental health options.