When A Psychiatrist Won't Tell You About The Potential Side Effects Of Meds

[MainerMikeBrown]

I had a psychiatrist years ago who, when prescribing me medication, would not tell me what the side effects of the new pill were when I asked him. I had to pump him for information about what the potential side effects could be. I ask him and he'd say "It can make you sleepy" and would say nothing more.

I realize that it's imposible for any psychiatrist to remember all of the potential side effects. There's a zillion different meds out there, and each pill has a laundry list of potential side effects.

However, every other doctor I've had would tell me about at least seven or eight of the different possible side effects. But not this guy.

When your being prescribed a new med(s), you have the right to know a lot about it. It's your body, after all! So if I ever have a psychiatrist in the future whom I have to struggle to get information from, I'll be more assertive with him or her. After all, I have the right to know, as do all of us.

[miss_mac666]

im sorry but im just going to speak for myself.... my med doc will not tell me side affects of meds because.... i wont take the med if i know there are side affects that im afraid of. every med has at least one side affect. and i dont really understand why its a big deal for your doc not telling you the side affects. maybe they are doing it for your own good. they wont give you something that could potentionally kill you. honestly. do you really need to know that it MAY cause high blood pressure, drowsiness uh and other bull that most other meds cause. they are doing it for yourr own good if they your asking persistanly. i mean do you want them to tell you it can kill you so you have a reason not to take it?? and so you wont get better. im sorry guy but i dont think your doc is doing anything wrong.


i suffer from anxiety, have been for ten years. im not gonna poke at my doc because she wont tell me side affects of an AD that can help me.

[alankay]

They should for sure but some feel(I think) that anxious patients are often suggestive(they'll get every side effect mentioned in their minds) in addition to being scared to take a meds period so will go easy on side effect warnings and hope for minimal sides for the long term benefit but I can see where you're coming from. Plus you cannot forecast sides. Everyone is different. Example, I get no sides from benzos if taken at the right dose(tad drowsy if I take a little too much) others have very bad side effects....which surpise me as if they are used sparingly, a God send to me. Alankay.

[jessed03]

When I went to my doctor to get on Celexa for anxiety, I asked him what the side effects were, he just smiled and said Don't worry... I said Don't you think I should know? He said take it, and then you tell me if you get any.

Probably the best thing he could have ever said to me. Every other tablet at the time gave me awful side effects, this one didn't. Maybe I didn't get them, because I didn't know what they were. I think anybody could read a list off a screen to you, and tell you to go. I think it shows a degree of care and involvement, to actually make a suggestion in patient recovery. I was insistant, and quite blunt about knowing, so he told me one. Strangely, that was the only one that I really noticed by myself. I probably had others, but just ignored them. This was a trusted doctor though.

[.a.anxiety123.]

When I went to my doctor to get on Celexa for anxiety, I asked him what the side effects were, he just smiled and said Don't worry... I said Don't you think I should know? He said take it, and then you tell me if you get any.

Probably the best thing he could have ever said to me. Every other tablet at the time gave me awful side effects, this one didn't. Maybe I didn't get them, because I didn't know what they were. I think anybody could read a list off a screen to you, and tell you to go. I think it shows a degree of care and involvement, to actually make a suggestion in patient recovery. I was insistant, and quite blunt about knowing, so he told me one. Strangely, that was the only one that I really noticed by myself. I probably had others, but just ignored them. This was a trusted doctor though.

The placebo effect is a powerful thing. I think it's better off not knowing the side effects at first, unless there is a very serious one that you need to look out for. For example: Lamictal can cause Stephen Johnson's Syndrome, a potentially deadly skin disease.