Posted by SLS on June 21, 2008, at 5:15:10
In reply to I have a very different view » bleauberry, posted by Racer on June 21, 2008, at 1:34:26
To Deneb:
It sounds to me like your doctor is doing the right thing for you. Don't let the rest of this post influence your decisions. You are smart enough to be cautious, as is your doctor.
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The phenomenon of antidepressant-induced-treatment refractoriness has not been formally studied. All we have is compelling anecdotes with no statistics.
If this is indeed a "special" population where this phenomenon occurs at a rate greater than that seen in the majority of people treated pharmacologically, then, the chances of any one person experiencing post-treatment TRD is greater.
Of course, this might not true of Deneb. It just sounds like it is a warranted precaution to treat her as such.
The decision to attempt the discontuation of treatment might be exactly what is right and justified. Much of this decision is dependant on Deneb's history of depression. Is it recurrent? Is it chronic? Is it biological or psychological or both? Has she had a previous episode of depression for which treatment was discontinued successfully? How long would such a remission last for? Family history? Etc. These are the type of things a good doctor will use to make treatment decisions by.
Obviously, I cannot, and would not, assess someone's absolute risk of any sequale to discontinuing treatment.
And.
The doctor might be happy to remove the Risperdal only, and assess the consequences, only to make small adjustments in the rest of her treatment regime. I don't know.
Yes, a huge number of people can discontinue their treatment for depression once psychosocial issues are resolved. Even if the depression be totally biological, maintaining a stable remission for even 6 months can allow for discontinuation. It really depends on case history and clinical assessment.
For Deneb, I have no idea of her case history to be able to submit anything more as a suggestion.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:835521
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080617/msgs/835751.html