Do You Really Need Antidepressants, Tranquilizers, Sedatives or Stimulants?

It’s not unusual for people to be prescribed drugs for mental and emotional conditions that are actually caused by undiagnosed physical problems. In fact, a very thorough physical exam rarely precedes a prescription for antidepressants, tranquilizers, stimulants, or anti-psychotics. As hundreds of thousands of people who take these drugs can tell you, they’re not easy to quit. And they often don’t handle the problem: two thirds of those who take antidepressants, for example, still feel depressed. With a thorough physical exam, it’s possible to avoid these drugs, their horrible side effects, and the possibility of prescription drug addiction or dependency. But the doctor has to know what to look for.

A case in point: A few years ago, a friend was working very long hours on a very stressful job. In the middle of the day one Friday, she suddenly started shaky, her face was tingling, and her nerves felt raw. She thought her blood sugar might be very low, or very high, but eating didn’t resolve the problem. She didn’t have high or low blood pressure, or any real physical problems for that matter, so didn’t have a clue what was wrong.

She left work early that day and began a 10-day nightmare that almost ended in her taking antidepressants.

Her doctor, an M.D. who specialized in nutritional and alternative therapies, was out of town.

Over the next several days, as the problem got worse, she tried everything she could think of. She finally went to another doctor, not one who was educated in alternative therapies, and the doctor couldn’t figure it out.

After coping with the problem for several more days she went to a second doctor who suspected she was having a heart attack (the symptoms now included chest pain, difficulty breathing, etc.) and gave her an ECG. The results were abnormal and she was sent to the emergency ward of the nearest hospital.

After having another ECG, and blood tests, at the hospital, the ER doctor told her that the ECG was actually normal, that nothing was wrong physically, and gave her a prescription for Prozac. In other words, it was all in her head.

Instead of filling the prescription, my friend coped for another few days until her own doctor returned to the city. And he actually discovered the source of the problem: Because of the stress she was under, her adrenaline was very high and had thrown other things out of balance. She was told to exercise (the last thing she would have considered), drink a lot of water, and take potassium.

She followed the advice and, within hours, the symptoms had disappeared.

If she had followed the advice of the doctor in the hospital, she would now be coping with the side effects of antidepressants and who knows what else: Since the problem she was having would not resolve with antidepressants, she would still have the symptoms - which may have led to taking one drug after another in an attempt to address the original symptoms and cope with the side effects of the drugs she was taking. It could have virtually disabled her for the rest of her life.

This story is not unusual – many people in addiction treatment centers started with one prescription drug, often unnecessary in the first place, and found themselves in a never-ending cycle that really ruined their lives.

What kind of doctor do you need to find out if there really are physical problems? An M.D. is always a good idea – he has the education and experience needed to recognize a disease or life-threatening situation, and you do want to eliminate that possibility. But, beyond that, the doctor also needs to be very well-educated in nutritional deficiencies and imbalances, hormonal problems, and so on. Some problems can even be addressed by chiropractors – many of whom are also educated in other non-drug therapies. One way or another, you need a doctor who prefers to find the source of the problem and treat that effectively instead of prescribing drugs for the symptoms.

If you’re already taking, or are considering taking, prescription drugs for mental or emotional symptoms, or the physical ailments that can accompany them, you might consider finding one of these doctors for a very thorough check up. And if you’re having trouble getting off the drugs, contact a drug rehab referral service that can direct you to safe and effective treatment. Once you get off the drugs, you can look for the real problem and resolve it.