New doctor - allergy/chronic illness specialist

[Norma]

I had my first appointment with a new doctor yesterday. She is a specialist in allergies and chronic illnesses. I still have the same primary care doctor. She did agree that paxil is hard to get off of and it takes a long time, but I don't think she understands 100%. After the consoltations she made some natural supplement recomendations.

They were: double my fish oil dosage, probiotic pearls, melatonin instead of trazadone, and 5htp when reducing paxil dose.

I don't forsee any problems with the fish oil or probiotics. I tried the melatonin last night and it was a complete failure. I haven't touched the 5htp yet.

I am going to be tested 3 times for 3 hours each time for allergies. On the list of things not to take before being tested is trazadone. I can't take it for 48 hours before being tested. So it left me wondering how to get these test done without going without sleep or using anything that could cause more harm during paxil withdrawal.

Anybody out there have any suggestions?

Thanks!
Norma

[ErikaR1]

My natural doctor (MD who got tired of just writing prescriptions for everything and wanted to treat the cause of the disease and not just the symptoms) has me on 5 HTP as well while weaning off paxil With all the gi symptoms I've been having, I've weaned off of that. It does help me sleep though. I'm think maybe smaller doses would be helpful. I see my doc this Friday and will discuss this with him. I can say that I have had no brain zaps thus far with this weaning as compared to before with Paxil.

No suggestions though ... sorry.

[Norma]

You know, its nice just to know that someone else understands where I am at with this. This new doctor is very much into finding the root cause and natural treatments. This is why I made the appointment. I suspect I may have a problem with gluten. They have already taken blood for numerous tests including Celiac disease.

Good luck with your doctor!

[ErikaR1]

Hi again Norma ... yeah - too bad we both didn't see our natural type doctor before getting put on Paxil. There are so many things to do and try besides the drugs. Most docs are so used to just treating symptoms. My current doc even admitted to being partially brain washed in medical school about drugs and such. Now he's so into nutrition, nutraceuticals (supplements), nutrition/diet, etc. He will occasionally write a prescription for his patients but only after careful consideration and truly weighing the risks vs benefits. He's really quite amazing. I think he will be open to learning more about the withdrawal affects of Paxil and other SSRIs. He really thought I would be fine reducing my 10mg pills and taking 5 HTP.

I asked him about the liquid form before and he didn't think I'd need it. I'm sure he'll write it for me this time. These drugs are so darn powerful.

I've gone through GI problems before and even got a colonoscopy because of my at time chronic diarrhea ... everything was fine on it and the symptoms just went away on their own. Looking back over time, usually each time I've had problems I was either really, really stressed (maybe a little IBS?), had way too much milk (I am lactose intolerant), or I was starting or stopping a SSRI.

I went through a period of where I thought I couldn't eat wheat, oatmeal, butter, etc ... lots of things and almost everything seemed to set my guts off for a while. Have you ever heard of the Specific Carbohydrate Diet? It's more than gluten free. Some people think it's a low carb diet but it's really not - just certain carbs. My husband has Crohn's disease and it's helped him A LOT. I did it for 3 months the last time I had this problem really badly. It helped my guts heal and then I was able to eat most things again. It is very strict and most people have troubles following it because it's so strict. It really helps and the science behind it seems sound to me. My new doctor even heard of it and didn't look at me like I had two heads when I mentioned it. He even mentioned it in the book he wrote.

I'm on that diet now. The basis premise to me is if you mess up your ankle or something you can put a brace on it or walk with crutches ... you can give your ankle a break. You can't really rest your guts unless you are in the hospital on IV feeding which is not good either. This diet puts things in your system that are easy for your body to digest in a compromised state and doesn't further mess up the already messed balance of bacteria in your guts. It will take some time for me and others to recover, but it works for most people if you really follow it. The book about the diet is called "Breaking the Vicious Cycle." You may have a problem with gluten but it could be that your guts just need to heal.

Goodness ... I'm just assuming you are having problems with them. Sorry about that.

Have a good day.

[Norma]

While I am glad to have a doctor into natural treatments, I think I have learned a lesson: Don't take supplements that have caused people withdrawing from paxil problems, even if she recomends them! I aslo found out there is a different way to be tested for allergies which doesn't require me to come off the trazadone. Thank God!

Erika - thanks for the info on the diet. I may look that up if my stomach doesn't start behaving soon.

Norma

[ErikaR1]

Yeah ... I wish my guts would stop outputting so much. I've lost 5-7 lbs or so in just a few weeks.

I'll keep that in mind about the supplements and I'm glad you found a better way to be allergy tested.

[Norma]

I could stand to loose some weight... but I can think of better ways to do it!