adieuolivaw - The main reason for responding to your post in such a heavy-handed manner was due to the tone of your post. It seemed to me that you were trying to scare Vetttech. Using words (and capitalizing) words like "fatal" and "irreversible" in describing Zyprexa's adverse effects seemed to me to be a blatant over-reaction intended to scare Vetttech into not taking the drug. I sincerely believe that using adjectives like "sinister" to describe a drug that has given several of my patients who suffer from severe psychosis a quality of life that they had not experienced in decades. It is not your quoting of the side effects from monographs that bothers me, it is the embellishments that do.

I was not only thinking of Vetttech reading your response, I was thinking of those people who read this forum, but do not (cannot) post online due to their suffering from varying levels of paranoia. When I worked within the mental health system much of my time was spent on "damage control". More than a few of my patients with paranoid or delusional forms of psychosis have quit taking their medication (not just Zyprexa) when they read posts containing adjectives, such as those mentioned above, in describing the medication that they are taking. I have been given several similar posts over the years that I have had to prove were over-reactions. Many times the damage had already been done. The person had stopped their medication , suffered a psychotic relapse, and ended up on the psych ward; at a great cost to the healthcare system and a greater cost to my patient.

As for my "faith" in drug companies, it should be obvious that my reliance on evidence-based medicine rather than industry-produced monographs makes me no fan of drug company information. Besides, I'm a Canadian; I have no opinion on the FDA, except that the fact that it is much harder to have a medication approved for use in Canada than it is in the U.S. Health Canada requirements and regulations are anything but lax. And BTW, I am a sceptical scientist; I try not to believe in anything without proof; I try to accept nothing on faith.

Forgive me for not believing that your doctor is running "unauthorized" experimentation" on human "guinea pigs", but their is two sides to every story. I shall reserve judgement until I know the entire story. I have seen both unreasonable physicians and unreasonable patients, and when there is one or the other in doctor-patient relationship, seldom have I seen any treatment success stories. I do agree with you that you do need to find a doctor that you are able to work with. Your ultimate goal is to find a treatment regimen that maximizes your quality of life; I seriously doubt that your present clinician will be able to to help you find an appropriate regimen. I wish you luck in your hunt for the proper mix.

Sincerely - Cam