Does your doctor let you pick which meds you want to try? Sometimes doctors will ask if you have a specific med you want to try, while others will tell you what you “have” to take.

My old pdoc used to ask me if I did research and had a particular med in mind. My new pdoc tells me what I have to take.

[wiretwister]

I have a lot to say about what I take ... such as he says a ap ... so I have to take a med type ... but have some say so in which one .... most of the time ..

[scatterbrained04]

My pdoc usually offers up a couple suggestions, and I pick from those.

[GoldenSnitch]

No he’s taking me off of cipralex to try something else for my depression and cipralex is the only drug that’s ever helped my anxiety at all. I’m going to be a disaster.

[Scooter9]

We talk about the risks and benefits of meds and agree on a treatment plan.

I think it's better this way because I don't know the current research on meds whereas she does, plus I feel like I'm participating in my treatment.

I've mostly been on the same meds for years, but Latuda was recently added. I expressed reservations about it but agreed and am now happy I did.

I generally let my psychiatrist do the suggesting, but do recall a couple times way back when he gave me a choice. I would veto some meds, which he'd likely understand. Twice he very reluctantly prescribed medications I asked for. They were disasters! He expected they would be. They were lessons that taught me to trust his instincts.

Once I was on Navane (thiothixene) and developed a rash. He took me off, understandably, and put me on Trilafon (perphanazine). I started gaining weight fast on Trilafon so felt a little desperate, even though it otherwise worked great. I took the initiative to go to a dermatologist to investigate the rash. It turned out that Navane was not the cause. I presented that to my pdoc and asked to go back on Navane, which was weight neutral. He allowed it. Navane eventually caused me a dystonia, unfortunately, so I had to go off.

[Victoria'smom]

Yes and no. I asked for abilify she didn't want me on an AP. She was literally was just going to put me on an AD with nothing else, silly woman.

My doctor doesn't let me change my meds. If I want a med change I have to go to an IOP or the hospital.

[Blue_Bird]

It's a mutual agreement on which meds I take, I can participate in my treatment and she takes my opinion/ideas into consideration when she gives me suggestions

[HALLIEBETH87]

Mine just decides

[Jedi67]

my new pdoc is old school. he pretty much decides what I should take. several times I have suggested meds but he always seems to find something wrong with them regarding side effects. he then just decides for me. sometimes it's frustrating because I can feel like I'm at the mercy of his decisions. also, he is very hesitant about benzos. he is set dead against giving me any when I've asked him to at least consider them for my anxiety. he recently increased my geodon and lamictal and even those I pretty much had no say in choosing. I wonder if I should reconsider being aggressive about which meds I can try. but the pdocs are supposed to know which meds are supposed to work best for you, I suppose.

[fern46]

I haven't seen pdocs for a long period of time, but all of my meds were selected for me. I'm not an expert, so I just had to trust and allow the process to unfold. I did tell my doctors that I am super sensitive to substances and each of them listened. They have agreed to keep me on as low a dose as possible and that was the most important factor for me. I hated feeling like a sleepy zombie with no feelings.

[yellow_fleurs]

My pdoc would give me options for a couple things we could try, explain why and then let me ask questions and pick. Occasionally if he strongly had a thought one way or another like "we should stop this medication" when I had a reaction to it he would make that decision, but otherwise he gave me the chance to make informed decisions. I think that was a good balance for me, because I don't want to have to make up my own treatment plan, but would not like to be told there was only one option and I had to follow it without any say. My pdoc also supported my decision to not take meds when I was more stable off of them. I think if I had bipolar 1 and was at risk for mania it might be a different story and meds may have been more strongly recommended.

[Sunflower123]

He’ll recommend a few and tell me the benefits and disadvantages then let me make the decision.

[Nola0250]

He suggests meds and we discuss it. I generally agree with his reasoning once it’s explained. At one point he wanted to give me Klonopin for anxiety and sleep and I was reluctant to take a Benzo because of risk of addiction and thought I might be prone to that. Turns out it put me to sleep but made me stupid the next day, so we stopped it.

[Guiness187055]

Originally Posted by Jennifer 1967

He’ll recommend a few and tell me the benefits and disadvantages then let me make the decision.

My Pdoc is the same way.

[Merlin]

My pdoc will present the options, we’ll discuss the pros and cons of each meds, and the I will choose from the options presented. I can make suggestions though.

[BipolaRNurse]

Meds are a mutual decision by my pdoc and me, although he kind of shut me down at my last appointment when I suggested I want to take fewer meds. He's from the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" school of thought. I know he's right, but I wish I could get away with taking just one AP and a mood stabilizer, plus a higher dose of antidepressant. Oh, and I need something for sleep. That's only four meds. Other BP 1's can get away with it, why can't I? is my rationale. But the simple truth is, the current cocktail works and I need to just suck it up and quit *****ing about having to take so many.

[~Christina]

I always research meds ..my Pdoc was fine with my wanting to try xyz. The only time he just made changes was when I was very unwell and just unable to decide which might help.

I can’t willing just take a medication any Doctors wants me to take. My GP is fine with my being so proactive.

My psychiatrist usually makes the decision for me based on his experience with alleviating specific symptoms. I kind of prefer this approach, although everyone reacts different to medicines, the prescriber knows what has worked well in the past for specific symptoms in a class of medicine. A non-psychiatric example: I had a particularly bad case of strep, and my doctor told me he was going to prescribe a different drug than he normally did, because he didn't like the results he was seeing with this specific strain. (A common alternative was chosen, but his own experience with the medicines and the situation came into play). With my psych meds, Example: Wellbutrin is known to be a energy booster, and Paxil, another antidepressant is well known for its anxiolitic effects. The doctor has seen promise in his patients with these drugs and recommends them for those most debilitating symptoms.


I think it's great to have a discussion and options given with your psychiatrist, but personally I'm more than happy with the setup I have. It's slim pickings for psychiatrists in my area (he actually rotates through different counties and is only here 2x a month) so it's not that I'd have much of a choice anyway. lol

[sophiebunny]

I am extremely complicated. I would never presume to tell him what to prescribe given its taken quite a bit of adjusting to get the balance correct. I bow to his expertise and his judgement.

[Unrigged64072835]

My pdocs usually told me what to take. My current pnurse lets me choose if I’ve done the research, but she still adds things if needed.