Going to neurologist for anxiety??

[surftheiop]

So one of another forums I read (non medical one) has a health/working out subforum.

Someone posted a question about dealing with typical sounding anxiety disorder and said he was taking xanax prescribed by a doctor but didnt want to be on meds. I mentioned that if it was prescribed by PC he could go to psychiatrist or psychologist to try getting psychotherapy as well.

He responded that his PC had referred him to a neurologist who prescribed the Xanax.


Do you all think he just confused neurology with psychiatry or will a neurologist actually treat anxiety?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[whopper]

Who knows.

Most of the patients I've met on Xanax didn't need to be on it. Only cases where I felt it was needed were cases where the person was in inpatient, and might've been flipping out while having several surgical instruments or other do hickeys inside or connected to them.

 

[surftheiop]

Who knows.

Most of the patients I've met on Xanax didn't need to be on it. Only cases where I felt it was needed were cases where the person was in inpatient, and might've been flipping out while having several surgical instruments or other do hickeys inside or connected to them.

So would I be right in telling the guy he should definately go to a psychiatrist to get re-evaluated? I don't usually reply to the health related threads there, but it just seemed really weird to be taking xanax prescribed by a neurologist so i kind of wanted to point the guy in the right direction to find some help.

 

[whopper]

Not the advice I like to give but I'd stay out of it. There's several legal factors suggesting we do not give specific medical advice to individuals.

Which is a darned shame sometimes because I know plenty of people who are not getting quality treatment. They try to get me to intervene, which I'd like to do, but am not allowed.

A buddy of mine about 1 week ago told me his doctor put him on Lithium, and did not order a serum lithium level.

 

[surftheiop]

Not the advice I like to give but I'd stay out of it. There's several legal factors suggesting we do not give specific medical advice to individuals.

Which is a darned shame sometimes because I know plenty of people who are not getting quality treatment. They try to get me to intervene, which I'd like to do, but am not allowed.

A buddy of mine about 1 week ago told me his doctor put him on Lithium, and did not order a serum lithium level.

How far does the not intervening go? Is ok to suggest that somebody seek a second opinion? or is even that going too far b/c its pretty much explicitly saying the first opinion was wrong ?

 

[lilnoelle]

I think its probably always reasonable to seek a second opinion if the individual involved isn't happy with the current treatment s/he's getting. (disclaimer) I'm not a physician and really know nothing about the medical side of this issue, but I'm pretty sure theres nothing wrong with getting a second opinion.

 

[whopper]

Is ok to suggest that somebody seek a second opinion?

No, but to give specific medical advice would be going over the line.

 

[nancysinatra]

No, but to give specific medical advice would be going over the line.

Would it really? The person giving the advice in this case is not a physician. Lay people give each other medical advice all the time, completely legally.

As a medical student am I restricted in any way as far as what advice I could give? I haven't earned any degrees yet.

 

[FuturaDocta]

I think I understand what whopper is saying. It wouldn't be wise to give specific medical advice to anyone unless you are the personal physician, because you may not have the whole picture. If you give advice, there may be some underlying medical problem that you did not know about. Therefore, it would be an improper diagnosis. It could be risky. As a pre-med, the only thing I could do is advise seeking a doctor, even if it is blatantly obvious.

 

[nancysinatra]

I think I understand what whopper is saying. It wouldn't be wise to give specific medical advice to anyone unless you are the personal physician, because you may not have the whole picture. If you give advice, there may be some underlying medical problem that you did not know about. Therefore, it would be an improper diagnosis. It could be risky. As a pre-med, the only thing I could do is advise seeking a doctor, even if it is blatantly obvious.

Well, let me rephrase.. of course it's not "nice" (or wise, I guess) to give incorrect advice on any topic, I suppose. But there's no law that I'm aware of that prohibits lay people from conversing about medical issues no matter how incorrect they may be. And Whopper had referred to legal issues. The legal issues, I'm guessing, apply to licensed physicians.

So I think you'd be technically incorrect to say that as a pre-med, the only thing you could do is advise seeking a doctor. As a pre-med, I'd imagine you're legally free to say whatever you want, as wrong as you may be. However being a nice person you might want to think twice before doing this.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong--but how on earth could you sue a premed for spreading incorrect medical advice?? A premed is free to pick up Harrison's, read it, misunderstand it, and tell the whole world, as long as they don't claim to be a doctor, are they not?

 

[FuturaDocta]

Oh, I see what your saying.

I don't see anything illegal with talking about medical stuff or anything for that matter.

If I were to be sued for basically speaking freely, then it would not hold up in court at all.

 

[lilnoelle]

maybe whopper could clarify.... but I think he was saying it wouldn't be wrong to tell someone to get a second opinion but it would be wrong to give specific medical advice.

As far as someone (me) giving medical advice on this board... the problem isn't so much a matter of a lawsuit against ME (provided I don't claim to be a physician), the issue is that SDN needs to make a across the board statement that this is not a place to give or ask for medical advice so that SDN doesn't end up involved in lawsuits. We moderate it as such.

I don't think what I said crossed the line. I was simply pointing out that if your friend is unhappy with his/her current treatment plan, then its not a bad idea to get a second opinion. I don't know whether or not this individual is getting the standard treatment in their condition, but that doesn't really matter if they prefer a different treatment plan and don't know their options. In fact, s/he could probably go back to the PCP or the neurologist and ask for options and do something different if s/he doesn't want to see a different physician.

 

[nancysinatra]

As far as someone (me) giving medical advice on this board... the problem isn't so much a matter of a lawsuit against ME (provided I don't claim to be a physician), the issue is that SDN needs to make a across the board statement that this is not a place to give or ask for medical advice so that SDN doesn't end up involved in lawsuits. We moderate it as such.

Oh yeah, that makes sense. I think the OP was referring to another, non-medical, message board. I thought the idea of policing general conversation among lay people was humorous and impractical which was why I responded. Yeah I can understand SDN does not want anyone, pre-med or otherwise, handing out medical advice.