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- Page navigation anchor for Improving GP communication in consultations on MUSImproving GP communication in consultations on MUS
I agree that communication needs to be improved with patients presenting with MUS. I have been battling for over three years to achieve a diagnosis of “protracted benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome”.1-5 But I do not believe that faulty communication lies at the heart of the problem. I have known since April 2014 what was wrong with me. It therefore baffles me that my GPs are incapable of learning about my condition even in a very superficial way.
I have consulted privately with a GP in Ireland who readily diagnosed my condition. This was my first useful conversation with a GP in over 4 years. I recently consulted with an NHS consultant neurologist who agreed that the “shock of coming off Nitrazepam” was the most likely cause of my symptoms. However, his letter to my GP stated that I had suffered from “chronic fatigue syndrome” for 3 years as diagnosed by psychiatry in April 2014 and I now have neurological functional symptoms. Once again, the role of the drug and withdrawal from the drug is neatly side-stepped by the diagnostic labels applied. I am now advised that I need a referral to the Substance Misuse Service and I will find the necessary expertise there to discuss my condition and its causes. I do not feel optimistic about that. I certainly don't imagine that I will be offered any help to recover. It seems the NHS does not cater for those harmed by prescription drugs of dependence.
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Competing Interests: None declared. - Page navigation anchor for GP communication in MUS consultationsGP communication in MUS consultations
As a psychotherapist, I know many people who find themselves treated by their GPs as having a ‘working diagnosis’ of medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) – and/or other ‘functional disorders’. Many of these people fall into the more severe category of MUS. Their symptoms are multiple and enduring and extremely disabling. They seem to have sustained serious disruption and damage to their entire mind/body nervous systems.
No-one seems to be doing any research about what may be causing the growing problem of patients with MUS.
In people that I have met, this illness has come about after they taken antidepressants (and/or benzodiazepines) ‘as prescribed’ by their doctors (initially prescribed when perhaps experiencing a bereavement or other stressful period in their lives) and sometimes continuing to take these medications ‘as prescribed’ over many years.
My response to the BMJ article about medically unexplained symptoms also refers to this: www.bmj.com/content/356/bmj.j268/rr-1. (There are other relevant responses to this same BMJ article).
Please see blog by Kelly Brogan MD ‘What’s the Harm in Taking and Antidepressant’: http://kellybroganmd.com/whats-the-harm-in-taking-an-antidepressant/. It is clear to see that there are many similarities here with the multiple symptoms which are labelled collectively as MUS.
I would also like to highlight the B...
Show MoreCompeting Interests: None declared.