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The question was submitted 20/11/2007

Subject: Medications and affects to organs

My mother believes that the medications I am on - luvox, stilnox, valium, solprin, maxalon, phenergan, panafen plus are doing my kidney's and liver no good and are killing these organs and will make me end up being on dialysis and/or needing a transplant. The blood tests show both are okay but my mother said once they are damaged from all the meds you are taking it is too late to do anything.
I have been on these now I guess for nearly 2 years and can you tell me what damage they are doing, if any to my organs. I know that valium is addictive and could cause some problems for me when I come off it but what about the others.
My mother also thinks my psychiatrist is trying to kill me with these medications. Is this possible. She is not impressed with him because I have got worse - phobias, self harming. My mother thinks he should be reported because he has not made me better/I am worse than I was when I saw him back in 2002. Mum won't go and see him because she has to get a referral letter and my psychiatrist has said he will see her in the new year so how do I get her to go and see him so she understands my treatment and what my psychiatrist is trying to do for me
Also can these meds cause anger, screaming matches. My mother thinks I have bipolar but I don't think this is the case and the psychiatrist has not diagnosed this.
Thanks

Answer from DepNet

Dear Medications and Organs,

While rare individual bad reactions to medications are (in theory) possible it is extremely unlikely that you would suffer any damage to your organs from these types of medications especially when supervised by a medical specialist. As I’m sure you know it is very important to keep your doctor informed of all the different drugs you take (both prescription and non-prescription) and stick to the recommended doses.

The popular belief that medications damage organs came from a non-prescription drug (phenacetin) that was widely used many years ago and it was only after years of use that the problem was discovered. If you want more information about this drug have a look at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenacetin. Back then there was much less testing required before a drug was released and today the situation is very different and safety testing is taken very very seriousley.

I can understand your Mother’s fears about your psychiatrist since it sounds like you have a very severe problem which is not getting better in spite of medication. I’m afraid this probably is due to the complexity and severity of your condition rather than the psychiatrist trying to kill you. Your plan to get the psychiatrist to talk to your Mother is a very good one and will hopefully serve to increase your Mother’s understanding of your condition and its’ treatment. Personally, I encourage my Patients (if they have severe chronic conditions) to see another psychiatrist for a second opinion so that they and their families understand that every reasonable thing is being done to help them. I doubt that your psychiatrist would mind you if you got a second opinion (if this is possible).

As far as the “anger and screaming” go, I believe you need to discuss this with your psychiatrist since there could be any number of explanations and it is impossible for me to “guess” which one might apply to your case.

Good luck and thanks for asking our advice.

The answer was published on DepNet 26/11/2007