Q: I used to take Trika 0.5 and Trinicalm plus as prescribed by a psychiatrist, few years back. I visited the doctor because I felt the need to improve my self-esteem and personality. These two tablets worked like magic and I started viewing myself with high self-esteem and took a lot of initiative towards my work and studies. I developed tremendous self respect, which I did not feel earlier. I stopped taking these after 2 years and I have not taken them for the past 4 years. My self-esteem is high, but not as high as it was when I was taking those medicines. My doctor said that I had a habit of brooding, which I overcame due to the medicines. Now I have started brooding again and a little lack of self esteem has returned. What do these medicines have that they cause such mental changes? What can I do to get back the tremendous drive and confidence I had?

A:Taking psychotropic drugs with serious side effects and potential for addiction is not the way to improve self-esteem and personality. Alprazolam (Trika) is only approved for use for short term for anxiety only i.e. no more than 7 days at a time. Trifluoperazine has some serious, life-threatening side effects such as Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome. It can cause blood disorders and damage the liver. A combination of trifluoperzine and trihexyphenidyl (like Trinicalm Plus) is not permitted to be sold in most western, advanced countries (please see note below). I think you should rely on Yoga and cognitive therapy, rather than potentially toxic drugs, to achieve your objectives. Fixed-Dose Combinations (FDCs): Medicines are discovered individually and are supposed to be taken separately. A huge number of irrational, illegal combinations of drugs are being sold in India; quite a few without mandatory approval of the Drugs Controller General, India (DCGI). Except in a few cases (such as TB medicines), it is always better to take medicines separately so that dosage can be adjusted and side effects monitored.