Q. My girlfriend had been a patient of manic depression for nearly her whole life. She had taken 40mg of Paxil and 300mg of Serzone for approximately 2 years. For the past couple of months she has been taking 20mg of Paxil and 100mg of Serzone. And for the past 2 weeks she hadn't taken any medication at all. I would like to know if there are any dangers or side effects if she stop taking her medication all at once. She feels unstable with balance and occasion blurred vision. She feel that when she's not on her medication, "reality is too much to deal with" and "that nothing seems good". But when she's taking her medication, she feels that she is drawn away from reality. Please advise a solution or recommendation. Please also advise of any local (NY City) clinics (if possible).

  A. All the major teaching hospitals in NYC have pretty good research programs. While there is no guarantee that things will work out--you could get a bad doctor or the illness may not be as fixable at this time as you would like--there are alternatives. I happen to like the program at Columbia, but there are also great programs at Long Island Jewish, Einstein, and NYU. Keep going until you find one that fits.