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SpecialtiesDoctors may have more than one area of specialty interest. Board certification in a specialty area means the doctor has completed formal training and has practice experience in that specialty, and has passed the certification examination from the corresponding accredited medical specialty board.
Doctors may have more than one area of specialty interest. Board certification in a specialty area means the doctor has completed formal training and has practice experience in that specialty, and has passed the certification examination from the corresponding accredited medical specialty board.
Psychiatry
Child Psychiatry
Doctor Q&A
372 Answers
359 Agrees
The number of answers this doctor has agreed with.
A member asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Melatonin, Benadryl (diphenhydramine): When the ongoing experience of insomnia in bipolar disorder it is important to keep your physician aware of your sleep challenges as these can be rela... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.8k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 40-year-old member asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Bad idea: The snorting of medicines that are not supposed to be administered intranasally is usually going to lead to catastrophic effects. The consequences of... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 47-year-old member asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Yes: Historically, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder have both been known as "severe mental illnesses". This wording can be important as receiving help f... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 45-year-old member asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Yes: There are a lot of different pieces of evidence supporting the argument for a "chemical imbalance". You sound skeptical, and i will try to not be too ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 48-year-old female asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Most say yes: There is a lot of evidence connecting probiotics to the health of your body and even the health of your mind. You can find several new articles about... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 39-year-old member asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
No: I am not sure where your friend buys sugar but I am thinking that it may cost a little bit more where he is shopping!
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 25-year-old female asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Get additional help: It sounds like you have tried several medications. However, there are several you have not tried. You may benefit from a stronger medication such as... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.8k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 18-year-old female asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Talk to a doctor: It sounds like it may be anxiety although there are rarer causes of breathing difficulties so you would probably benefit from talking to a doctor. St... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.9k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 32-year-old member asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Talk to your doctor: Ask your doctor if you need a change in medication. You may want to try another medication as long as it does not interact with other medications you... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 22-year-old female asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Who is involved?: If you trying to help out a friend, call 911 or get them to the emergency department. If you are contemplating doing this yourself, call 911 or get a... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 33-year-old member asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Yes: These two conditions frequently occur together.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 43-year-old member asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Psychiatrist: You would benefit from evaluation by a psychiatrist. You may prefer seeing a psychologist and having a psychological evaluation as well if you are no... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 34-year-old member asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
TMS or surgery: Transcranial magnetic stimulation is a possibility. There are also implantable nerve stimulators that have shown promising results. I hope a solutio... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 43-year-old member asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Talk to your doctor: You may need to talk to the doctor who prescribed the Prozac (fluoxetine) to you. Insomnia can be a sign that a medication is too activating for an i... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 18-year-old female asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Gastric dumping: My intuition tells me that it is a combination of things. These include the capacity of your stomach to retain the food and send it to your duodenum ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 20-year-old female asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Yes: Major depression can precipitate a cognitive dysfunction that can be quite severe. In fact, in more severe cases of depression the term pseudodementi... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 37-year-old member asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Could be: This may be a transient bout of it i hope although not being to sleep is the definition of insomnia. You may benefit from talking to a physician if i... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 41-year-old member asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Valium gets stronger: When a beta blocker like toprol (metoprolol) is administered with diazepam then in some patients the effects of the diazepam are amplified. The mecha... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
7 comments
A 21-year-old female asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Dependence: There is the current perspective on long term benzodiazepine pharmacotherapy that it can lead to dependence and poor outcomes in a significant number ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.8k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 23-year-old female asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Needs medical workup: He needs to get checked out through appropriate physical examination and blood work. Rarely there can be hyperthyroidism causing this sort of deterio... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 32-year-old member asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Continue not smoking: You definitely will want to stay abstinent from cigarettes, each exposure could catalyze inflammatory and remodeling at the tissue level that could le... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
1.3k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 33-year-old member asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Most likely: The interaction is likely minimal to none and it should be safe. Any medication that acts on the central nervous system may subtly change the senses i... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 71-year-old female asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Mirtazapine 15 mg : You may benefit from a trial of Mirtazapine 15 mg take one half tablet by mouth at bedtime or a whole tablet if that is not effective. It helps with ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 32-year-old member asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Probably: I am not aware of a specific prohibition of it. I assume you are talking about the real tablets and not the soltabs that are dissolving. In any case... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.9k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 30-year-old male asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Actually, yes: Citalopram and escitalopram actually work relatively well for long durations of treatment in my experience. They also seem to predictably work when r... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 32-year-old member asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Sometimes: It is thought by many that a common route to alcoholism is the desire on the part of the individual consuming alcohol to reduce the experience of anxi... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 27-year-old male asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
May not mix well: The dose of Clonazepam may be relevant as well to whether or not a beer a day later is going to cause problems although the most important principle t... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
5k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 33-year-old female asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Talk to your doctor: My intuition is telling me that discontinuation or changing the dose may be a consideration although i would try to talk to a doctor about this before... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 47-year-old member asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Talk to your doctor: It sounds like you are referring to typical antipsychotics. They do have some severe side effects including the dreaded tardive dyskinesia that will ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 41-year-old member asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Depends on diagnosis: The dose of sertraline is not unheard of although the dose of quetiapine would appear to be appropriate for either bipolar disorder or a psychotic dis... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 25-year-old male asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Sort of: They both are atypical antipsychotics. However, they block different sets of receptors and they have rather different side effect profiles. There wo... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.8k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 23-year-old male asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Depends: It could be safe or not depending on the total dose you are taking in one day. By the way safe is conventionally defined, it will probably be safe an... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.4k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 40-year-old member asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Any: There are really almost any antihistamine that you could take including diphenhydramine, dicyclomine, and Hydroxyzine among the rest. Stay safe!
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 43-year-old member asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Depends: Many addiction experts would say that the length of withdrawal symptoms is correlated to the total length of opioid dependence multiplied to some exte... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 27-year-old male asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Not directly: It is not thought that intoxication with marijuana or cannabis would be lethal in the conventional sense. An individual who was susceptible to it coul... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.5k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 18-year-old male asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Get therapy: You would probably benefit the most from either counseling or therapy. This appears to be a psychological issue probably regarding your identificatio... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.5k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 33-year-old member asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Yes, in fact it is: Major depressive disorder is a mental illness according to many mental health professionals.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 36-year-old member asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Not clear: There are presently hypotheses that genetic polymorphisms associated with differential concentrations of neurotransmitters can predispose to certain p... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 49-year-old male asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Buckle up: I am not sure this will be comfortable for you but everyone is unique! Cymbalta (duloxetine) withdrawal is notorious in terms of how tough it can be ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.6k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 47-year-old member asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Get help: You may get a lot better if you talk to a therapist or even work with a psychiatrist. There are ways through talk therapy or medicines to alleviate ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 17-year-old male asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
One to three days: I would say that stimulant medications that are utilized in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder typically begin to manifest effi... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 45-year-old member asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Yes with education: I think that there needs to be ongoing efforts towards research, education and advocacy in order to better understand personality disorders both from ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 32-year-old member asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Should be okay: I think that the combination of citalopram 10 mg with tagamet (cimetidine) should be okay. Stay safe!
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.8k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 36-year-old male asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Anxiety and fear: There are many individuals in the populations that experience increased anxiety related to the start of sleep. There can also be hypnagogic and hypnop... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 31-year-old member asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Get him evaluated: I would encourage him to see a psychologist with experience treating adolescents or potentially a child and adolescent psychiatrist. Stay safe!
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 33-year-old member asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Not known for sure: I am thinking that there have not been enough studies on this issue although you use the term permanent and for the purposes of discussion is might be... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 48-year-old member asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Talk with the doctor: I would talk with the prescribing physician about the best way to discontinue this medication given your history. Although sudden discontinuation wou... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
A 18-year-old male asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Safer versus Safe: I think that they are safer than regular cigarettes although nicotine vapor may cause its own health issues. There urgently needs to be more studies ... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 28-year-old male asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Yes: That is a frequently encountered combination of medications. You should be okay with this combination provided it actually helps you! feel free to d... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.7k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
A 63-year-old male asked:
Dr. Patrick Tapiaanswered
Psychiatry 15 years experience
Edema possibly: I know that Gabapentin can lead to changes in fluid distribution in addition to peripheral edema and this may be one possible way that Gabapentin lead... Read More
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.9k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
TestimonialsRecommendations and Thank you notes are endorsements given from patients or other doctors.
Recommendations and Thank you notes are endorsements given from patients or other doctors.
3
Recommendations
308
Thank you notes
HealthTap member
Sep 26, 2013
hello my name is jefferey kyle moore i have been looking for someone in my area who specializes in your field i cant not find a doctor i have very bad aniexty bad panic attacks and insomnia im on med...Read More
HealthTap member
Mar 30, 2015
Dr. Tapia is an amazing doctor! #nationaldoctorsday2015 #virtualflower1
HealthTap member
Mar 31, 2015
Dr. Tapia is an amazing doctor! #nationaldoctorsday2015 #virtualflower1
HealthTap member
Thank you, your answer was very helpful! I appreciate your honest answer about the potency of this drug. Thanks
HealthTap member
Thank you, your answer was very helpful! thanks for your time had endoscopie, no ulcer, no nothing, just pain
HealthTap member
Thank you, your answer was very helpful! Allot of big words, maybe I should be worried about my brain.. Thanks!
Education & Training
Medical/Graduate school
University of Alabama School of Medicine, AL
Graduated 2008MD
Residency
UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA HOSPITAL
Awards
Top Doctor, First Place, Alabama - Summer
2013
Thought Leader, First Place, Alabama - Summer
2013
Top Psychiatrist , First Place, Alabama - Summer
2013
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