Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Dr Basanth
Kenchaiah
General Adult & Addiction Psychiatrist
FRANZCP · Cert. Addiction Psych. · MBBS · DPM · DNB (Psychiatry)
Medicines are usually started for good reasons. Do those reasons still hold?
Questions like that are welcome here. This is a place to think them through: plain-language guides, clinical resources and short notes on medicines, alcohol and other drugs, for safer, more thoughtful care.
- Education Plain-language guides to deprescribing, polypharmacy, and treatment for alcohol and other drugs. Deprescribing
- Advocacy Tapered Line: short notes on medicines, alcohol and other drugs, and how they mix, from the evidence and from what patients teach. Read Tapered Line
- Resources Information sheets on medicines, alcohol and other drugs, prescribing reference cards and an evidence library. Browse resources
- Clinical care Specialist assessment and treatment in addiction, deprescribing and general adult psychiatry. Referral & appointments
Start here
Wondering whether your medications are still helping?
You are not the only one. Here is a good place to start.
- I am worried about my drinking
- I have taken opioid medications for a long time
- I am thinking about coming off an antidepressant
- I am not sure where to start
- Want to see Dr Kenchaiah? A GP referral is needed. Here is how it works →
- Crisis & support, 24 hours000 · Lifeline 13 11 14 · DirectLine 1800 888 236 · CAT team ↗
Tapering something tricky, or just thinking it through?
Practical references and the evidence behind them, for GPs, specialists and the wider treating team.
Understanding
Deprescribing
Latest notes
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Polypharmacy usually means taking five or more regular medications; not always a problem, but is every one still needed?
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Stopping some medicines suddenly can cause withdrawal; ask your doctor how to stop safely.
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Physical dependence is the body adapting to a medicine taken regularly; it is not the same as addiction.
From the resource library
- Patient information Deprescribing: a guide for patients A plain-language guide to medication review and reduction, and what to ask your doctor. Read the guide
- Prescribing reference card Naltrexone in alcohol use disorder A clinical quick-reference: mechanism, evidence summary and cautions, for clinicians. Open the card
- Evidence Library A reading list Peer-reviewed papers and guidelines on deprescribing, opioids, alcohol and stimulant use, grouped by topic. Browse the reading list
Seeing Dr Kenchaiah
Delmont Consulting Suites, 314 Warrigal Road, Glen Iris VIC 3146. A GP referral is required. Typical wait is around 4 weeks; an earlier appointment may be possible if a cancellation arises.
For patients: how it works →For GPs and specialists: referral details →
Not currently accepting general TAC, WorkCover, or DVA referrals. Exceptions considered for opioid dependence treatment (ODT, also called OST).
In crisis, 24 hours: 000 · Lifeline 13 11 14 · DirectLine 1800 888 236 · CAT team ↗
