Negligent or Ignorant?
I’m talking about our doctors. I can’t decide if the majority are ignorant and don’t educate themselves in the drugs they give or or if they are negligent and don’t give a rat’s ass what they give us.
A patient goes to a psych doc with bipolar,depression,anxiety, etc.
The doctor writes a ’script for the latest drug on the market (or the drug that is sold by the best bribing drug rep).
The patient thinks, “Hmmm…..he has studied medicine for a long time and has been in practice for X number of years. He must know what he’s doing. So, I’ll trust that he is doing the right thing for me”.
Said patient goes home and dutifully pushed the orange/red/yellow/pink/white/blue/green/capsule/pill, etc. down their throat on a regular schedule.
Weeks, months, or even years pass and the patient feels that it is time to fly solo—without drugs. So, with high hopes, the patient stops the drug. A day or week goes by and the patient starts to feel really sick…nauseated, aches, pains, dizziness, brain zaps, etc. Must have a virus or the flu, huh? But, the feeling of sickness does not go away.
Patient goes back to doc and explains how they are feeling sick. “no problem”
“try another drug”
“it’s better! it’s the latest on the market!!!”
And, like sheep following their shepard, we do. Again. And again.
Finally, we wise up and start doing our own research on the meds. Which is something we should have done to begin with.
We find out that the majority (if not all) of the pusher’s aka/doc med’s are addictive. And, what’s worse is that even after they stop working (which is much sooner than most people think), the side effects linger on. And, the addiction that you don’t even realize you have is killing your brain.
WTF am I talking about?
I’ve been on Cymbalta for almost a year. I tried to quit it. I became so sick that I thought that I had a serious health condition. Well, actually, I did/do….it’s called addiciton.
I could kick myself. It’s my own fault. I’m smarter than this. I usually research every drug given to me. I did not research Cymbalta’s withdrawal. It’s awful. It kicks your ass. It is without a doubt the worse drug that I have ever tried to get off.
I went to several forums and websites about Cymbalta withdrawal and what I found scares the crap out of me…..
“well it’s been about 3 months since i decided to come off cymbalta. it took me a month and a half to taper down the dosage to nothing, and the month following was ABSOLUTE HELL. i thought i had MS. i have had 2 MRIs (one for my brain, one for my spine), numerous blood tests, doctor visits, etc. i’ve missed probably a total of 2 weeks of work, have had to take 2 incompletes for courses i’m taking.
if you are coming off cymbalta and feel like you’re dying, you’re NOT CRAZY. this withdrawl is horrible and i’m only now starting to feel like i’m doing better, little by little.
hang in there. and don’t let anyone tell you it’s all in your head.”
“I was on Cymbalta for about 7 months and decided to come off it because of sexual side-effects.
I have been off Cymbalta for almost a week, and feel like I could die on the spot!I was on 60mg a day. My GP (who I like and trust, by the way) ‘weaned’ me as follows: 30mg one day then 60mg the next, for 8 days;
30mg every day for 4 days;
skip a day, then 30mg;
skip a day, then 30mg;
then stop.Since I stopped I have had to take 1 day off work – I feel like I should take more but I can’t afford it.
I am dizzy all the time, have difficulty with my coordination and speech, have HUGE pain in all my joints and muscles (legs feel like they won’t do what my brain is asking), have had AMAZINGLY VIVID dreams (and the first nightmare that I can ever remember), feel groggy and thick and feel like my eyes are darting around and falling out of my head – they are really sore. I have to drive but last night felt that I shouldn’t have been – whenever I looked in the mirror and back it felt like I got some sort of shock up through my whole body and felt like I should pull in or I would crash ‘cos of blurring. Also very anxious.”So, it looks like I’m gonna have to put on my big-girl panties and deal with this head-on. And, this particular situation, I do believe it was a case of ignorance. I do not think that the PA that prescribed it had any idea of the hell that withdrawal can be.
But, you know….there really is no excuse for a medical professional to be negligent or ignorant with screwing with somebody’s brain and life. I’ve learned a hard lesson. I will do research on everything that comes in a pill, capsule, enema, liquid, etc from now on.
I hear Effexor is hell too.
To answer your question, it depends on the doc. BOTH.
How about both.?
My example of my Dr.Ignorant MFer: (yeah, I’m in rare form this morning)
I’d been really REALLY sick….dx myself *gasp* via my own research. The doc tried to fix me without major surgery which was nice of him. In the meantime, I was wearing Duragesic patches *well not in plural* and swallowing pain pills for the back up plan. I finally had that shitty surgery.
When I went back to him, he said “I’m giving you another script for pain meds…so “we” can wean you off of them”
I told him I had more than half a bottle at home. Didn’t need anymore; and that I didnt take them except for in the morning when I got up to get past the surgical pain of gettin out of bed and gettin’ going in the morning. Surgery had fixed the worst of the problem. The ignorant bastard didn’t know the difference between being an abusive addict and a suffering body (before surgery) needing relief.
…but then they hand out head meds that have worse withdrawals like candy and not think a thing of it.
Go figure.
By the way…WTF GOOGLE?!
I thought my theme was broken
“We’ve turned the lights out, now it’s your turn..Earth Hour”
Yeah, that helps….WHAT exactly?
I went around and turned on all my lights.
Hope they feel goooood about themselves this morning.
Just…wow. All my life I’ve been terrified of addiction, thanks to Dad’s mom (my grandmother whom I loved only because she was related by blood…the woman had nothing more to recommend her to me, and I beat myself up continually as a child, thinking I was a terrible child, because I couldn’t “make” her love me…I digress lol). The woman was addicted to every pain pill, muscle relaxer, nerve pill she could get her hands on. She had several doctors prescribing the same pills at the same time. I remember as a child helping my mom get her out of a puddle of her own mess (lets just say both ends and leave it at that) and trying to get her to the hospital before she died, with my 9 year old self doing CPR that I’d learned in girl scouts…not a fun memory. I hated her.
Where is this going? I never finish my medication. I start to feel better, so I stop taking it. Bipolar meds are about the only things I took semi-regularly…and even then I’d get about 6 weeks in, start feeling better, and start “forgetting” to take them. No wonder I’m on a roller coaster all the time. Since being home though, I’ve been forced to take them by a husband who knows me and watches me like a hawk to make sure I take my Celexa. I need to be on something better but Wal-mart sells the generic for $4, and my other medications I had to pay full price for, or order a 6 month supply at a time through my insurance…and who can afford 6 $30 copays at the same time?
ANYWAY. I’m sitting here with all this pain medication from after my liver surgeries and the resulting nerve damage pain…the bottles are over half full and over 2 years old. I take a pain pill every few days, maybe twice a week when its really bad. When I go to the doctor to complain this abdominal pain is infringing on every aspect of my life (my husband won’t touch me for weeks at a time because after we’re “intimate” I lie curled in the fetal position trying my best not to sob from the severe abdominal spasms and pain, just as an example)…hell PEEING hurts my abdomen!! their answer is “lets try a different pain medication.” Um, docs…I have bottles of the stuff under lock and key because I have two teens (well, one is 12, but close enough) in my house and while they’re good kids, I don’t want to tempt fate. You really think I should try something ELSE? “Well, what do you have?” Let’s see…I had vicodin but it didn’t help with the pain, just made me high, so I flushed it…percoset, darvocet, dilaudid, straight morphine, tylox, talacen, zanaflex, tylenol 3 with codeine, and three or four more I can’t remember right off hand. They stare at me. Then they accuse me of drug seeking. NEVER have I asked for more, I want to be FIXED not given a pill.
Rambling rambling redneck, that’s me. Anyway, what I’m getting at, is that I’m so conscious of any pain meds I take, I count every pill every day (Yes, I’m fully aware I have OCD too lol) to make sure that neither I nor anyone else in my home is taking too much of them…but it never occurred to me to think of the mind altering drugs I take daily. DUHHHH. Come to think of it, when I got so sick in Vegas and then when I came home and had to quit work, was a few days after going off my lexapro, risperdal, and depakote because I couldn’t afford the insurance 6 months at a time copays anymore. I went cold turkey when my supply ran out. But…I’ve been off for months now, and I’m still sick…although not quite as bad…but maybe the damage was permanent. Who knows.
Great post though…you’ve given me something to google and think about today…sorry to ramble!!!
Kandy…you are welcome to ramble anytime you want to.
I think what’s really pissing me off is that a lot of people know that pain meds are addicting. You see documentaries on them all the time. And, you see people getting arrested for selling them. But, the truth about addiction to psych drugs (or most any other drug) is not made public. And, then you find out the hard way…..when you try to quit them.
I think a lot of docs don’t even know this because they don’t take the time to research them. On the other hand, I think some doctors don’t give a shit. “Treat ‘em and street ‘em” and hope they don’t come back. That’s their way of thinking. I’m sick and damn tired of being treated this way. When I go back to my pdoc, I’m gonna let him have it with both barrels. Seriously, I am! I’m locked and loaded. I WANT him ( and my sweet,naive, very young PA) to know the hell we go throw when we attempt to get clean of drugs.
Ya know…..the last thing that I thought of myself as ever being was a DRUG ADDICT. BUT, I AM!
Thanks a hellova lot mental health “professionals”. Hope you are enjoying your effing golf club membership that we’ve paid for with our sanity. Hope you are enjoying your free dinners that you have received from drug reps (pushers).
Actually, hope you rot in hell.
because i’m in the need of super anti snap coming off of xanax XR!!! I say WTF about google’s lights off screen too! stupid and DUMB.
Now about Cymbalta: those little tiny pellets are all different sizes and no way to measure a tapering!
Just like my xanax XR. can’t cut that thing, you don’t know where the med is and where the sugar/oil/eggs are in the base.
ive gone to generic individual doses and time will tell if i end up singing like amy winehouse about rehab!
Have you all seen my poem about Seroquel hell? I wrote astrazeneca a new one when I saw on the google search “seroquel poems” by AstraZeneca themself! LOL
So here’s one for this topic:
I’m just a junkie
my doctor told me not to worry
my blood pressure went up
just take more xanax
life will roll off your back
im just a junkie
a prescription junk drawer junkie
when the pills wear off
im a kitchen drawer junkie
any in my purse?
hey doc, what’s your advice?
go to rehab.
no, no, no.
PS anonyomous mom at tenuous at best has input about effexor!
Love the poem, Steph. I’ll be singing it all evening.
Especially, “the kitchen drawer.” It’s true, though. All of it….your poem. Once, I was trying to kick sumptin’ (there’s been so many that I forget) and remember dropping the last pill that I had on the kitchen floor. I vividly remember being down on my hands and knees rooting under the frig, pushing aside dustballs, and fighting back tears in search of it.
AstraZeneca, Lilly, and all the rest create junkies.
Do my posts show up on your blog? Sometimes, I’m not sure if they do. I do read it and comment. As a matter of fact, I think I’ll go there rn.
I don’t see a comment, I don’t know what the deal is with blogger, and the comment box? All I can think of is sign in as anonymous? im a clueless wonder w that.
btw google “seroquel poems” LOL it’s right at the top
btw love your other blog! too damn funny
Ooh…didn’t know that you read it! Thanks
If I sign in as anonymous, than the other “anonymous” who post stupid shit at your blog might get paranoid of totally confused. She/he will probably think that he/she is multi-personality and posting under another of their identities. Wouldn’t that be funny as hell!
can I try too, (((UM)))?
I’m in a terrible bind, ya’ll
I’m in a terrible place
I’ve taken way too much SEROQUEL
and it shows here on my face…
so I’m taking COGENTIN twice a day
to stop these terrible tics
but COGENTIN;s given SE’s:
a cotton-mouth for this hick
so I take EXOVAC
to help to counteract
the SE’s from SEROQUEL
little did i know when I started
ALL PILLS HAVE THEIR HELL….
So TOPAMAX made me stupid,
and ADDERALL helps me out
but ADDERALL takes my appetite away
but I just wanna shout…..!
“I’m a stinkin’ anorexic!
I’m NEVER hungry you dope!”
But if I ever took SEROQUEL again….
*that WON”T ever happen… NOPE!*
I take ABILIFY for depression….
the SE’s are long and written….
but it’s SO good for making me happy
that I’ve decided to be very smitten…
so I ignore the memoriy loss…
forgot it is what i did,
and all the aches, pains, and dizziness,
from all of it I hid…
cause ABILIFY, if helps me,
and DOPAMAX does too…
and ADDERALL, COGENTIN, yadayada
is what works for me…. so who………
will I turn to when I fall apart
WHO will I blame for it THIS time?
matter of fact
just me, (but I’m cracked)
but it’s working,
so I’ll just play the part…..
*wink* *wink*
UM that’s too funny! just sign your name, plus i’ll know it’s you cause you don’t ask me why i damaged my child’s brain on purpose like that person did!
“You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes. “
UM– my ‘house keeping post’ -the anon commenter wrote quite a rant –calling all bipolar chicks to give em hell if ya want!
Bagel…..I’ll do that when the red queen loses her head.
Steph…I’m on it.
ah good job letting him have it, yay your comment went through! no one messes w bp chicks!
Steph….I’m ashamed to admit it, but I think that I was just signing in wrong. duh……..
All the BP chicks need to go to Steph’s blog and blast that anonymous a-hole who seems to believe that we make up our dx’s and don’t know what we’re talking about.
Has “Don” been back anymore? What an a-hole. An ignorant a-hole at that.
I’ve been on Cymbalta for over two years. I never knew how great it was to feel normal; to feel happy. I can focus mentally. I act less impulsive. I don’t nag or bitch at my family (I’m a single mom) near as much. I also exercise and eat a healthy diet. I was taking 60 mg daily, but decided that was too much because I was feeling sleepy. So I backed off to 40mg and that feels okay, but still with some sexual side effects which I hate. So I went a week at 20mg and then two days off. I had NO physical side effect whatsoever. But I certainly had all the negativity and bitchiness come back. Now I’m back on 20 one day and 30 the next. Sometimes 20 two days straight. It’s been enough to function well as a working mom without feeling like the whole world’s against me. I recommend Cymbalta, but I’m also interested to know more about the physical side effects of stopping it. Naturally one should taper off as gradually as possible and supplement with as many natural mood boosters and healthy energy drinks as possible. The bloggers above say they felt like dying. Can you be more specific? It would help. Thanks and I hope you feel better.
Beverly, first of all,
Hi!
Second…wow, someone that an AD works for. I’m not being sarcastic, I just really don’t hear from a lot of people who get great results.
(that or they just get real manic on them around these parts…these parts being BP-land)
The most recent post here…UM is coming off a few meds; but I’m not sure what. Have to ask her when she gets off the couch.
I DO know, coming off anti-seizure meds that are sometimes used for depression; but more often used for bipolar in the disguise as a “mood stabilizer” is downright dangerous to do cold turkey. (benzos such as xanax too if you use them a lot, I guess) I’m not a big expert, just flyin by the seat of my pants here.
For some reason, most psych meds make ya’ feel like crap when coming off of them for some reason, tapering or not. From brain zaps and numbness to who knows what…depending on what meds you’re coming off of.
**hoping someone with more personal experience chimes in soon**
In the meantime…check out our blogroll or perhaps this site would be useful as well.
Once again, glad to see you, and come on back for a visit, a laugh or whatever.
(sorry I’m not more of a help)
I’m just up late