Posted by gracey on September 26, 2001, at 11:59:08
In reply to Re: overmedicated, posted by fluffykitty on September 25, 2001, at 12:31:12
> First let me say that Im really sorry to hear about the awful experience that you have had. I have heard similer stories so you are not alone. I think the problem is two or 3 fold. One is that doctors are not wizards and often do not really know what the problem is or how to "cure" which is why medicine is often referred to as an art more than a science. Some doctors are better artists than others. Second the drug companies are out to make money pure and simple and they push the drugs on the doctors to prescibe them. Some doctors give in and do it and others dont and just wait to see what the track record a drug makes before trying it. The thing is though if there was not money to be made there would be little incentive for the companies to make the drugs in the first place and for many people who are living better lives through chemistry, this would be really awful as well if they did not have that help.
>
> The solution of course is for people to take the time to educate themselves about medicine and drugs to the best of thier ability as a layman to use that information for the benefit of themselves and thier children. To get as many opinions as possible before deciding what course of action to take and then trying various methods to see what works and what doesnt. Also important in this whole thing is to try and find the root of the problem, not just treat the symptoms. But of course we tend to trust doctors and professionals to know what to do and do the right thing but unfortunately this does not always happen.
>
> I have a friend who is a really cool guy who as a child was diagnosed with ADD or whatever in high school and was put on meds to avoid being kicked out of school. He was turned into a good little doobie by the drugs. When he got to college and was in control of his own life, he decided he didnt want to be on the meds, that his parents and society were not going to tell him how he was supposed to be as a person or live his life. He found after stopping the meds that he could not focus on college classes and had to drop out. The thing is though he didnt really care because he didnt really want to be in college. He had other things that he wanted to do with his life and went on to do them. He is a much happier and more interesting person as a result.
>
> >proportions. Pharmacutical companies seem to
> >have a pill to squelch every human emotion,with
> >the implication that what we feel is somehow not
> >normal, and must be "cured" with medication. In
>
> This could be seen as some sort of evil conspiracy or simply as I stated above.
> Also remember that some of these human emotions being squelched are the desire to kill one's self or worse and in that case its not such a bad thing. The human body is like a machine. When all its self regulating systems are in working order, then you dont tend to pay any attention. However when the system gets out of whack, doesnt work right in some specific way, then there is more harm done by not trying to fix it then letting it fail or get worse and worse until it breaks down.
> In the case of this and human emotions, its the process of rebalancing them so that a person can function and FEEL their more pleasing emotions and living and dealing with the not so pleasant ones. In the case where drugs do squelch and "zombify" a person, I think then the person knows the drug isnt helping and would try something else. All of our emotions are useful and tell us something, allow for intuition and a weather report so to speak so to stamp them out completely would be like cutting off your tongue to spite your face. Who wants that? On other hand who can live in a hurricane all the time when just a little rain and sun will do?! :)
>
> And as for the machine analogy, while its easy to fix a car, the complexity of the human body is a far different matter. Doctors these days in 100 years will be regarded as no more than witch doctors working with stone knives and bearskins.
>
> As a child I had really bad temper problem so my parents took me to a doctor who put me on Stelazine then some other drug called Trilifon. I didnt take it for more than a year. It helped but I went to live somewhere else so once I was taken out of the environment that was causing all this I didnt need it anymore because my temper problems went away.
> Good luck!
>
> fkThanks for your reply, fk....I do realize that we cannot do away with all meds. Also, I understand the situations where meds are appropriately needed for intervention, in the case of someone who is suicidal or a danger to others, ect..Those who truly need the meds should have access, but I also believe that there should be stricer monitoring, required therapy or behaviour modification options, and complete information provided to the patient/consumer.
My daughter was on several different drugs which I found out later were NOT recommended for children. No one told me this, not even the pharmacist, and you know the first thing they ask you for is a birth date when filling a prescription.
My daughter was in such bad shape when all of this happened that many people were trying to persuade me to put her in a residential treatment facility. She was very violent and suffered countless psychotic episodes each day, which required me to hold her down until these episodes would pass, sometimes 40 min. or longer. At 7yrs old, this was not easy, as she weighed close to 100 lbs due to the weight gain from the drugs. It was a nightmare....she could have had the starring role in the Exorcist, no exaggeration.
We monitored her every move when she was released from the psych ward, and finally put 2&2 together on our own. She had started to have medical problems approx. 1 year into a particular drug, which we had questioned at the time, but our concerns were fluffed off. For 3 more years, we dealt with this medical issue seperately, while she remained on that drug and others were added, to treat the ever increasing behaviour issues.
To make a long story short, we realized that her behaviour problems and her medical problems would flare at the same time. Of course we knew this long before, but we finally quit listening to the docs who said that a connection between the two was not possible. We knew it was possible because we witnessed it.
A year into that particular drug, my daughter's bowels began to dysfunction. This was not a condition that existed before that time, and she has had numerous tests and exploratory surgery to rule a cause, and have found nothing, no sign of disease or abnormality. A year into that med was also when her behaviour went out of control. Whatever has occurred here has caused her digestive system to be so screwed up that she cannot move her bowels normally, and her waste material is toxic to her. The slightest indication of "non-movement" can put her into a psychotic episode and send her back to the psych ward. It is a DAILY battle, even after one year off of the drugs. I am taking her back to the Ped.GI on Friday, the first time he has seen her since her breakdown. I am expecting him to help me finally piece all of this together, and determine whether the damage is permanent.
poster:gracey
thread:79542
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010917/msgs/79637.html