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One Pill
With growing alarm and dread, I've noticed an increase in commercials pimping pharmaceuticals. Is it any wonder the #2 highest cause of death in Seattle is by overdose of prescription drugs? Go on any message board on the Internet, and read all about people strung out, on the rebound, suffering withdrawals, just plain addicted to OTCs and prescriptions like Nyquil, Tylenol-PM, Ambien-CR, Singulair. Don't forget the hidden dangers of wonder drugs used to treat almost everything like Prednisone (this stuff is heinous).
I'm old enough to remember the '70s. I don't remember any commercials pimping anything stronger than Excedrin or Bayer aspirin for kids. If that.
I didn't know anybody who took anything stronger than aspirin for headaches or Pepto-Bismol for tummy aches. I only saw one person die of cancer, but we all thought those were anomalies, like a meteor through the sky.
Nowadays, take a look around. It's scary how many people rely on a rotation or slew of drugs to get by or survive. And how the media and the pharmaceutical companies are making sure they're on the gravy train with most Western-medicine doctors to address those needs with the quickest BAND-AID.
Besides now knowing what a particular symptom is, whether we know the cause or not, we have a pill to take care of it. Oh, it won't go away. We're not that advanced. It's a temporary, quick-fix, a salve over a bleeding sore.
Restless Leg Syndrome? There's a pill for that.
Allergies, asthma? There are several different pill options for that.
Depression, anxiety, insomnia? Try these pills.
Wake up farting and swallowing your saliva too much? You may need this new pill.
But watch out. Side effects could be worse than the treatment. They may even bring back the very symptom you are taking the pill to alleviate.
I am constantly astounded and horrified and frustrated and almost depressed and anxious myself to watch these TV commercials heralding the latest miracle drug, and then rattling off the many side effects you could experience.
The one that really sends me over the edge are the commercials for nasal allergies. You're already hooked by, say, that little French-accent-talking bee, ready to call up your doctor to go from Flonase to Nasonex when... this bee turns into the satan of all bees to tell you, smoothly, that you could suffer from some minor side effects of use, like, viral infection, cough, shortness of breath, a third breast on your left buttcheek that squirts out stinking motor oil... Guess what, you bee-moron, viral infections coupled with allergies can bring on lasting sinus infections and drag out a simple cold into a life-threatening bronchitis, pneumonia, the wheezing shortness of breath. So you just went from a runny nose and sneezing to chronic sinus infections, adult-onset asthma, anxiety attacks every time you're around someone with cold symptoms and hands on the remote the second the wheezing comes back around and you know you won't be sleeping a wink for TWO MONTHS STRAIGHT without Prednisone intervention--and more drugs.
The ones for asthma relief are scarier. There's a new-fangled one out now with a shadow of a woman striding around in an outdoor park near a cityscape, raving about feeling such relief she never felt in years, she can breathe again! Then her voice gets dark and you'd never believe some of the bad symptoms that could result from using this drug. You could die.
How's that for a permanent cure?
I must admit, it's tempting as all get-out for me to jump from one pill to another -- anything to prevent an allergic/asthmatic outbreak that results in wheezing and insomnia. But the recent "trip" I've taken since August I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy and has me longing for my youth when the strongest thing I took were four Flintstone's vitamins in a row because they tasted like candy.
For the record, I'm off Singulair, still on Enablex (still peeing every hour though), might go off Melatonin because of some weird thing I read about adrenal atrophy, on the FloVent steroid. Went off 10 days of Prednisone two weeks ago, took my last generic Ambien April 5th (did nothing for my post-Prednisone insomnia and anxiety), am on an anti-fungal for a little thrush on my tongue because I was on antibiotics for four weeks, after two I developed hives and that's why I had to go on Prednisone for 10 days in addition to taking care of my allergies, Prednisone for seven days with tapering the first week of March because of wheezing from mucous in my chest....
Is there a pill on the market to turn back time to the 1970s?
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Apr 19, 2008 4:15 PM
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Coggie, I've always wondered about those commercials. I don't know how many times I've said that the side affects are worse than your original problem. And what about the commercials that are pushing their drugs and you don't even know what they are for. Ask your doctor about .... whatever the prescription drug of the day is.
I remember one time when I was having problems with allergies or the remains of a cold. The doctor wanted to prescribe me Flonase for the problem. I told him to forget it, I can't sniff anything up my nose. I'd rather wait it out than take that stuff. If I go swimming and go under water and forget to breathe out of my nose before I breathe in I choke. So if I can't sniff water I don't need to be sniffing Flonase.
I hope you're feeling better.
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Apr 19, 2008 8:56 PM
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Hi Coggie. I'm totally with you on this. Until recently, prescription drug companies weren't allowed to broadcast advertisements on television and radio (just the way cigarette companies aren't allowed to advertise on television today), which is why you rarely saw even a Bayer commercial back then. That changed (I think in the '90s) and so you'll see entire programs hosted by prescription drugs (try watching the national news broadcast sometime and see if there is a single ad that isn't for a prescription drug or car company).
I'm not a fan of prescription drugs being advertised on television. For one, it affects the type of care doctors are able to give their patients, because patients come in asking for specific prescription drugs for an ailment and it might not even be the right medication for that ailment. It's much harder for a doctor to prescribe something like "watchful waiting" because too many patients demand a magic pill to solve their problems. (Which is why too many people take antibiotics--which only deal with bacterial infections--for viral infections like the flu, thus creating supergerms. Like we need that??!)
I realize that prescription drug companies need to make money somehow, and that money goes back into R&D for new, improved medications and clinical trials. And back in the '70s, all that advertising went straight to the doctor's office, rather than the consumer. But would we still have this much prescription drug advertising on television if we had universal health care?
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Apr 21, 2008 8:32 AM
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Our pastor said in his sermon this past Sunday that he noticed an awful lot of pill pushing in commercials aired in the news hour. He said it was obvious they were targeting a specific age demographic, and comical that he was taking notes, since he fit that demo now, hitting 50.
I'm still struggling with health issues. I should be fine by now. Off the Prednisone, antibiotics and Ambien since April 3/4, got back my sleeping within three days of going off Ambien, but then last Wednesday up till especially the last two nights noticed the return of a weird involuntary swallowing reflex with dry mouth whenever I tried to fall back asleep after waking only to pee. I'd noticed the dry mouth swallowing reflex when I failed to go to sleep after I got off Ambien the two, three days after, but then I thought it went away.
What's scary is, I can't control this swallowing, it just happens every time I feel myself about to fall asleep again. And I'm so scared my doctor won't have a clue as to what this is. I can't find any mention of this specific thing anywhere online. I should be feeling better, but I'm not. sigh.
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Apr 21, 2008 11:41 PM
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