Ask a Verbpharmacist

[Rumpelwilskin]

Since many of us 'Whores are on med's, or at least have been in the past, this site might be of interest...

http://www.askapatient.com/

I really wish I had knowledge of this site before being prescribed a cocktail of various drugs years ago. Many of which have been pulled from the market now. May have forced me to think twice about taking them, of course I'm a "in hindsight" type of thinker most of the time. The vast array of side effects people seem to get from some of this stuff is startling. Everything from brain damage to excessive weight gain. Of course, detailing the side effects of a particular drug is about the most subjective topic you can write about.

I come to find out Risperdal, which I took for months, is most commonly prescribed to schizophrenia. And I was put on this to treat mild anxiety! http://www.askapatient.com/viewratings.asp?drug=20272&name=risperdal&sort=Timelength
I'm currently taking Klonopin, an anti-anxiety agent, stronger than both Valium and Xanax. I've lost many a weekend when I decided to go out drinking on top of the benzos. Complete blackout.

For any Orbital fans out there, here's a bit of interesting triv...

Wikipedia wrote

Halcyon was dedicated to the Hartnolls' mother, who was addicted to the tranquiliser Halcion (Triazolam) for many years..

[Godzilla Bankrolls]

I think it's much more important to find a GP that will take their time with you, to be honest. A good one will take into consideration things like potential side-effects.

[rudi]

For any Orbital fans out there, here's a bit of interesting triv...

If you're an Oribital fan you'd know that already, surely?

*sniffs haughtily*

[Cack Hen]

Hmm, I'm about to start a drug that's left me a bit confused. The reception online (including that website) seems to suggest a sort of 35/40% chance of developing a serious reaction to it. But my doctor didn't mention any of that, he did mention that I might develop bruising, which is actually something I've read very few accounts of. And he did have to get a book to tell me about it. I'm not sure I trust that he gave me the right information, but I realise trusting the Internet is probably more wrong.

[rudi]

It is.

People are far more likely to post if they've experienced (or heard about) a bad reaction.

I've found (the hard way) that it's worth trying then, should it not work/cause a reaction, just STOP and find something else - there are nearly always alternatives, but I've ALSO found that the side-effects are often not as bad as the reason for being on the meds in the first place.

Good luck.
x

[aaaaaaaaaargh!]

That's a fairly interesting site, but the ratings seem to be polarised (drugs appear to be the best or worst things evarr).  The comments are interesting, the accutane ones ring true to a certain extent.  As for me, I've just come off a course of drugs to level my stomach out and reduce the amount it bleeds, and then gone on to a course of antibiotics that make me want to throw up all of the time.  Nice

[chocky909]

Is the UK approaching the level of 'legal' drug use that Middle America seems to be 'enjoying'? I started to notice that many bored US teenagers were having a lot of fun with their parents' medicine cabinets which can be kept full of loads of fantastic chemicals all in the name of depression and stress. The USA being a private healthcare nation, it would seem if you've got good healthcare and a 'loose' GP, you can gain all manner of barbiturates entirely legally and they can be improved immensely by combining them in particular ways.

This is not fact, but something I suspect from stuff what I have read. I have only been to the GP twice in the last ten years so this kind of thing is foreign to me.

Of course I'm not saying that people don't use these medicines for real conditions either.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Paracetomol
Ibuprofen
Immodium
Beechams
Sore throat lozenges

If you have those five in constant supply..you should live forever. Or at least never be ill ever, which if you think about it really hard is the same thing.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Woo hoo! Apparently Depakote causes weight gain, so I'm technically not a fat bastard anymore, but officially someone who has a valid medical reason for being overweight!

Edit: Two of the side effects of the other Anti-depressant (Citalopram) I take are "help with delaying ejaculation and increased arousal " and also "stoned feeling" - Bah, I've had neither of those...

Edit again: I've just read what happened to this guy when he was on Citalopram: "After just 4 days of Celexa (20 mg/day) I noticed my sexual response chnaging. At first I was only able to achieve orgasm by extremely vigorous masturbation - everything else was just too tame. My actual orgasms took as long as 15+ minutes and only if I was careful to maintain mental concentration on the pleasure I was feeling, otherwise the orgasm would stop within seconds and I'd have to start over. Not only was I stroking fast and furiously, my heart was pounding away at racing at 150-170 beats per minute. (I have low blood pressure, and am fit, so am able to sustain this.) When it finally arrived, my orgams were very intense. I was OK with this, but after a week, I was unable to achieve orgasm period. I was trying for up to 2 hours several times a day. All of this was in vain. My groin became extremely uncomfortable (feels like my prostate is going to explode.) The worst case of 'blue balls' ever! This is having a devastating effect on my well-being. I telephoned my doctor."

[Oscar]

And? Could the doctor pull him off?

[Small Man Big Horse]

Alas the story ends there so I don't think we'll ever know...

[chocky909]

"After just 4 days of Celexa (20 mg/day) I noticed my sexual response chnaging. At first I was only able to achieve orgasm by extremely vigorous masturbation - everything else was just too tame. My actual orgasms took as long as 15+ minutes and only if I was careful to maintain mental concentration on the pleasure I was feeling, otherwise the orgasm would stop within seconds and I'd have to start over. Not only was I stroking fast and furiously, my heart was pounding away at racing at 150-170 beats per minute. (I have low blood pressure, and am fit, so am able to sustain this.) When it finally arrived, my orgams were very intense. I was OK with this, but after a week, I was unable to achieve orgasm period. I was trying for up to 2 hours several times a day. All of this was in vain. My groin became extremely uncomfortable (feels like my prostate is going to explode.) The worst case of 'blue balls' ever! This is having a devastating effect on my well-being. I telephoned my doctor."

The imagery! Can you direct link to more of this guy's descriptions please?

[SweetRosalyn]

Should I be worried by the fact that they don't appear to have the drug I'm frequently on up there?

This database contains all prescription drugs currently approved by the FDA

[Milo]

Where do you live?

[aaaaaaaaaargh!]

Is the UK approaching the level of 'legal' drug use that Middle America seems to be 'enjoying'? I started to notice that many bored US teenagers were having a lot of fun with their parents' medicine cabinets which can be kept full of loads of fantastic chemicals all in the name of depression and stress. The USA being a private healthcare nation, it would seem if you've got good healthcare and a 'loose' GP, you can gain all manner of barbiturates entirely legally and they can be improved immensely by combining them in particular ways.

This is not fact, but something I suspect from stuff what I have read. I have only been to the GP twice in the last ten years so this kind of thing is foreign to me.

Of course I'm not saying that people don't use these medicines for real conditions either.

I can only really speak for myself, but I was surprised when my doctor started chucking pills at me when I said I was a bit down.  I don't think that any bored teenagers would like to take them unless feeling completely listless is their particular bag.  Lucky bastard only going to the doctor twice in ten years!
I've been to the doctor four times in the last year and come away with tons of pills to take.

Shoulders, I like your list, but unfortunately due to the stomach bleeding I can't take ibuprofen anymore.  Do you take these things on a daily basis.  I always found co-codamol and lansaloprole (sp?) to be the best hangover cure in the world, much better than using Berocca.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Do you take these things on a daily basis.

No, only when I'm ill, you nutter!

It's horrible having to trudge your poorly arse to the pharmacist because you're ill-equipped to see off the most rudimentary human ailments.

[aaaaaaaaaargh!]

Oh right, I thought you might've had an pill popping regime similar to the morning routine in American Psycho.  I hate taking pills.

[Ronnie the Raincoat]

A good site for mental health drugs is http://www.crazymeds.org.  No nonsense, no bullshit and balanced appraisals of drugs for the mentally interesting.  It's also good to read it when you're going through that, "I don't want to take my medication!" angst you invariably go through after a diagnonsense of mental illness.

I'd be happy to help if anyone has questions about these drugs:

Olanzapine
Carbamazepine
Haloperidol
Lorezapam
Thorazine

which are medications I've taken in the past for psychosis (most commonly associated with schizophrenia but also a prominent feature in severe psychotic depression and severe psychotic mania, which I get often) and mania.  I'd taken three of those by force (the latter) and the first two were the first medications I ever took, when I was 15 and 18.

and my present ones:

Lithium (an antimanic, for mania)
Depakote (another antimanic, for manic depression of the rapid-cycling variety)
Paroxetine (better known as Seroxat) (an antidepressant)
Quetiapine (better known as Seroquel) (an antipsychotic)

It's generally not a good idea to base drug choices on internet correspondance but when I started taking my medications I did find it useful to talk to people about side effects that doctors sometimes don't go into too much detail about.  Like my hair falling out on Depakote and throwing up constantly on Lithium.

Depakote does indeed cause weight gain.  As does Lithium and most crazy drugs to be honest.

I don't know much about antidepressants so I do find Crazy Meds to be useful.  For example, when I was prescribed Seroxat, my doctor said it was a mild antidepressant.  Then I read up about it and found out it was also the most addictive antidepressant. 

Also, drugs for disorders aren't always the same.  I'm in a lot of manic depressive communities and I don't know anyone who takes exactly the same medication mix as me- it varies from person to person.  For example, I can't tolerate Olanzapine but I know people who have severe reactions to Depakote.

Anyway, yes, happy to help if anyone needs it.

Edit: Oh, I think antidepressants are insanely overprescribed.  In my opinion, the first course of treatment for depression should *always* be therapy.  But the waiting lists are so long that they chuck pills at people, which I think is dangerous and wrong.  I only think antidepressants should be prescribed to severely depressed people and people with severe anxiety or panic disorder.

Edit edit: Sounds like I'm boasting or something, I'm not, I'm trying clumsily to be helpful.

[Godzilla Bankrolls]

The problem with anecdotal sites like that is that they aren't controlled; each person has a subjective reaction for any number of reasons. They could be drinking on things they shouldn't be, taking supplements, not sleeping enough, sleeping too much, exercising too much or not at all, etc etc. And of course, there's the problem with cause/effect - it seems reasonable, for instance, that if you find it hard to achieve orgasm after you start taking anti-depressants, that they must have caused it. But what if your drive was dipping anyway, and coincidentally reached this conclusion after you started to popping? Maybe you had an off-session, attributed it to the drugs and this affected your future sexual performance psychologically? The flipside is that some people *will* have unpredictable reactions to certain drugs that can't be predicted, such is the width and breadth of human diversity.

Sometimes it *is* worth checking your prescription out on the internet - doctors are humans and can make mistakes. But they've also had years of training, and prescribe treatment that has been tested many times under appropriate conditions, peer-reviewed and ultimately regulated with the public/patient's health in mind. So I'm more inclined to trust the professionals, rather than indulge in misguided 'patient self-empowerment'.

[Ronnie the Raincoat]

Well, quite.  I think, though, if you're having a certain side effect it can be useful to talk to other people.  Because some side effects are temporary, and, if you don't know that, it's very tempting to go off your medication.  I couldn't take the Lithium sickness in the first few months of it, I was retching nightly over the toilet,  but I found out it was temporary from lots of people who had the same thing, which made it easier to stick to.

[Godzilla Bankrolls]

Oh of course, what you did there was perfectly reasonable. There's no harm in listening to other people's experiences, as long as you don't take them as gospel above proven medical knowledge.

It *is* a good idea to seek support though, I'm glad the internet can bridge gaps between people and help them through times with things you might find it hard to discuss with your family or even your best friend. I just wanted to say in general that people shouldn't dismiss the advice of qualified medical practitioners in favour of 'taking charge of your own body'.

[Aubrey Barkus]

Afternoon, nutters!

A question: a youth just came up to me in the street and sold me some pills which he had "knocked off" (as I think they said in the Sweeney) from a chemist. They're Benperidol, Niclosamide, Allopurinol and Salmeterol.  Trouble is I just tipped them into a cereal bowl and have no idea which is  which is which now!  Can't do too much damage if I just neck a selection, surely?  I bet you've all done it yourselves in your time, you bunch of loons!

[Rumpelwilskin]

This site might help.

http://www.drugs.com/imprints.php

[Ronnie the Raincoat]

I wish we could edit posts.  This forum is full of complete cunts.

[Oscar]

Eh? S'up?

[Ronnie the Raincoat]

I'm just being a sulky cow today.  I get pissed off that in any thread I ever mention medications or illness, when it is usually completely relevant, someone adds a fucking "self obsessed" fucking tag or comment.  It's something I know about and can speak with some authority about and it is usually in a "trying to be helpful" way.  No-one would say a fucking thing if it was a physical illness.

But, as I said, I am being a mardy cow today so it's best to ignore me!

*logs off*

[Neil]

I'm just being a sulky cow today.  I get pissed off that in any thread I ever mention medications or illness, when it is usually completely relevant, someone adds a fucking "self obsessed" fucking tag or comment.  It's something I know about and can speak with some authority about and it is usually in a "trying to be helpful" way. 

The problem, though, is that some of us come here for light relief, and people talking about their "meds" is really quite depressing.  I'm all for hearing interesting and engaging stories about people's lives, but people listing their "meds" and posting pics of themselves always strikes me as being particularly uninteresting.

No-one would say a fucking thing if it was a physical illness.

Not so sure about that. 

Anyway, just thought I'd chip in as GB is a waste-land today, and I'd love to read some amusing and/or interesting 4-page threads with some substance to them, rather than people adding wacky one-line derailing bollocks.

[Deadman97]

But, as I said, I am being a mardy cow today so it's best to ignore me!

Ooh, that'll be the depression, best get some more meds down you.

[Aubrey Barkus]

This site might help.

Ah!  Thanks for that, though I didn't notice it in time.  Necked the lot in the end.  Not much to report- the left eye's only working in B&W but that's not so much of an inconvenience.  Oh!  And earlier I thought I'd developed the ability to talk Zulu or somesuch!  Turned out the new paper boy (black as your hat) merely has a strong regional accent.  Scouse, I think.  I was getting maybe one word in four but at the time it seemed pretty good for a language I'd never studied.