The Pandemic of Prescription Drugs

S+F. This is what needs to be known.
Taking medication to help ignore your body when it's trying to tell you something is beyond me. I can see the need for antibiotics, antiviral medication and probiotics but anything that's addicting I try to stay clear of. But that's just me. Reason why I do this is because I was aware at an early age that the majority of people out there are on prescription drugs. Most people don't even need to be on them. It's crazy.

reply to post by CAELENIUM


My wife suffers with Fibromyalgia, and it is apparently triggered by her other auto-immune disorders. She has had Guillan-Barre and Celiac's Disease.

I think I'll get her to try the Vitamin D and Magnesium Therapies. I'll report back if it improves things.

reply to post by CAELENIUM


Yip, yip, yip

With the right Vitamin D. Level you are able to handle a lot of the Pain,
ca. 40% of the People in Vitamin D. Treatments showing a
decreasing Pain-level in a huge Scale!

Before we giving chronicle Pain-Patients toooooo much Pain-Killer
we are well advised to check all this Levels,
because Opiates and Opioid's are well working but there is a Maximum,
after the Patients reach the Ceiling Dosage they will lose and need to face the Pain!

Vitamin D. is a Spot On!

Research on the association of vitamin D status with pain conditions continues to accumulate. In this latest study, a multinational European group of researchers found in a large sample of men that having musculoskeletal pain, particularly chronic widespread pain, was significantly influenced by low levels of vitamin D.

As part of the extensive European Male Ageing Study (EMAS), men 40 to 79 years of age completed a mailed pain assessment questionnaire and attended a clinical assessment that included measurement of vitamin D status signified by 25-hydroxyvitamin D3, or 25(OH)D, levels [McBeth et al. 2010]. Subjects were classified according to 25(OH)D levels as “normal” (≥15 ng/ml) or “low” (

I literally couldn't get out of bed or breath without my 400mg a day of Plaquinel.
Even with it .. I always feel like I've got the flu with a temp of 100. This will NEVER end.
(unless there is a miracle, and those are few and far between)

That being said .. while I was being diagnosed almost two years ago, the moronic doctors kept misdiagnosing me and giving me bad drugs that I'd have bad reactions to .. and giving me drugs that clearly stated I shouldn't be taking with other drugs but they kept saying 'it won't hurt you .. it's a small dose'. (I never took half of what they gave me .. thank god). I've come to to the conclusion that most doctors are arrogant quacks. ALWAYS do your own research with diseases, illness' and drugs.

reply to post by FlyersFan


Sorry for your pain FF.

I think Ayana touched upon a key are for improvement. Doctors spend their entire education getting acquainted with anatomy and physiology and disease symptoms, mechanics and chemistry within the body, known communicable disesases and genetic disorders, etc., etc. BUT, Pharmacists spend 5 or 6 years learning specifically Chemistry and Pharmaceuticals, and they are experts in those fields! They are far more knowledgeable than doctors in the area of medications.

SO, we need the doctors to run tests, do exams, diagnose, offer nutritional and therapy advice, and then send us to a pharmacist with a recommendation, and the pharmacist can decide which drug works best for the condition the doctor has diagnosed.

Pharmacists could keep records like a doctor does (they're already doing this to a certain extent). Pharmacists can be wary of drug interactions, tolerances built up over time, body weight and body chemistry that might change the way a drug affects and individual.

Let's let the pharmacists have more say and control within their realm of expertise and take that responsibility away from the doctors, and let the doctors replace it with more overall wellness training. Doctors could spend more time telling patients how to avoid disease and live healthier. More preventive medicine and less symptom masking.

Drug addiction is a major problem in the US and I firmly believe the prescription drug industry is one of leading causes of addiction. Our laws protect the makers of deadly drugs yet demonize certain non toxic plants that have been used for thousands of years as good medicine. It amazes me that doctors who go through extensive school and training to hold that title go on tools of the legal drug trade and push drugs on people. Certainly not all doctors do this, but lately it seems there are more quacks willing to write a prescription to vague symptoms that those willing to actually try to treat the patient.

I've seen first hand how pharmaceutical companies push there products, they have sales rep who often are very attractive females in their 20's go out and push their products for them. I've seen a pharmaceutical company take scores of doctors and their significant other to a fine dinning restaurant, treat them to lobster and steak while pushing their product.

The health care system in the USA is clearly broken but our population is too medicated to know the difference.

Seem's like if you can afford them, they dish drugs out like smarties in the USA. Here be a different story though, the only things they dish out here are anti depressant's and antibiotics. God help you if have a long term crippling condition or find yourself subject to our postcode lottery.

This is very disturbing,and i feel doctors should be much more careful when prescribing these drugs,especialy the combinations-if you are prescribed a scheduled tranquiliser/sedative,for instance,you usualy do not need a sleeping-pill as well.Most tranks have the effect of making you drowsy anyway,and you can fall asleep easily.My body have a high tolerance for tranks/sedatives,they had little effect on me in the days when i still took these meds occasionaly,and even i did,nt need a sleeping pill on top of a trank, to fall asleep with no difficulty..what realy is a concern are some anti-depressants,like Aropax,i was on that one for years-and found i could not stop taking them due to debilitating physical withdrawal manifestations.My brain would get these jolts like some one just lobbed a brick at my head,extreme vertigo,and the worst,i could,nt walk properly cus of a weird sensation that the floor was shifting under my feet.Having small kids to tend to,i thus started taking the meds again,each time i got to this stage..Eventualy i went on Cilift,which mercifully i COULD leave-there were withdrawals,but not half as bad as the Aropax.NEVER again will i use anti-d's,tranks or sleeping pills.I was on anti-depressants for 13 years,and it left me something nice to remember it by-an almost complete inability to retain written information in my memory.I always have to write things down now,or go back to look it up.The part of my brain that regulates that function has been irreparibly damaged,and as ive suffered no head injuries ever,i have to conclude that its cus of all the years i took anti-depressants.

Thank you for this post.I only wish I could have read it a year ago.My husband was killed by inadvertant drug interaction.Many people say "Check with your Dr.".We did .Dr. says "Oh those drugs woulden't cause this new problem you have,here take this."My husband was refered to a hospital when it got so bad he coulden't walk.He asked the Dr. there if it could be a drug interaction.The answer was no.Two weeks after his death, I finally get a chance to look on-line and guess what, the drugs he was prescribed are NEVER supposed to be put together according to the FDA.
If this thread saves only one life I am grateful.I really like the idea of the pharmacist being in charge of medication.
Star and Flag for you along with admiration and graditude for starting this thread.

reply to post by educatedhick


That's horrible, and I'm so sorry to hear about your husband. You should contact the Department of Health in your state and file a complaint about the doctors involved. It doesn't matter if time has passed, it isn't like a lawsuit, although you should probably file one of those also!

It is a very easy thing to get victimized by, and much of the general public thinks it is only addicts or abusers that fall victim to this, but that just isn't true! It can, and does, happen to anyone.

I hope you are moving on and things are looking up for you. My condolences.

reply to post by getreadyalready

The Dr.that did the initial error is in a protected environment, even if he's got complaints and suits he will still go on without so much as a slap on the wrist.The Dr. at the hospital was under stricture from the first Dr. to only get my husband on his feet and control pain.There is no mention in the records of my husband's query.The hospital he died in (yet another one) is connected closer to the first Dr. than the first hospital.My husband was disabled and we were on a fixed income ,lawyers tell me'' Sorry, can't take your case."The things that bother me the most about his final "team" is the last meeting we had and the events shortly after. I was asked what my husband was to his community.I am enough of a conspiracy theorist to wonder if he was "culled'.And the fact that when we(family) got to the hospital the next morning we were told his condition had worsened "last night".
Sorry, getreadyalready, I don't want to rant so.
But I am going to write a book, fictional of course, that I hope will change things

In my County here, they are really cracking down on Pain Management Clinics. I believe it has to do with all of these "spotlight famous people" deaths. Shame it takes a few "famous" people dieing for them to actually start treating patients properly, when in the past many years this has been a growing problem.

I've been on pain management since I had a near fatal accident in 2000, and just recently my pain clinic took me off one medication, as well as cutting back the dosage of the other medication I've been on for 10+ years. The withdrawels were not fun, but I really don't feel like dieing in my 30's, so if it's for my safety so be it.

They aso are making me travel 3 hours to University for a special battery of tests, and now also are doing mandatory EKG's every 6 months. Note: all of these changes have occured only in the past 6 months. Prior to that I was being perscribed drugs that in combination can be fatal if I took too much. They also weren't monotoring my health like they are now.

Yes it all seems very inconvienant and annoying, but at least in my county they are definitely recognizing prescribtion drugs as being VERY dangerous, and the State is instituting strict laws that these "Pain management Clinics" have to follow. They've also shut down alot of places where the Doctors were known to be just writing scripts for $$$ and not caring or trying to treat the patient.

Sadly though persons like myself who do have serious acute, permanent pain issues are now being cut way down or completely turned away because of the poor judgement or straight out abuse of these clinics by other patients. Ones that do not take the medications "as prescribed". They double up, or triple up up thier dosage to try and get a euphoric feeling, then buy street drugs or pills to make it through the month. Or they don't even take the medications because they don't need them to begin with, and they sell them.

But again I was on a combination of medications that if taken too much of "could have" resulted in an overdose and possible death for over 10 years; and never once did I even doze off while sitting down.I do not drink alchohol or take any other drugs. I think the majority of people who die from these drugs are 1) Not taking the medications exactly as prescribed, or 2)Drinking alchohol or taking other drugs that weren't prescibed in combination with thier prescribed medications. 3) Not telling all of thier Doctors about the other Doctors they are seeing and other medications they are on(which btw is illegal, it's called "Dr Shopping").

Not all people die because of those reasons, but the majority of deaths I believe are due to people not properly educating themselves on what they are taking. Sure if all information is disclosed and a Doctor knowingly prescribes a "killer combination" of drugs and someone dies taking the exact dosage they were supposed to then yes, it's the Doctors fault. However I think those cases are in the minority. I'm not trying to blame the dead, it's a terrible thing and I feel bad for anyone who dies prematurly like that. But you have to educate yourself, and you have to fuly disclose all the medications you are taking to every doctor, and take them eactly as prescribed.

Good thread OP. Decent lists of medications people should aware of. But anyone taking prescription medications should really read up and educate themselves about what they are taking. Doctors are not all infallable(sp?) It's like any other proffession, some are better than others. But unlike many other proffessions death could be the result of poor practice.

reply to post by educatedhick

I am so sorry for your loss,my heartfelt sympathy and condolences to you.My life was basicaly sabotaged at a young age by clinical depression,im talking round age 13,it first manifested.I tried to tell my adoptive mother how i felt,and her help was to start giving me Ativan,to which i became addicted,cus although it did of course not address the roots of the problem,it did bring relief to an extent..when i was 16 i thought it was best to ask our GP for help,as i was getting worse,and explained to him in detail how i felt and what i was going through-his answer was to prescribe me tranks+sleeping pills,the start of a decades-long pattern for me-when it gets too unbearable,get to a doctor+get a script..i wonder to this day how such a respected and otherwise excellent doctor,could not have immediately noted that this was depression,and treated it accordingly.I went through decades of hell,where a year or two of anti-depressants combined with therapy,would have turned my life around at an age when it mattered most.I did benefit from anti-depressants (when i was eventualy diagnosed with depression after age 30) for about 2years,but it was a bit late in the day then.Its not always what they do,sometimes its what they dont bother to do..

I posted this in the ATS recap thread... posting here because its where it belongs tho


Regarding Americas unhealthy consumption of pills...


Most people are not aware that the most toxic part of the pill is often the plastic capsule it comes in.

Depending on the brand of capsule, and if your prescription was Generic or Not, you may be consuming a toxic plastic that will never leave your digestive system..or do serious harm over long time use.

The plastic has been known to eat your intestinal lining among other things.. Long term use of medicine period is dangerous. Generic versions of medicine try to cut as much cost as possible, so they use the cheaper plastic.

Too be honest there would be alot less deaths if people just researched what they have when they get it, like they should. I would never take anything unless so an that's been since I was 16 and broke my wrist.

I do agree that some doctors are too careless and just prescribe prescribe prescribe. Also alot of those peoples names you put up had taken too much of there prescription also, which if you don't have the rite tolerance and don't understand how certain drugs work, your gonna overdose or even die. In are day in age we just keep finding out how to make stronger, and stronger drugs and as I warn my family and friends when they come home with certain pills I tell them how dangerous they can be even if you feel fine and too do at least a little research.

But with the expansion in stronger drugs of every kind its vital to research what you have an make sure it doesn't go bad with the other prescriptions you already take. I'm not dignifying the doctors being ignorant but we all need to take some responsibility too because you hear more an more of these kinds of stories every day and people can't go threw life thinkin "it won't happen to me", which is sadly how alot of people think even after those horrible stories.

Some doctors you need to get away from though, some really try and "fix" you with pills, I remember when I got really hurt one time I was already prescribed benzo's and he then gave me methadone to take every day without even telling me about the drug. Thank god I had a past experience with that before so I knew how dangerous just methadone alone is (specially with benzo's) if you have no tolerance to opiates. Iv heard of waaaay to many deaths just from those alone, so i'm just backing up again to RESEARCH WHAT YOU GET I don't want any of my new ATS brothers and sisters dyeing early ! So always remember to tell your family the same thing and sorry for just ranting on an on, i'm very bored and this subject is not new or cool to me thanks to a family of drug addicts..

Just giving this thread a little bump, good read.

My 98 yro Grandpa takes the lowest dose of hydro after 2 broken bones in his left leg, a knee replacement gone old, a knee he is too old to get replaced,broken hip, wrist and shoulder chronic pain, Rheumatoid arthritis, enlarged prostrate, gout, and a whole other host of pain causing ailments.

Thing is he remained clean almost his entire life until just recently, now as I said taking that lowest dose possible and only 2 or at most 3 times a day, he can continue to be mobile with his walker.

Here's the clincher, he has had trouble getting his 5mg pain meds a couple times!

I have told both the pharmacy and DR about it and they sided with Grandpa and me and yet still on occasion I get the attitude from front office nurses and desk jocky's at the pharmacy as if he is doing something illegal or wrong.

They have placed his meds on hold this month once again just in defiance of my request! A 24-48 hour hold could be dangerous if he did take it as prescribed! (It's all fine as he has extra in reserve as he does not take it as directed every 4 hours...)

And Yet... I know so many people through my ex that all used to work but now have begun to have back or neck problems. They fish and party while everyone else works their butts off to stay a float! To me that seems to be the real epidemic and it is not always the people you would suspect or think!

Grandpa and I observe as they do things no person who is truly disabled could do for their own selves but if you ask them for help on something they claim their backs hurt too much, weird. Like they are becoming some odd subculture.

Originally posted by RealSpoke
reply to post by Glassbender777

 

What about people with chronic pain? That have 0 quality of life without opiates?

People who have severe PTSD, have gotten raped so they need a Benzo so they won't have horrible panic attacks and no quality of life?

Just let them suffer because there are junkies in the world?

There are so many sheltered people on this forum that it is mind numbing. IS EVERYONE FROM LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE ON HERE?

edit on 16-2-2012 by RealSpoke because: (no reason given)

Funny how almost every prescribed drug user has " chronic pain " or " can't sleep without my meds " or " the pain in my bottom won't go away without my prescribed meds " Wake up world, that's just how big pharma want prescribed med users to believe.Big pharma purpousely add things to todays meds that not only make any user more addicted, but actualy bring on more " chronic pain " and more depression thus ensuring that people are hooked for life or most of their lives. Wake up world, doctors and big pharma don't want you cured, there's massive bucks in treatment. " nobody " needs prescribed medication, if only we were educated on how natural therapies and a diet of plenty of fresh vegies can cure any ill, it would be a totaly different world, but big pharma and doctors don't want this with big pharma now controling mainstream media in company with the rockefellas, bilderberg etc. If u want a real eye opener, key in " codex conspiracy " and spend 20 mins of your hectic and media/elite distracted lives and have a read. Big pharma want to even make vitamin supplaments banned world wide and that's just the start of what " codex " will reveal.