Showing posts with label drugs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drugs. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Seriously?



The New York Times has a new article regarding the proliferation of anti psychotic drugs being prescribed by doctors to the tune of over 54 MILLION in 2011. These drugs, Abilify and Seroquel, treat bi-polar disorder, schizophrenia, and severe depression. This, despite the fact that the rates of these disorders have been stable in the population for years!

Seriously? We need to spend $18.2 BILLION on disorders that could not possibly be that mainstream?

On a sad note - my neighbor committed suicide yesterday. The police carried garbage-sized bags of medications out of his home. 

Another neighbor that came to tell me about it said the school had recommended his son go on meds for ADHD. A perfectly normal little boy who had a father in Afghanistan for a year.

What is going on here?

Friday, September 21, 2012

Tinkering With Drugs



Dr. Peter Dregen, a Harvard-trained psychiatrist did two hours on Coast to Coast the other night about the doping of our nation by the pharmaceutical companies. His new book, Psychiatric Drug Withdrawl, is a must read for anyone who is currently taking psychotropic drugs and especially for anyone who is considering putting their child on one.

I loved that Dr. Dregen didn't mince words - he totally blasted doctors prescribing these drugs to millions and millions of people and keeping them on them for much too long - sometimes for a lifetime. None of these drugs were designed for long term use. And when the pharmaceutical companies get sued - they just pay it - the money they are paying out is minute compared to the billions being made. In one case, after paying out  three billion in a settlement, the stock actually went up - everyone knew what the impact was going to be and it wasn't that bad - business as usual.

Once on a drug of this type for too long, the next step is another drug to counter the effects of the first drug, and on and on it goes. The drugging of children in foster care is especially grievous. People are not finding solutions to their problems, they are just masking the symptoms of their pain. And in the case of children, we're drugging normal children to make them easier to control. The small percentage of people that actually have a chemistry imbalance in their brain has turned into treating millions that don't have the imbalance, but may have depression that is situational based on past events, or current difficulties. One caller said that he found out his son's school was actually getting kick-backs from the drug companies for children they recommended go on drugs for ADD. (I can't verify that, by the way.) Teachers are not trained psychotherapists - they cannot tell you your child is ADD or ADHD. You need a trained professional to give those types of diagnoses. All too often even trained professionals take the easy way out and suggest mood-altering drugs, especially if the patient is asking for one. So be very careful if a drug is suggested for your child. Get another opinion. Be especially careful if you are on more than one - the long term consequences on your brain could be far reaching. Coming off of these drugs takes time, and should never be done all at once.

This is a bugaboo subject with me, as most of you know. Dr. Dregen believes that people need to feel their pain so they can work through it and go on with their lives, which is exactly what I believe. We feel pain for a reason - to help spur us on to fix whatever it is that needs fixing. Just as we feel pain when we touch something hot - our psyche needs to feel pain if we are doing something, (or someone is doing something to us), that needs to be avoided. Finding life purpose, following our dreams, getting involved in life, are all ways to feel well.  Good nutrition and exercise also play a part in good mental health. A good mental-health practitioner should give you their time and their empathy, which is what Dr. Dregen feels is most important in helping someone get through life's trials and tribulations. We are not machines. A good friend, supportive family, spirituality, finding your passion, all help people deal with life. (And let's not forget blogging!)

So if you have some time, listen to him on Coast to Coast and buy his book if you feel you might need it, or know someone that does. I think this is a very important subject. We are reeling from the impact of these drugs on our society.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Community Herbalism & Natural Medicine



There are big things going on in the world of change. We often don't hear about them, and they go unnoticed by most of us, so I would like to pass this along because prescription drugs are a bugaboo with me, as most of you know. We are being prescribed more and more drugs at younger and younger ages, and it is scary how many prescription drugs are now being prescribed to children. My posts here and here talk about this problem.

Secret Notebooks and Wild Pages has done a post on Community Herbalism and Natural Medicine that is well worth your time to read. The Thread is a community based educational program located on the East Coast. Please visit her  to see if this might be something you could advocate in your area, or if you live nearby, you may want to stop by for a visit.

It's time to plant the seeds of how we want to see the world change. It will not get done unless everyone decides to do their small part.

I also believe it's time to go back to nature to address many of our present-day illnesses. Mother Nature has always provided for us. We've just been led to believe otherwise.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Pay Attention



I have had some very interesting synchronicities lately, and I read somewhere that our thoughts are being manifested much more quickly. It has something to do with the magnetic field around the earth. Anyway, my husband I were discussing the fact that I might be a touch too dependent on my half tab of Ambien for sleep. Right after the conversation I researched and wrote the Monsanto post, and was absolutely floored when the last item in the list of Monsanto products to avoid was.... Ambien! Really? My sleep aid is manufactured by a company that makes Roundup and genetically engineered food?

Next up, I have been trying to cut down on sugar, which seems to be in more products than we realize. Yesterday I am in the dentist chair having my teeth cleaned, my mouth is full of instruments when the hygienist starts talking about her water purifier that makes the water alkaline. Alkaline water is supposed to balance the pH in the body, especially the sugars. She goes on to say people who eat too much sugar are at higher risk of cancer, because the cancer cells literally feed off the sugar. Wow. My last post on water, especially structured water, and my desire to cut down on sugar all in two or three sentences from my hygienist.

She highly touted her water purifier, by the way. She feels she has much more energy, and a sense of well being that she didn't have before. I will have to do some research on it, and let you know what I find.

So this is just two things I am personally working on. What are you working on? Have you noticed the Universe speaking to you? Pay attention, you just might be surprised.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Drugging our Babies



This article in the New York Times was an eye-opener. It is the story of a young boy put on a litany of drugs beginning at age 18 months because of temper tantrums. The cocktail of drugs used on this baby is shocking:

Thus began a troubled toddler’s journey from one doctor to another, from one diagnosis to another, involving even more drugs. Autism, bipolar disorder, hyperactivity, insomnia, oppositional defiant disorder. The boy’s daily pill regimen multiplied: the antipsychotic Risperdal, the antidepressant Prozac, two sleeping medicines and one for attention-deficit disorder. All by the time he was 3.

This little baby became a drooling zombie. His mother stated his eyes were blank.

The side effects of these drugs on a developing human are not completely known, yet doctors continued to prescribe drugs - often to treat the side effects of the drugs already prescribed! Now that he has been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Activity Disorder - they state he should never have been prescribed those drugs in the first place. As a developmentalist, I cannot tell you how appalled I am that a baby was put on drugs of this magnitude and in this quantity. There is no way a doctor can know, with any certainty, that this baby suffered from these disorders.

The Legos that the children played with in one psychiatrist's waiting room were stamped with Risperdal, then manufactured by Johnson and Johnson. (The office has since removed them.) Somehow all those sweet smelling lotions manufactured by that company are starting to stink, in my opinion. Here are the side effects of Risperdal:

Anxiety; constipation; cough; diarrhea; dizziness; drowsiness; dry mouth; fatigue; headache; increased appetite; increased saliva production; indigestion; lightheadedness; nausea; restlessness; runny nose; stomach pain or upset; trouble sleeping; vomiting; weight gain.

Seek medical attention right away if any of these SEVERE side effects occur when using Risperdal:
Severe allergic reactions (rash; hives; itching; difficulty breathing or swallowing; tightness in the chest; swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue; unusual hoarseness); abnormal thoughts; confusion; drooling; fainting; fast or irregular heartbeat; fever, chills, or persistent sore throat; inability to control urination; increased sweating; new or worsening mental or mood changes (eg, aggression, agitation, depression, severe anxiety); seizures; severe dizziness; stiff or rigid muscles; suicidal thoughts or attempts; symptoms of high blood sugar (eg, increased thirst, hunger, or urination; unusual weakness); tremor; trouble concentrating, speaking, or swallowing; trouble sitting still; trouble walking or standing; uncontrolled muscle movements (eg, arm or leg movements, twitching of the face or tongue, jerking or twisting); unusual bruising; vision changes.



Seriously - can you imagine giving a baby this drug?

Why, you ask? Because it's cheaper and it makes big money for pharmaceutical companies. Low income families are the biggest target of these drugs. I recently read a comment by a fellow blogger talking about the differences in television commercials in Canada and the US. She said Canada's commercials are about home improvement, cleaning supplies and travel. The US is about cars, drugs, and something else that slips my mind - probably because I mute all commercials or fast-forward through them.

Bottom line - if your doctor is prescribing any psychotropic drug for your children or grandchildren, then they absolutely need talk therapy. The number one point made in my abnormal psych classes was that drug therapy, without talk therapy, does not work. Especially for adolescents who have drastic mood swings, mostly caused by increased androgens. These are the hormones which control male sex traits and development, also influencing female sexual behavior. All normal developmental systems! It is only through talking with a qualified psychologist or psychiatrist can you know if your teenager also needs drug therapy. And if it was my child and the psychologist or psychiatrist wanted to use drug therapy, I would be tempted to get another opinion. I think drugs often mask issues that need to be worked on, and sometimes there is no quick fix. Sometimes parents are part of the problem, and what's really needed is Family Therapy. Just saying...

I know I seem to be on a drug rant this month, but drugging babies sent me over the edge.

Friday, August 20, 2010

Inducing Dementia



I found this post on Lynn MacTaggart's blog so interesting, I did what I usually don't do - copy something in its entirety. But this is a subject I have long felt very strongly about - the proliferation of pharmaceutical drugs in our society and others. We use drugs to combat everything. Every time we take a drug, even a simple pain reliever, it affects another part of our body. Especially note the last paragraph! Here then is Lynn's post:


Against holism

August 6th, 2010 by admin

Just occasionally, I come across a medical hero, a doctor willing to break the conspiracy of silence that exists among doctors about the damage caused by their tools.
My hero of the hour is an American psychiatrist called Grace E. Jackson.  Dr. Jackson is utterly, refreshingly horrified by psychiatric medicine. In fact, she is horrified by most forms of pharmaceutical medicine, period.  She spends her life lecturing and writing about the dangers of drugs and their ability to cause mental illness. 
So incensed is she about the current state of affairs that she felt compelled to self-publish a whistle-blower, entitled Drug-induced Dementia, which painstakingly catalogues a vast amount of scientific evidence showing that modern medicine is the primary culprit behind all forms of dementia, one of the most rampant epidemics of our time.


A new use for rocket fuel
One of her more outrageous snippets of information concerns the fact that in the 1950s, when doctors first began to treat psychiatric patients pharmacologically, they discovered that synthetic dye and rocket-fuel derivatives actually had what they considered some sort of medicinal effect. Thorazine (chlorpromazine), the first antipsychotic, was born. 

There was only one hitch – the drug caused the patient to become so lethargic that his symptoms aped those of sleeping sickness.  The doctors also noticed that over time, the drugs caused all the hallmarks of Parkinson’s disease:  abnormal gait, tremor, dementia and involuntary movement. They also stupefied the patient, flattening out all feeling or excitation — leaving behind, in effect, a vegetable.
Nevertheless, with a brand of logic peculiar to modern medicine, these debilitating side effects were welcomed, on the premise that they were a damned sight better than a crazed hallucinator.
In fact, doctors began to view the arrival of parkinsonian effects as a benchmark in a patient’s therapeutic progress:  proof positive that the drugs were actually working.


Not-so-subtle brain damage
The damage caused by psychiatric medicine is only the tip of the iceberg. I began to look into this issue myself and discovered a good number of the major classes of drugs that doctors give patients as they age bring on dementia.

Heart drugs, cholesterol lowering drugs, sleeping pills, antidepressants, narcotics, stimulants, including Ritalin, the ADHD drug given to children, anti-cholinergics, anti-epileptic drugs, to name just a few, all can damage the structure of the brain.
Anti-depressants shrink the hippocampus of the brain, and statins lower crucial fats, or lipids, which compose much of brain tissue.
Beta-blockers and other drugs that aggressively lower blood pressure, such as calcium channel blockers and ACE inhibitors, also  lower blood flow to the brain, creating all the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s Disease

Even good old painkillers – the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory class of drugs – can cause a variety of cognitive changes, from delirium to disturbances in memory and concentration.
Many of these drugs actually shrink brain volume, destroying the crucial fatty structures of brain cells, or causing abnormal accumulation of tissue in vital brain structures. 


Drug cocktails Even though they represent only one-seventh of the population, the over-65s take one-third of all prescription drugs – and usually a cocktail of them.  The average senior is on six drugs at a time, many of which can affect the brain.  
Given the fact that some 90 per cent of Americans from their mid-fifties onward are taking at least one drug regularly, and nearly one-third are taking five or more drugs, it’s small wonder that dementia is one of the world’s fastest growing diseases, now absorbing $90 billion per year, or one-third of America’s entire Medicare bill. It’s now expected that one in four of us will have some form of dementia by the time we reach 80.
To put this cost into perspective, America is now spending about 1 per cent of the US’s entire gross domestic product on a largely iatrogenic (doctor-induced) condition. Medicine has reached the point where it is chasing its own tail, attempting to mop up with yet more drugs and treatments a vast and costly problem it has caused in the first place.


Against nature I tell you all this not simply to rant against the massive carnage caused by our faulty medical system, but also to illustrate the enormous repercussions that occur whenever we go against our truest nature.  The drug-caused dementia epidemic is simply the result of the ongoing refusal of our current medical model to consider the body as a holistic entity. 
In 1970, a German physicist named Fritz-Albert Popp stumbled upon the fact that human beings emit a tiny current of photons, or light from the DNA of every cell, which he labeled ‘biophoton emissions”. 
In his research, Popp discovered something else remarkable. If a medicine was applied to one part of the body, a large change occurred in the number of light emissions not only from where he’d applied the ointment, but also from distant parts of the body. Furthermore, the size of the changes correlated all over the body.
Popp soon recognized that this light was a communication channel within a living organism, a means of instantaneous, or ‘non-local’, global signaling.

Whenever we atomize anything, but most particularly the human body – taking it apart and attempting to treat it in separate pieces – we invite calamity.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Pot Debate



I got caught up in the comments on Land of Shimp's post on medical marijuana, and thought I would expand on the topic over here.

There are certainly pros and cons regarding legalizing marijuana for recreational use, but to have marijuana legal for pain control should be a no-brainer. We have such a problem in this country with addiction to pain medication, that it only makes sense to use something that is non addictive. That does not mean that a person cannot become dependent on it, however. What it means is that if denied the drug, the person does not go into physical withdrawal, as one does when addicted to alcohol, heroin, crack cocaine, methamphetamine, or prescription medications.


One of my abnormal psychology courses in college discussed, in great detail, the effects of different drugs on the brain. The professor was stymied as to why marijuana was illegal and alcohol was legal, when you look at the corresponding effects.

I'm curious to know what you think. Do you think marijuana should be legal for pain?

** For a real-life story go to DJan's post on her experience with pain meds after a serious accident.