Oh, true apothecary. Thy drugs are quick.
Apr. 26th, 2013 03:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
brightrosefoxhttps://www.change.org/petitions/chairman-murphy-and-ranking-member-degette-stop-threatening-the-hipaa-rights-of-people-with-psychiatric-disabilities
To quote a dear friend:
"I am a fully-functioning human being, mentally ill people pose NO greater threat to society than non-mentally-ill people, and we are entitled to exactly the same protections as every other person. Do not discuss these issues without allowing mentally ill people to educate you. Do not discuss these issues until and unless you are aware that mentally ill people are more likely to be the VICTIMS of violence than the perpetrators. Inform yourselves and actually talk to the people involved. Don't bring your own preconceived ideas to the table, call them fact, and suggest policy based on them. That's inhumane AND unlawful."
And I would like to add:
There are very different types of crazy. What I call Hollywood Crazy or Hollywood Mental Illness is usually the kind that is an exaggerated version of a disorder that is seen as a danger to oneself and others. There are people out there so terrified of this that even if they are mentally ill, they will refuse to say anything because ignorant family members might see them as Hollywood Crazy (see: "I am not crazy! I have never been crazy! Don't call me crazy!" often intoned with an air of fear, upset, prejudice.) And in those minds, Hollywood Crazy might mean commitment to a ward or facility, which is often seen as a terrible thing, not a helpful healing thing. We seriously need to change how we view mental illness and mental disability. There are so many people living with a form of mental illness who absolutely refuse any sort of treatment purely out of fear of ridicule, shunning, disconnection from family, even forced unnecessary commitment to hospitals. We need to show them that the stigma is human, driven by fear that breeds hate, and that there is no shame or fear in getting some sort of treatment.
***
Dear pharmaceutical drugs: I know people hate you and think you are poison, but I just wanted to tell you that I greatly appreciate your role in saving my life.
I will always balance you with holistic remedies, allopathic medicine, and whole body treatments. But I will always be grateful for the way you have helped me feel better, and even normal, under certain standards. I am one of those people who rarely experience the various side effects listed - which really, are simply issues reported by test patients during trials, which may or may not actually affect anyone. It took me years to realize that. After all, many, many pharmaceutical drugs were initially derived and synthesized from plants, foods, and botanicals. I am not sure about recent years, but chemistry is chemistry.
I do not participate in the stigma and hate toward you. Of course, I am only speaking for myself and my personal experiences. I know so many people who really have been poisoned and "screwed up" because their chemistry reacted very badly to certain medicines, causing extreme side effects that led to even worse conditions. I cannot speak for them. But I can speak for me. And all I can do is be grateful.
One day, I will taper down until I need only very small dosages of the drugs I am taking. That may be years from now. I will still need to take certain drugs for the rest of my life However, for the time being, I am perfectly fine with the pills I take. I cannot say that for anyone else - I am not anyone else.
I am always sad when I learn that so many other patients cannot handle certain medications or become worse due to negative side effects - that is horrific.
Yet as long as no one tries to convince me personally that my life would be better if I quit all my essential medications, I will nod and agree that we take too many prescriptions as a whole, and that negative side effects can be absolutely terrifying and can lead to worse problems. I wish there were more patients like me, who are are able to handle drugs without intense side effects.
And now I shall take the supplements that I take daily, to help balance the pharmaceuticals. Because the supplements work for me. And that is a completely separate debate for another post.
Oh, hell, might as well do that post now.
Depending on who you talk to, supplements and holistic medicine and alternative remedies are either the best thing and the only thing, or absolute bullshit and placebos. And then there are those who regard supplements as exactly that - supplemental. Alternative. Balancing. No big deal.
I grew up on vitamins and supplements, only being given pharmaceuticals when necessary. Now that I need to take over half a dozen pharmaceutical pills daily, I balance them as best I can with vitamins and supplements.
There are plenty of sick patients who are physically unable to take supplements and alternative treatments, as their bodies and brains completely reject or don't respond at all to said medicines. Which is why I bristle whenever someone insists that pharmaceuticals are all poison and only supplements and natural medicines are the way to treat illness. Nobody is the same. Everybody is different. What works for me may not work for you. People don't seem to understand this. People may never understand this.
And here, I submit a full list of every single diagnosis ever made in my life, and here I submit a full list of pharmaceutical medications and supplemental medicines, stored in both my Facebook Notes section and a document in Word.
***
Because I tend to forget my separate diagnoses, I'm just listing them all here for times when I need to recall them.
-Cerebral palsy (spastic-ataxic hemiplegia)
-Spastic Hypertonia (with spastic hemiparesis and intention tremors)
-Fibromyalgia
-Temporal Lobe Epilepsy
-Asthma
-Raynaud's Disease (primary)
-Sensory Processing Disorder
-Attention Deficit Disorder (Inattentive)
-Dyscalculia
-Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (mild)
-Sciatica
-Lordosis
-Migraines
-Non-Allergic Rhinitis (mainly gustatory)
-Anorexia Nervosa (recovering)
-Chondromalacia Patella
-Joint Pain (overall)
-Clinical Depression (mild to moderate)
-Anxiety Disorder (general and social)
-Mild knee arthritis
I wish I were surprised that the list is so long right now. Let's see if doctors add anything as I get older. Fun!
The full list of prescription drugs and supplement pills.
I do not take all the supplement pills every day; the list is only to remember the ones I have taken in the last year, which is why the list is so long.
Prescriptions:
Ogestrel-Hi
Trileptal
Zoloft
Baclofen
Klonopin
Soma
Ultram
Albuterol
Supplements:
MSM
Hyaluronic Acid
Magnesium Citrate
Apple Pectin
Glucomannan
DMAE
Bamboo Silica
Chlorella
Gotu Kola
Ashwagandha
Neem
Shilajit
CoQ10
Alfalfa
Passion Flower
Inositol
Biotin
Proteolytic Enzymes
Yerba Mate
Cayenne Extract
Resveratrol
Turmeric
Royal Jelly
Oregano Oil
Kava
Mangosteen
Goji Berry
Noni Berry
Cinnamon
Guarana
B-Complex
Ascorbic Acid
Vitamin D
N-Acetyl-Cysteine
L-Tyrosine
Alpha Lipoic Acid
Sea Buckthorn
Moringa
Cat's Claw
Pau D'Arco
And now, time for the daily supplements that I take daily because they work for me.
To quote a dear friend:
"I am a fully-functioning human being, mentally ill people pose NO greater threat to society than non-mentally-ill people, and we are entitled to exactly the same protections as every other person. Do not discuss these issues without allowing mentally ill people to educate you. Do not discuss these issues until and unless you are aware that mentally ill people are more likely to be the VICTIMS of violence than the perpetrators. Inform yourselves and actually talk to the people involved. Don't bring your own preconceived ideas to the table, call them fact, and suggest policy based on them. That's inhumane AND unlawful."
And I would like to add:
There are very different types of crazy. What I call Hollywood Crazy or Hollywood Mental Illness is usually the kind that is an exaggerated version of a disorder that is seen as a danger to oneself and others. There are people out there so terrified of this that even if they are mentally ill, they will refuse to say anything because ignorant family members might see them as Hollywood Crazy (see: "I am not crazy! I have never been crazy! Don't call me crazy!" often intoned with an air of fear, upset, prejudice.) And in those minds, Hollywood Crazy might mean commitment to a ward or facility, which is often seen as a terrible thing, not a helpful healing thing. We seriously need to change how we view mental illness and mental disability. There are so many people living with a form of mental illness who absolutely refuse any sort of treatment purely out of fear of ridicule, shunning, disconnection from family, even forced unnecessary commitment to hospitals. We need to show them that the stigma is human, driven by fear that breeds hate, and that there is no shame or fear in getting some sort of treatment.
***
Dear pharmaceutical drugs: I know people hate you and think you are poison, but I just wanted to tell you that I greatly appreciate your role in saving my life.
I will always balance you with holistic remedies, allopathic medicine, and whole body treatments. But I will always be grateful for the way you have helped me feel better, and even normal, under certain standards. I am one of those people who rarely experience the various side effects listed - which really, are simply issues reported by test patients during trials, which may or may not actually affect anyone. It took me years to realize that. After all, many, many pharmaceutical drugs were initially derived and synthesized from plants, foods, and botanicals. I am not sure about recent years, but chemistry is chemistry.
I do not participate in the stigma and hate toward you. Of course, I am only speaking for myself and my personal experiences. I know so many people who really have been poisoned and "screwed up" because their chemistry reacted very badly to certain medicines, causing extreme side effects that led to even worse conditions. I cannot speak for them. But I can speak for me. And all I can do is be grateful.
One day, I will taper down until I need only very small dosages of the drugs I am taking. That may be years from now. I will still need to take certain drugs for the rest of my life However, for the time being, I am perfectly fine with the pills I take. I cannot say that for anyone else - I am not anyone else.
I am always sad when I learn that so many other patients cannot handle certain medications or become worse due to negative side effects - that is horrific.
Yet as long as no one tries to convince me personally that my life would be better if I quit all my essential medications, I will nod and agree that we take too many prescriptions as a whole, and that negative side effects can be absolutely terrifying and can lead to worse problems. I wish there were more patients like me, who are are able to handle drugs without intense side effects.
And now I shall take the supplements that I take daily, to help balance the pharmaceuticals. Because the supplements work for me. And that is a completely separate debate for another post.
Oh, hell, might as well do that post now.
Depending on who you talk to, supplements and holistic medicine and alternative remedies are either the best thing and the only thing, or absolute bullshit and placebos. And then there are those who regard supplements as exactly that - supplemental. Alternative. Balancing. No big deal.
I grew up on vitamins and supplements, only being given pharmaceuticals when necessary. Now that I need to take over half a dozen pharmaceutical pills daily, I balance them as best I can with vitamins and supplements.
There are plenty of sick patients who are physically unable to take supplements and alternative treatments, as their bodies and brains completely reject or don't respond at all to said medicines. Which is why I bristle whenever someone insists that pharmaceuticals are all poison and only supplements and natural medicines are the way to treat illness. Nobody is the same. Everybody is different. What works for me may not work for you. People don't seem to understand this. People may never understand this.
And here, I submit a full list of every single diagnosis ever made in my life, and here I submit a full list of pharmaceutical medications and supplemental medicines, stored in both my Facebook Notes section and a document in Word.
***
Because I tend to forget my separate diagnoses, I'm just listing them all here for times when I need to recall them.
-Cerebral palsy (spastic-ataxic hemiplegia)
-Spastic Hypertonia (with spastic hemiparesis and intention tremors)
-Fibromyalgia
-Temporal Lobe Epilepsy
-Asthma
-Raynaud's Disease (primary)
-Sensory Processing Disorder
-Attention Deficit Disorder (Inattentive)
-Dyscalculia
-Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (mild)
-Sciatica
-Lordosis
-Migraines
-Non-Allergic Rhinitis (mainly gustatory)
-Anorexia Nervosa (recovering)
-Chondromalacia Patella
-Joint Pain (overall)
-Clinical Depression (mild to moderate)
-Anxiety Disorder (general and social)
-Mild knee arthritis
I wish I were surprised that the list is so long right now. Let's see if doctors add anything as I get older. Fun!
The full list of prescription drugs and supplement pills.
I do not take all the supplement pills every day; the list is only to remember the ones I have taken in the last year, which is why the list is so long.
Prescriptions:
Ogestrel-Hi
Trileptal
Zoloft
Baclofen
Klonopin
Soma
Ultram
Albuterol
Supplements:
MSM
Hyaluronic Acid
Magnesium Citrate
Apple Pectin
Glucomannan
DMAE
Bamboo Silica
Chlorella
Gotu Kola
Ashwagandha
Neem
Shilajit
CoQ10
Alfalfa
Passion Flower
Inositol
Biotin
Proteolytic Enzymes
Yerba Mate
Cayenne Extract
Resveratrol
Turmeric
Royal Jelly
Oregano Oil
Kava
Mangosteen
Goji Berry
Noni Berry
Cinnamon
Guarana
B-Complex
Ascorbic Acid
Vitamin D
N-Acetyl-Cysteine
L-Tyrosine
Alpha Lipoic Acid
Sea Buckthorn
Moringa
Cat's Claw
Pau D'Arco
And now, time for the daily supplements that I take daily because they work for me.
