Guest guest Posted March 11, 2003 Report Share Posted March 11, 2003 Hello dear brave souls: I have missed you, but have tried to read your good, funny and wise words every day. I don't have a lot of energy yet and have been waiting for something that I might be useful with to 'blow my energy' so to speak: Two cent's worth: Look, just like there is no 'bad' food, and no 'perfect' food, there is no 'bad' drug and no 'perfect' drug--I speak here of drugs and foods that have been cleared by FDA scrupulously to the best of their knowledge. (And what I heard in the subtext about questioning about one particular S. drug, was just concern and love that others be cautious--which is important to question about sideffects of Wellbutrin, Paxil, Zoloft and ALL the other commonly prescribed ssri's and psychtropic drugsas well; they all have toxicity in varying amounts, they all have contraindications, they all have side effects that vary depending on the person's chemicological and hormonal make-up, their age, their weight, etc. (there is more to this, but I am trying to make this brief--gotta save myself for walking to bathroom, combing hair, etc--grin) All food and drugs have side-effects. Yes, for some certain foods draws water out of the intestines and constipates, for others it loosens the stools, some people literally die from shellfish and/or peanut consumption; others have achy joints from any of the nightshade plants, including good old potatoes. Some consume alcohol and it causes grave liver problems, others drink like fish and die at age 99 from overexerting themselves in sexual swinging in the harness hanging from the chandelier. It is the same with drugs, and antidepressants. Some have this side effect with this one, but not so much with that one. Some suffer no or mild side effects. Others suffer high ones. Others moderate. Some suffer side effects they can live with, others have to learn to adapt to them, some side-effects certain persons just cannot live with (like a drug long ago that turned people's tongues and teeth black...great pharmacology, huh?) That's why we ALWAYS weigh " risk versus benefit. " For many years lithium was THE preferred drug for what used to be called manic-depressive disorder. People who took it HAD TO have a creatinine clearance test every few weeks for it affected some folks viscera. There was close monitoring in those cases, and truly, every shrink who prescribes ought to be asking questions of their patients on a regular basis, especially since some folks occasionally stop taking their meds all on their own, and most drugs have a half-life with their own side-effects. There are many drugs that WORK for people that require they be monitored in various ways. Many of these are LIFE SAVING drugs. So, the concern is understandable about ANY drug, and we have to do the best we can with our RISK VERSUS BENEFIT analysis, and go from there. This is the best medicine we know at this time. And I have not even gone into here the highly toxic chemo drugs, or the organ anti-rejection drugs, or the profound fertility drugs--all of which are potent and require careful weighing and monitoring. In all, I would say this: and I mean it so hard I might break into flower as I write this: Part, a part, a portion of what works, a piece, a little to a lot, some part, some mysterious force about what works for people--- is their belief in what works for them. And THAT has to be honored even if other people have other ideas, or different ones, or odd ones, or the newest, latest, most fantastical. In healing and helping, there is a mysterious force that belief and confidence in what one is doing definitely plays a role. This is all I have to say (for now)--grin And and all others here, hang in there. I see many moving in new ways, toward new answers, new goals, as I have been reading the list. You deserve nothing but praise. Keep going. no lack of love, ceep G-MOM Subject: RE: : ANTIDEPRESSANTS I don't understand the militancy about Serzone. Long-term or excessive use of MANY drugs, including the seemingly inocuous Tylenol, can and will damage your liver. In Europe, you can't buy Tylenol in boxes of more than 10 because so many people were committing suicide with it by destroying their livers. Think about THAT next time you shovel the 500 capsule tub of it into your cart at Costco. It seems to me that every doctor/patient pair needs to weigh the known risks of a drug against the potential benefits from it to make a decision whether or not to use a medication. There are many drugs with incredible side effects on the market because they can really help under certain conditions (botox, thalidomide, and the list goes on and on). And heck, even Viagra can kill you.. not exactly a life or death-necessity drug there. Z Open RNY 09/17/01 Weber 310/126 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 11, 2003 Report Share Posted March 11, 2003 Hello dear brave souls: I have missed you, but have tried to read your good, funny and wise words every day. I don't have a lot of energy yet and have been waiting for something that I might be useful with to 'blow my energy' so to speak: Two cent's worth: Look, just like there is no 'bad' food, and no 'perfect' food, there is no 'bad' drug and no 'perfect' drug--I speak here of drugs and foods that have been cleared by FDA scrupulously to the best of their knowledge. (And what I heard in the subtext about questioning about one particular S. drug, was just concern and love that others be cautious--which is important to question about sideffects of Wellbutrin, Paxil, Zoloft and ALL the other commonly prescribed ssri's and psychtropic drugsas well; they all have toxicity in varying amounts, they all have contraindications, they all have side effects that vary depending on the person's chemicological and hormonal make-up, their age, their weight, etc. (there is more to this, but I am trying to make this brief--gotta save myself for walking to bathroom, combing hair, etc--grin) All food and drugs have side-effects. Yes, for some certain foods draws water out of the intestines and constipates, for others it loosens the stools, some people literally die from shellfish and/or peanut consumption; others have achy joints from any of the nightshade plants, including good old potatoes. Some consume alcohol and it causes grave liver problems, others drink like fish and die at age 99 from overexerting themselves in sexual swinging in the harness hanging from the chandelier. It is the same with drugs, and antidepressants. Some have this side effect with this one, but not so much with that one. Some suffer no or mild side effects. Others suffer high ones. Others moderate. Some suffer side effects they can live with, others have to learn to adapt to them, some side-effects certain persons just cannot live with (like a drug long ago that turned people's tongues and teeth black...great pharmacology, huh?) That's why we ALWAYS weigh " risk versus benefit. " For many years lithium was THE preferred drug for what used to be called manic-depressive disorder. People who took it HAD TO have a creatinine clearance test every few weeks for it affected some folks viscera. There was close monitoring in those cases, and truly, every shrink who prescribes ought to be asking questions of their patients on a regular basis, especially since some folks occasionally stop taking their meds all on their own, and most drugs have a half-life with their own side-effects. There are many drugs that WORK for people that require they be monitored in various ways. Many of these are LIFE SAVING drugs. So, the concern is understandable about ANY drug, and we have to do the best we can with our RISK VERSUS BENEFIT analysis, and go from there. This is the best medicine we know at this time. And I have not even gone into here the highly toxic chemo drugs, or the organ anti-rejection drugs, or the profound fertility drugs--all of which are potent and require careful weighing and monitoring. In all, I would say this: and I mean it so hard I might break into flower as I write this: Part, a part, a portion of what works, a piece, a little to a lot, some part, some mysterious force about what works for people--- is their belief in what works for them. And THAT has to be honored even if other people have other ideas, or different ones, or odd ones, or the newest, latest, most fantastical. In healing and helping, there is a mysterious force that belief and confidence in what one is doing definitely plays a role. This is all I have to say (for now)--grin And and all others here, hang in there. I see many moving in new ways, toward new answers, new goals, as I have been reading the list. You deserve nothing but praise. Keep going. no lack of love, ceep G-MOM Subject: RE: : ANTIDEPRESSANTS I don't understand the militancy about Serzone. Long-term or excessive use of MANY drugs, including the seemingly inocuous Tylenol, can and will damage your liver. In Europe, you can't buy Tylenol in boxes of more than 10 because so many people were committing suicide with it by destroying their livers. Think about THAT next time you shovel the 500 capsule tub of it into your cart at Costco. It seems to me that every doctor/patient pair needs to weigh the known risks of a drug against the potential benefits from it to make a decision whether or not to use a medication. There are many drugs with incredible side effects on the market because they can really help under certain conditions (botox, thalidomide, and the list goes on and on). And heck, even Viagra can kill you.. not exactly a life or death-necessity drug there. Z Open RNY 09/17/01 Weber 310/126 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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