Moderator Emeritus Skyler Posted February 21, 2015 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted February 21, 2015 Or maybe not so new... maybe it's just that America is finally catching on. John Oliver seems to have started a robust conversation. “Much of what the drug industry does fulfills the criteria for organized crime in US law,” Dr. Gotzsche said in a recent interview. “And they behave in many ways like the mafia does, they corrupt everyone they can corrupt, they have bought every type of person, even including ministers of health in some countries…The drug industry buys the professors first, then chiefs of departments, then other chief physicians and so on, they don’t buy junior doctors.” As always, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! A proud supporter of the 10% (or slower) rule. Requip - 3/16 ZERO Total time on 25 years. Lyrica: 8/15 ZERO Total time on 7 or 8 yrs.BENZO FREE 10/13 (started tapering 7/10) Total time on 25 years. Read my intro thread here, and check the about me section. "No matter how cynical you get, it's almost impossible to keep up." Lily Tomlin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prestorb Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Thanks for sharing! 2005-2009, Lexapro 10 - 20 mg, CT WD w/severe depression and anxiety: 2010-2015, Paxil, 30 - 40 mg, tapered off at 10 mg/week, moderate anxiety and depression: 2010-2015, Clonozapam 0.25 mg, as needed for anxiety and sleep: 1/10/2015, Zoloft 25 mg, tried to increase to 50 and 75, but nausea and dizziness: 2/13/2015, Paxil 5 mg, added back after 2 weeks at zero to reduce WD: 2/28/2015, Paxil 10 mg, increased from 5 mg to reduce WD, HOLDING: 3/04/2015, Zoloft discontinued (reduced to ~12.5 mg on 2/19, ~6.25 mg on 2/26, then zero): 4/26/2015, Paxil starting 10% taper (no scale so was inadvertently at 20% taper, yikes!): 4/30/2015, Paxil 10 mg, reinstated (WD disappeared between August 2015 and May 2016) 5/02/2016, Started 10% taper, reinstated to 10 mg on 5/11/16: 4/29/2017, Last dose of Paxil (working with holistic psychiatrist, lots of supplements to aid WD): Primary symptoms: apathy, demotivation, anhedonia, fatigue, stress intolerance, moderate social anxiety 7/1/2018 Finally feeling like myself again, success!!! Praise God! Even with the stress of relocating recently, I am feeling pretty good most of the time now. Granted, I eat healthy, I exercise, I don't drink caffeine or alcohol and I try hard find a healthy balance of quiet and social times. Hang in there and keep the faith, you can do it too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexjuice Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 In the mainstream, the main complaint I hear is that average Americans can not afford all the medications that they need to take to be well. (HA !!!) And the solution is getting more people assistane to afford the "drugs they need" (WTF !!!). Clearly, the conversation is still in the dark ages. Still, I was heartened to see this comedy thing though. I think the "organic" left is a natural ally aginst the insanity of big pharma. As is the paleo community. Also, parenthetically, many of the worst of big pharma are based in Europe, though they evidently terrorize Americans wallets disportionately because of US regulatory environment. "Well my ship's been split to splinters and it's sinking fast I'm drowning in the poison, got no future, got no past But my heart is not weary, it's light and it's free I've got nothing but affection for all those who sailed with me. Everybody's moving, if they ain't already there Everybody's got to move somewhere Stick with me baby, stick with me anyhow Things should start to get interesting right about now." - Zimmerman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Emeritus Skyler Posted February 21, 2015 Author Moderator Emeritus Share Posted February 21, 2015 In the mainstream, the main complaint I hear is that average Americans can not afford all the medications that they need to take to be well. (HA !!!) And the solution is getting more people assistane to afford the "drugs they need" (WTF !!!). Clearly, the conversation is still in the dark ages. There are two sides to this one though. A neighbor of mine has Hep. C.. the course of treatment is $84,000.. and the drug was developed with government funds. INSANE! And I'm on a medication the cost of which (the drug company has me on a program so I don't get charged.. ) is $1,500 a month for two years. Merdre However, I am in agreement when it comes to the lifestyle drugs. As always, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! A proud supporter of the 10% (or slower) rule. Requip - 3/16 ZERO Total time on 25 years. Lyrica: 8/15 ZERO Total time on 7 or 8 yrs.BENZO FREE 10/13 (started tapering 7/10) Total time on 25 years. Read my intro thread here, and check the about me section. "No matter how cynical you get, it's almost impossible to keep up." Lily Tomlin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexjuice Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Yes, I mean, this is the nature of the cronyism. But I am very suspicious of any drug that I was told I'd need to take forever. Often times the person would never take the drug if they actually had to pay for it, so giving it to the patient out of kindness, is often a very cruel thing to do. There are frequently work arounds that can actually give improved health such as diet and lifestyle changes. The AI drugs right now, they are quite cruel (even though the minimize symptoms by turning down the immune response). I have had almost every AI diagnosis and would not take those drugs myself. I am more and more a believer in the nature state of things. All of ancestors survived without Enbrel so I think I will. "Well my ship's been split to splinters and it's sinking fast I'm drowning in the poison, got no future, got no past But my heart is not weary, it's light and it's free I've got nothing but affection for all those who sailed with me. Everybody's moving, if they ain't already there Everybody's got to move somewhere Stick with me baby, stick with me anyhow Things should start to get interesting right about now." - Zimmerman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexjuice Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 When I first went to psychiatry the anxiety wasn't really that bad for me. A couple of yrs in, my doctor recommended abilify which was then on-patent and nearly $800/mo. My insurance paid for it and I took it for a decade, I came to believe I needed it, since I couldn't easily stop without having bad symptoms. So now I "needed" to have this drug that was very expensive and I was a $10,000/yr revenue source for the manufacturer. Since I didn't have to pay $10,000 out of pocket, I insisted I "needed" it and since only an evil person would deny a sick person life saving medicine, my insurance had to pay for it. So basically the whole thing was mainly an insurance fraud. Being a fraud, why charge $20 bucks a month? Since I can not pay for it, and we will be defrauding the insurance or Medicaid, let's really DO THE FRAUD and make the item $500 or $1000 or $10000 a month. If on that first day the doctor told me I'd have to pay $800 a month out of my pocket (or my parents), then maybe I am not on this board posting right now ?? "Well my ship's been split to splinters and it's sinking fast I'm drowning in the poison, got no future, got no past But my heart is not weary, it's light and it's free I've got nothing but affection for all those who sailed with me. Everybody's moving, if they ain't already there Everybody's got to move somewhere Stick with me baby, stick with me anyhow Things should start to get interesting right about now." - Zimmerman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexjuice Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 That $84,000 link, I just read it. What a terrific example of the corrupt state of affairs. I would assume NO ONE is paying 84k; that the difference is billed to the government or provided by subsidies; that the pharma companies receive the money and then kick back a % to support non-profits, academic organizations and political candidates. A few hapless patients will get slip through the cracks and not be able to navigate the system, and so they won't get their drugs. This is a great example of DOING THE FRAUD! Why make the drug $1000 when you can make it $84000. In some ways itd be worse to make it $1000 bc then some people really couldn't afford it. The only way to DO IT RIHGT is to make it so NOBODY CAN AFFORD it and then you involve the insurance and the state and do the dance. "Well my ship's been split to splinters and it's sinking fast I'm drowning in the poison, got no future, got no past But my heart is not weary, it's light and it's free I've got nothing but affection for all those who sailed with me. Everybody's moving, if they ain't already there Everybody's got to move somewhere Stick with me baby, stick with me anyhow Things should start to get interesting right about now." - Zimmerman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Emeritus Skyler Posted February 21, 2015 Author Moderator Emeritus Share Posted February 21, 2015 That $84,000 link, I just read it. What a terrific example of the corrupt state of affairs. I would assume NO ONE is paying 84k; that the difference is billed to the government or provided by subsidies; that the pharma companies receive the money and then kick back a % to support non-profits, academic organizations and political candidates. A few hapless patients will get slip through the cracks and not be able to navigate the system, and so they won't get their drugs. Hair raising... As always, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! A proud supporter of the 10% (or slower) rule. Requip - 3/16 ZERO Total time on 25 years. Lyrica: 8/15 ZERO Total time on 7 or 8 yrs.BENZO FREE 10/13 (started tapering 7/10) Total time on 25 years. Read my intro thread here, and check the about me section. "No matter how cynical you get, it's almost impossible to keep up." Lily Tomlin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westcoast Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 Sheesh. i wonder if psychotropic drug scrips are going to bankrupt medicare and medicaid. Does the FDA give a hoot about THAT? 2009: Cancer hospital said I had adjustment disorder because I thought they were doing it wrong. Their headshrinker prescribed Effexor, and my life set on a new course. I didn't know what was ahead, like a passenger on Disneyland's Matterhorn, smiling and waving as it climbs...clink, clink, clink. 2010: Post surgical accidental Effexor discontinuation by nurses, masked by intravenous Dilaudid. (The car is balanced at the top of the track.) I get home, pop a Vicodin, and ... Whooosh...down, down, down, down, down...goes the trajectory of my life, up goes my mood and tendency to think everything is a good idea.2012: After the bipolar jig was up, now a walking bag of unrelated symptoms, I went crazy on Daytrana (the Ritalin skin patch by Noven), because ADHD was a perfect fit for a bag of unrelated symptoms. I was prescribed Effexor for the nervousness of it, and things got neurological. An EEG showed enough activity to warrant an epilepsy diagnosis rather than non-epileptic ("psychogenic") seizures. 2013-2014: Quit everything and got worse. I probably went through DAWS: dopamine agonist withdrawal syndrome. I drank to not feel, but I felt a lot: dread, fear, regret, grief: an utter sense of total loss of everything worth breathing about, for almost two years. I was not suicidal but I wanted to be dead, at least dead to the experience of my own brain and body. 2015: I began to recover after adding virgin coconut oil and organic grass-fed fed butter to a cup of instant coffee in the morning. I did it hoping for mental acuity and better memory. After ten days of that, I was much better, mood-wise. Approximately neutral. And, I experienced drowsiness. I could sleep. Not exactly happy, I did 30 days on Wellbutrin, because it had done me no harm in the past. I don't have the DAWS mood or state of mind. It never feel like doing anything if it means standing up. In fact, I don't especially like moving. I'm a brain with a beanbag body. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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