Drugs and Medicines, Good and Bad

Whether legal or illegal, chemical substances can be potent things. What's the best/worst drug or medication experience you've had? And what laws or principles do you think would best serve everyone's interests as regards that drug or medication?

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The Board Administration Team
(hapax, Kit Whitfield and mmy)



Comments

[Coleslaw]

I don't now about the worst, but the sleeping pills I took after my foot surgery back in 2008 caused serious episodes of sleep paralysis. They seemed to last longer than my occasional bouts of unmedicated sleep paralysis do, and I found it very scary, even though I knew what was really going on. I stopped taking them after a few days.

[Timothy (TRiG)]

My mother told me she used sleeping tablets once (after my brother's birth, I think), got sleep paralysis, was terrified, and never took them again. She didn't actually call it sleep paralysis, but her description of the struggle to wake up sounded very much like it.

I've never had sleep paralysis. And I've never taken sleeping tablets or any mind-altering drug.

TRiG.

[ObjectiveReality]

I tried the "Kronic" brand of smokeable "legal high" a couple of years back. I'd been a pretty heavy pot smoker in my early 20s, but it didn't hold a candle to the potency of this stuff - panic, sub-hallucinations, tachycardia - yeesh. Good thing it only lasted an hour or so.

Basically, if you're interested in getting high, I'd go find some actual common-or-garden pot before I got into that stuff.

[Asha]

I was on Paxil from 1999 to 2002. During that time I would run out because when I was in college my prescription was in my home town. My dosage doubled. If I went more than three days without taking a dose I would have suicidal ideation, a feeling of electrical shocks and disorientation and was easily upset. It was bad. I took something else later, and the dosage was much lower, but I've not gone back on since 2006. Probably could stand to use them again, because I still have bouts of bad depression, but the idea terrifies me.

[cjmr]

Content Note: Labor and Delivery experiences

When I was ~10, I had a very bad sore throat--bad to the extent that I wouldn't drink soda or even suck on a popsicle. They gave me a codeine-based cough syrup. I got my first dose before bedtime. That was a horrible experience--I hallucinated ginormous spiders crawling all over my body in the dark. The pediatrician said it was an idiopathic adverse reaction and recommended that I not ever take any related drugs.

Fast forward 24 years to the birth of my second child--the anesthesiologist asked if I'd be willing to try having a related drug in my epidural, since my previous (non-narcotic) epidural had not been very effective. I agreed. I didn't see actual spiders this time, but it *felt* the same.

So, no more narcotics for me, TYVM. I hope I don't end up with a chronic pain condition.

[Karen]

My worst drug experience was about a year ago. The PA at my doctor's practice put me on both anti-depressants and Lipitor. My liver responded by swelling enough to cause pain and mimic gall bladder trouble, and at the same time I gained 20 lbs in eight weeks. (I vanished from the Internet during that time, too.). The doctor took me off the mess, but I haven't lost all the weight. Yet.

[Kirala]

My drug reaction was not bad, as reactions go - however, it led me to start reading my drug recommendations more thoroughly. Apparently, "take with food" sometimes means "take with an actual meal", not "take with a piece of coffee cake and a glass of milk". And that is how Biaxin (antibiotic) caused me to have a bout of nausea and lightheadedness that culminated in unconsciousness.

[Nenya]

I think the worst thing I've had was the time I finished off a bottle of cough syrup ("It says take two tablespoons, there doesn't look like more than that in here") on the way out the door. Probably on an empty stomach, come to think of it. I threw up some lovely pink liquid shortly thereafter in the van (luckily I wasn't driving) and had the most interesting sensation of being slightly drunk thereafter. "Oh," sez I, "that must be why people try to get high off this stuff; it actually works."

I tried ecstasy once in college, with the guy I was semi-dating at the time. He advised taking vitamin C afterward, to mitigate the crash. I think I misheard him, because I took it just after I took the E, rather than at the end of the experience. Whether do to the vitamin C or something else, I had no discernible effects from the drug at all. Disappointing, but I wasn't really set on trying the drug anyway, so.

[Brin]

Kirala: And that is how Biaxin (antibiotic) caused me to have a bout of nausea and lightheadedness that culminated in unconsciousness.

I don't think I had any particular side effects (I might just not remember; I was only eight or so), but liquid Biaxin is the worst-tasting substance I have ever had the misfortune to ingest. My parents had a hell of a time getting me to take it.

Afterwards my mom rubbed her finger on the residue so she could know what it tasted like. She told me she completely understood now why I fought it so hard.

[Anonymus]

I developed a severe stutter while taking an antidepressant as a child that made it almost impossible to speak at all, so I stopped trying. Another antidepressant I was on around that time, which has not been approved for use in children, left me with permanent facial twitches. Another led to paranoia and hallucinations, which stopped after it got out of my system, but it took many months to convince them to let me go off it.

As for good drugs, Maxalt was great for migraines. I took one pill and the migraine would be gone in a few minutes. They cost $17/pill, though, so I only got them the once. Had a migraine 12 days out of 15 so far this month.

[Izzy]

Generic Lexapro gave me, I swear, boils. Ew.

Regular Lexapro, on the other hand, has been great. Clonipan, for panic attacks, likewise--and a friend commented that I'm "great to fly with" these days. ("Well, sure. I'm stoned.")

Also, morphine. Had it when I had kidney stones: they stuck the IV in and suddenly the world was a fucking Disney montage. Bluebirds and everything. I can definitely see why people get addicted to that stuff.

[wendy, last of the Eisenhower republicans]

Sort of a combo best/worst... but a story I've dined out on for decades.

Disneyland. Purple microdot. Breakdown in the "It's a Small World" ride, stuck there for what seemed like *forever* listening to/watching that song with synesthesia effects. Once we escaped the ride (every language was a different color, the tendrils braiding themselves French is a particularly pretty green that blends well with Arabic orange, when the microdot suddenly got speedy/twitchy,...)

Decided I needed some pot to take the edge off, but the line was too long for the overhead tram (the only place in the entire park one can light up, and even then only if you have enough people to fill all the seats) so went out to the car for a smoke. Did you know the parking lots are patrolled by security in character costumes? Busted by Mickey Mouse. Cuffed and patted down by a six-foot mouse, took me awhile to realize it wasn't actually a hallucination. He took all my pot and didn't arrest me, so maybe he wasn't actually security.

Went back in the park to get my friends, we went out to dinner, took more microdot, and got in line for "The Empire Strikes Back." Opening week. One of the theaters with the brand-new state of the art THX widescreen/special sound system, sat in the front row... IMdb tells me it wasn't 3-D, but I'd've sworn it was. A tie fighter crashed a couple of rows behind me.

The most important principle is you really, really, *REALLY* need a designated driver. I have mixed feelings about what the laws ought to be on the matter; it's a fond memory for me, but I'm not entirely comfortable with other people behaving as I used to.

[Lonespark]

Did you know the parking lots are patrolled by security in character costumes? Busted by Mickey Mouse. Cuffed and patted down by a six-foot mouse, took me awhile to realize it wasn't actually a hallucination. He took all my pot and didn't arrest me, so maybe he wasn't actually security.

It sounds like he may not have actually been security, but he was walking around with cuffs...

That is a really damn good story.

I have mixed feelings about what the laws ought to be on the matter; it's a fond memory for me, but I'm not entirely comfortable with other people behaving as I used to.

I feel this way about lots of things, but they're things that absolutely should not (and in many cases could not) be made illegal. Plus I guess most people are entitled to a bunch of dumb mistakes. Even life-wrecking ones.

[Froborr]

As a teenager, I very briefly went on Paxil. Everything seemed fine for a couple of days, then the hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia started. The trees were conspiring to kill me, which is a serious threat when you're in the woods. Also some of them had tentacles, but only when I wasn't looking. I went off Paxil shortly after.

A few years ago I was on Cymbalta. Turned off my ability to sleep. After a week straight without sleep I was jittery, pale, and again having occasional hallucinations. Fortunately my doctor prescribed a small nighttime dose of another antidepressant that switched my ability to sleep back on, and that was beautiful. Turned out I had never actually had a good night's sleep before, didn't even know what one was until then.

But the best was Clonipan. Clonipan was glorious; basically every time I took it, my AvPD just wasn't there for an hour. It was like talking online, but in person. I could start a conversation! Not worry about other people judging me! Finish a sentence without freezing in the middle! Best use was right before my intake interview (I was temp-to-hire, and this was the mostly-a-formality interview at the end of my temp period to hire me permanently); I ended up walking out making $10K a year more than I had been planning to ask for.

[Majromax]

@Brin:
[L]iquid Biaxin is the worst-tasting substance I have ever had the misfortune to ingest. My parents had a hell of a time getting me to take it.

Worse than Buckley's? That's saying something.

[Froborr]

@TBAT: By the way, I just noticed an issue with the sidebar. The links to Fred's blog and (vic)toria are running together. I'm using IE 7 on Windows XP Professional, so that may be the source of the problem. (Thanks, ridiculously red-tape-laden IT department!)

[The Board Administration Team]

@Froborr: Thanks for letting me know. It shows right for me in SeaMonkey, Firefox and Chrome but when I fired up IE7 (which I don't normally use) they run together.

We don't normally use IE7 so thanks for the catch.

Now off to see if I can crack the coding mystery.

[The Board Administration Team]

@Froborr: Could you do me a favour and check it now? I did a coding tweak and it now looks okay in my IE7 but that doesn't mean it will on yours since I am Windows7 and you are using XP

[Lonespark]

Ok, so, writing down Clonipan to ask psych. about. If it does anything like what you describe, Froborr, it could get me/keep me a job. (There are horrible side effects, right? There always are...)

[Izzy]

@Lonespark: One of the side effects for me is vast short-term memory loss. I can function okay for the most part, even on my own, but I have no sense of continuous memory--I have sort of snapshot images--and am apt to forget details. Also, I get kinda sleepy.

From what Froborr says, this may just be me. And I don't mind, but it's worth noting.

[Froborr]

@TBAT: Yep, working now!

@Lonespark: I don't remember having any side effects, but I was on a small dose and taking it as-needed, which turned out not to be much at all. (After the first couple of times using it, just knowing I had the option to take it was often enough to see me through, without actually needing to take it.)

[Froborr]

I can function okay for the most part, even on my own, but I have no sense of continuous memory--I have sort of snapshot images

This is my normal, unmedicated state, so it's entirely possible Clonipam had this effect on me and I didn't notice.

[Sarah]

Buckley's doesn't actuaslly taste bad; it *burns*, but the flavour itself is not unpleasant compared with most other cough syrups I've tried. It's sort of like drinking a Christmas tree. That's on fire.

I pretty much couldn't pass a job interview until I got on Celexa.

[Nick Kiddle]

The medicine nightmare from my youth was a thing called Pripsen, a powder to kill threadworm that you had to dissolve in a glass of water and drink down. It tasted FOUL. I remember during one outbreak, my dad stood over me for a couple of hours, threatening me with not being allowed to a social event the following day unless I drank the stuff, and I still couldn't bring myself to lift the glass to my mouth. Ugh.

Curiously enough, I was prescribed the same stuff during pregnancy many years later. Either they changed the taste or, maybe more likely, I got better at gritting my teeth and swallowing stuff with adulthood. It still wasn't pleasant, but I got it down first try.

Citalopram, which I'm on at the moment, also tastes disgusting, especially when I try to dry-swallow because I can't find a clean water glass. But it's worked absolute wonders for keeping the suicidal ideation at bay, so on balance I'd call it a pretty good medicine.

[Brin]

Majromax: Worse than Buckley's? That's saying something.

I've never had Buckley's. Why should I buy something that prides itself on tasting terrible when there are other options? (I couldn't be raised with it, since I didn't move to Canada until I was thirteen.)

[Madhabmatics]

So I had the flu. My buddy decided to drive me to the doctor - I left him in the waiting room with a book and the doctor took me back to an examination room that was three medical-bed things separated by curtains.

So he leaves and I'm sitting there waiting and all of the sudden there is a huge commotion. They wheel a woman into the room on a gurney and she's strapped down and crying and the guy with her is crying and the doctors are doing stuff to her, and I'm sitting there very quietly trying to figure out what was going on. Over the course of the emergency I managed to gather from listening in that the couple had been in a rather bad car crash the night before, but since they seemed okay they decided not to visit the hospital. Unfortunately, they were not okay - the woman had sustained internal injuries in the wreck and didn't know about them until the day after, and it was in dangerous territory.

Awkard.

So as they are getting ready to prep her for surgery or whatever, my doctor comes back in, goes "Does your head hurt?" and I said yes. He gave me a prescription and sent me out.

He gave me a prescription for lortab. I'd never had a painkiller outside of surgery. I took the medicine as prescribed. I tripped. You see, I am particularly vulnerable to side-effects that cause drowsiness. Over the course of that week I:

1) Got lost in a two story science building. Unable to find my way out, I resorted to hunkering down and waiting for someone to come by and guide me out. Note: I had been having classes in that building for like three years at that point.
2) Managed to avoid meeting Barack Obama because the night we were arranged to have a small meeting with him, I literally slid across the carpet and slammed my head into a wall.
3) Stopped taking the medicine. The effects didn't go away within six hours. Queue me weeping to my best friend: "I took this medicine and it is going to make me dumb forever!

[Timothy (TRiG)]

Madhabmatics,

I recall you telling me about hallucinations once. Was that the same experience?

TRiG.

[chris the cynic]

The worst is that none of the antidepressants I've ever been put on have accomplished anything. Unless you count one of them, quickly dropped, giving me a facial twitch.

I've just started Cymbalta, hopefully it'll work.

-

Best was probably some over the counter allergy medicines someone gave me when clearing out my sister's apartment in preparation for her moving out. (Dirt, dust, and everything else in the air.) I went from Hell to normal almost immediately upon taking that thing. I didn't think such results were possible

[Madhabmatics]

@TRiG

No, thank goodness. The hallucinations were from good ol' fashioned sleep deprivation, 3-5 days worth.