Drug Education

I created a series called creative medicine to warn people about the dangers of different prescription drugs. This is not at all an encouragement to use them. Quite the opposite. I learned wrong. I still have to take some. I try to take as few as possible. Lots of vitamins helps to make up the difference. My hope is that by educating Greenville County, I can avoid lots of pills out there. I can avoid doctors getting script happy. 

Minipress (Prazosin)

I'll never forget Mini press. This is some highly dangerous stuff. The red pills. It decreases adrenaline. Makes you think things are ok. deactivates fight or flight. decreases nightmares for some people. BUT WHEN YOU COME DOWN... shit gets real. suddenly you're freaking out and can't stop. Nothing makes it stop. That's probably why they dye it red. it's an alpha-blocker. primarily for blood pressure. Beta blockers are safer, less powerful. The blue pills. Propranolol. 

Gabapentin

    Gabapentin is a drug that I have strong feelings about. That stuff can get pretty crazy. Disinhibits behavior like alcohol. I start doing all sorts of crazy stuff. This one is scary. Mostly used for seizures, but also for shingles and off label for anxiety. Long term use, especially at high doses, can (in my experience) lead to muscle spasms, phantom sensations, and a loss of awareness.

Benzodiazapines

    Benzos are classified as anti-anxiety medications, but they can be used for some other things like sleep, or I think as add ons for seizures or akathisia, for example. Some benzos are valium, tranxene, ativan, xanax, and klonopin. 

    These meds have become slightly less popular for a few different reasons. Firstly, they are addictive. Secondly, they decrease alertness. Thirdly, they have certain long-term effects, primarily in memory, attention, and overall cognitive functioning. These effects can be permanent, regardless of whether the drugs are stopped. Can you guess how many of those Benzos I have tried? of the ones listed above only, I have tried all but xanax. These things are dangerous. They change your perception. 

    The hippocampus encodes memories based on emotional intensity. When you're on a benzo, it calms you and everything is just groovy. Decreases the intensity. What will you remember? How well will you function on the drug, and once discontinued? It also slows down your learning. You adapt more slowly because it slows down the neural transmissions via the GABA system. Benzos truly are dangerous. 

    When they talk about substance abuse and addiction... I was on a lot of meds by prescription. My use of prescription meds was not safe. That's why I talk about the meds. It's important that I talk about the meds. How dangerous they are. It reminds me not to take them. I still keep ativan. But only for when I need to go near hospitals. I can't go near memorial without freaking out. I was never into opioids, thank God. But drugs like benzos, alpha blockers, gabapentin, mirapex, and perhaps amantadine... some of these drugs are quite dangerous. clozapine numbed me out, making me unaware of how I was affecting others and how my mind was adapting to the world. Without natural emotional response, I wasn't learning about the world.