Pills?

Non-neopets general discussion.

Do you take pills routinely?

No, because I don't need to
16
22%
No, because I can't/don't want to
10
14%
Yes, I take non-prescription ones for allergies/headaches/etc
13
18%
Yes, I take pills for contraceptive purposes
8
11%
Yes, I take prescription medicine
21
29%
Yes, but not in the above categories.
4
6%
 
Total votes: 72

Jazzy
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Post by Jazzy »

if it really messes with your brain chemestry it's as dangerous as any other antidepressant and really shouldn't be self medicated
St John's Wort can also cause hormonal birth control to fail, so it's hardly "harmless".

I would like to point out that you do have to pay attention to the more serious side-effects listed, especially if you are taking the drug for longer than most people would. Minocycline, for example, is a tetracycline antibiotic generally prescribed for short-term treatment of things like pneumonia and certain STDs. When used in the longer term for acne, however, it is sufficiently potent that my doctor required a blood test every six months to check that nothing had happened to my liver. The instruction leaflet glosses over this because it doesn't expect you to be taking it for that long.

Out of curiosity, those of you who're on things for acne- what are you on?
AngharadTy
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Post by AngharadTy »

I'm not on anything for acne anymore, but as a teen, I tried so many things it was ridiculous. Tetracycline for a while, minocycline when that didn't seem to work. Some other pill I don't recall, when the minocycline didn't work, and I think I tried a fourth pill, too. I had two topical medications, too, Retin-A and Cleocin-T. The Retin-A was probably the thing that worked the best out of all of that. And even that wasn't brilliant. The best thing for it was Ortho TriCyclen, which I can't take anymore (I need monophasic), and the other BC didn't work quite as well with the acne, though it was better than nothing.

I also tried various home and OTC remedies; basically, if someone's said, "this is a good acne treatment," I've tried it. The two that worked the best were the olive oil skin care regime (which seems horribly counterintuitive) and washing with no soap at all, only water (also seems horribly counterintuitive).

I kind of want to try Proactiv, now, because I've heard from friends who've tried it that it's great. The price is forbidding, though.
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Zap
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Post by Zap »

The price must be forbidding... only people as rich as Jessica Simpson and P. Diddy can afford it. :o

How much is it, anyway? It's like a monthly thing?
Last edited by Zap on 02 Nov 2006 05:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
Figment
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Post by Figment »

Oh, Crazy Meds definitely has a bias. But so do I, obviously, and I have had for years before I found the website. They do say many times that no matter how much taking the medications sucks, if you need it you do it. It's just a matter of finding the right cocktail, and deciding which you would rather live with: life-threatening insanity or awful drugs. It's one of several good resources for anyone taking psychiatric medications or considering going on or off of them simply because many doctors can not be trusted. I hadn't read the site in a while and just discovered today yet another huge, life-threatening mistake that was made in my medication management by another doctor just this past june.

Extremes are definitely to be avoided in this issue, as with most, but I personally find it difficult to keep from falling into them simply because I have had so many negative experiences both with medications and doctors. In my experience, it is very difficult to find a good doctor, especially as a minor, which is a prerequisite to getting a good combination of pills. You make very good points about the importance of not making judgments based on blog posts, etc, Wings, but at the same time I think it is really important to get the personal side of medications, since most doctors simply do not have that information, or if they do, they do not provide it. What people forget is the sheer variability of responses, I think.

It's good that ambien works for you. Out of all of the many sleeping medications I've had, ambien was actually one of the worst: when I fell asleep it was fine, but just as frequently it gave me terrible hallucinations. My doctor suggested I keep taking it despite. Actually, the only sleeping aid I've never had any trouble with in terms of addiction or side effects is seroquel at low doses. I have read, though, that behavioural therapy is more effective than drugs at treating certain types of insomnia because it lasts, while drugs only work as long as you're taking them. It was an interesting study -- I should track it down.
Last edited by Figment on 02 Nov 2006 04:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
Wingsrising
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Post by Wingsrising »

Oh, yeah. Drug interactions are scary and something a lot of people don't pay nearly enough attention to.

The other possibility besides Wellbutrin that my doctor suggested was the new Emsam patch. I find it a very interesting possibility, because it's supposed to be very good for treating atypical depression. The biggest thing that puts me off it (besides all the hassle involved in changing over) is knowing that probably all it would take is one doctor screwing up somewhere to, well, kill me. Not something I really want to mess around with without experimenting with a lot more stuff first.
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Hoofs
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Post by Hoofs »

Hmm on the subject of Acne pills. I've tried Minocyline, which i was given the highest dose of. I read somewhere that you are supposed to starty on the Tretacyline first. But no my doctor decided that I should start on Minocycline. While it worked for the acne, It caused a shit load of other problems. Like Migrains, Nausea which alwasy resulted in my throwing up and as a result I lost weight. Thowing up everyday will do that to you; Lets see when had tremors, and convulsions and dizzy spells. So all in all Minocylcine is a BIG NO NO! for me atleast. Then I tried Retin- A Micro, what dried my skin out so bad (which is funny casue I have EXTREMELY oily skin) that even my eyelids began to blister from it, and i didnt even put it near my eyes, it worked for the Acne however. But I stopped becasue, id ratehr have acne then look like i had blistered so bad from sitting out in the sun for 48 hours straight with out sun screen.

Proactive dosent work, well it does but it blisters and makes my skin raw. I'm scared to death of Accutane casue of all the bad side affects of stuff I've tried to fix my acne.

Right now Im on Tri-Nessa which is a contraceptive pill that not only regulated my period, cause its seriously out of wack, nothing scares you more then when you randomly stop having your period for like 6 months straight. It also helps with the cramps that used to leave my bed ridden for atleast 3 days every month, with a heating pad or ice pack on my lower abdomen. It has also really helped my acne. And the only side affect is I gained 5 pounds. Which I can easily lose. Also I got this stuff from Bath and Body Works, whien i was in there one day it its like magic, I don't break out at all anymore and there is not acne medication of any kind in it, and it controls the really oliy skin I have which just reacently became oily again after a year off of Retin-A Micro.

As for other medications, I take a cocktail of Allergy medications casue im allergic to everything except foods and medicines, well except for certain acne ones. ^_^ Stuff like grass, pollen, cats, dogs, horses, anything that is an animal, dust... and Cockroaches accordeding to my allergy test which registered off the scale. Go me! I've tried every allergy medication ever made, and i've become ammune to pretty much all of them. Right now i take Clarinex and Singular, cause the block out everything.

I also live on Excedrin and Advil because I suffer from Migrains that are out of this world. My life like shuts down when I get one. They stopped for a while but they've started back. Which isnt good I was enjoying thier absents. I also suffer from a messed up back, which I can thank soccer for that sport totally screwed up my body. So thats another reason for the pain killers.

And thats pretty much it. Oh and becasue of the allergies I constantly suffer from Upper Respitory Infections, and sinus infections and so on and so forth. Wow I really sound like a nerd. So, anti-biotics are my friend. While I do take a lot of medication, I hate it and resent having to take so much but it lets me live a normal life I guess. I pretty much take it so I don't have to sit in a bubble. Well except for the Contraceptve for Acne, but thats becasue in extremely self-conscious.
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lavender
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Post by lavender »

I've been on Lamictal (for depression) since January and it's been great, especially compared to my last precription (Effexor).

That's the only prescribed medication I'm on. Other than that... Ibuprofen, Midol... nothing unusual. No vitamins (although I probably should, hmm).
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PharaonicQuiche
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Post by PharaonicQuiche »

I've been on some form of allergy medication since I was little to counter hay fever, ye ole seasonal allergies. I'm pretty much allergic to every pollen out there. Tree, grass, flower, actual hay, that whole bit. I used to take some sort of liquid and eventually switched over to Benadryl's small pills. Later switched again to Allegra and I'm on that now, but I've found nasal spray usually works just as well to keep the allergy symptoms away during the spring and fall.

Other than that, the only meds I had to take as a kid were for random colds, sinus infections, an ear infection or two. I was pretty pill phobic then. Everything had to be liquids. I probably had one incident of choking on a pill and that was enough to set off the anticipation of choking or gagging again. Kinda sensitive gag reflex, apparently common on my mum's side of the family. Eventually I convinced myself that small pills and capsules were okay, thus the Benadryl and Allegra. But for a long while there, big pills were a big no.

Then after I was finally diagnosed with Crohn's, I was put on Pentasa and Prednisone. Had a couple years' worth of inflammation going on then, lots n' lots of misery. Pentasa's size bothered me when I first saw them, but they were capsules so I figured I'd give them a try. They turned out to be surprisingly easy to swallow if lined up right. On the other hand, I thought Prednisone wouldn't be a problem since they were just lil flat pills. Yeah, uh, no. Pred has a very nasty taste and it tends to linger. Through trial and error, I figured out that I had to place it as far back on my tongue as possible, have some sort of carbonated or flavoured drink ready, and wash it down before it could settle. Which was kinda a split second thing but that worked out.

Let's seeeee. After a while, I had some trouble with anemia from an ulcer in the inflammation bleeding. Took iron and foliac acid. For a brief few weeks, I was on nine Pentasa, three Prednisone, one iron and one foliac acid a day. Whee. Then they tapered the Pred.

And the ulcer ate through a large blood vessel or something. They weren't sure. Knocked my red blood cell down to about a third. :| So I opted for a resectioning of the inflamed section. Took two huge pills the night before that. Some sort of antibiotic deal.

After that, I spent over a year off medication. Back on a smaller dose of Pentasa for maintenance now. I'll take midol or tylenol for the occasional period cramps, iron and vitamin C every so often, B-12 shot once a month with supplements. Ramble ramble.

... At least I never had... acne? :wink:
Saphira
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Post by Saphira »

Well I'm on Aderall XR for my ADHD.(Or it's ADD, I can't remember which.) Then I usually take Claritin, I probably don't need to take it now because it's winter, but I take it anyway, because we think it may help with my alergies concerning cat fur. (Yes, we have a cat even though I'm alergic to cat fur.)
I'm actually not that suprised that we all take so many different meds. When I went to computer camp, about half of the kids I met had ADD or something similar.
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