Calm Down Pills

As many of you know, I am a transplant from the northeastern part of the United States. I now live in the West. One of the things that surprised me was the attitude towards health care. Maybe it was just the people that I knew back home but we as patients were very involved with our own health. We researched our symptoms before seeing a doctor. We researched our diagnosis and prescriptions after we had seen a doctor.
Each new doctor I see has the unpleasant task of learning that about me. I should say here that as I get older and the doctors get younger it gets a little easier. They seem to enjoy that I know what I’m talking about. By the way, I used to hate being thoroughly examined by a doctor who was the same age as my husband. It gets much harder when the doctor is the same age as your son!
This past year, I was suffering a multitude of symptoms. Because of my fibromyalgia and being of menopausal age, the blame was placed squarely on them. As symptoms worsened, I realized that more was going on. I began researching. I went to my next appointment with a list of symptoms and the diagnosis that fit- low thyroid activity. He was impressed, did the test and yes, my thyroid was whacky.
I share this as a preface to my next story. This was a time that I did not do the research! I was in the middle of some very heavy emotional stuff. It was coming at me in several directions. My doctor suggested a tiny pill called “Xanax”. He told me that it was a “calm down” pill given most often to people who are afraid of flying to help them through the flight. It sounded reasonable. At the time, I had never heard of it before.
I had a particularly hard court appearance to make. I was a wreck. I took a couple. During the procedure, my lawyer kept telling me to calm down. Okay, I thought, I must not have taken enough. I took another. I became more agitated. Each time my lawyer whispered, “Calm down!” I took another tiny white pill. By the time the procedure was over, I wasn’t sure who or where I was.
Have you ever seen the movie “Six Days and Nights”? The plane is flying through a storm and Anne Heche is taking pills. Those were the same pills! Remember how she was acting? YUP! My lawyer was furious, my husband confused and I stumbled to the car to pass out!
My next appointment I asked about the pills. I was told that they have the same effect as alcohol!! Thanks a lot!! This I should have known, don’t you think? More is definitely not better. And alcohol, when I drank it thirty-something years ago did NOT have a calming effect. Quite the opposite!!
I threw them away. Now, I understand that particular medicine is one of the hottest drugs on the street. I can see why! Lesson learned- NEVER put something in your body that you don’t know anything about!
That’s the view from my side of the street, what’s yours?