Medical Ignorance or just plain old LAZY....

This has been bothering me for some time now.

Television advertisements for prescription drugs and over the counter medications.

Here’s how it starts;

You go to your doctor for some issue: Can’t sleep, back pain, allergies, anxiety… whatever the ailment may be. Doc talks to you *if you’re lucky enough to see THE DOCTOR*, writes you a prescription and sends you on your way. You end up at the pharmacy and they fill your meds, talk to you briefly about the drug and off you go. But wait, inside the bag are some papers that give far more info on the drug(s) – did you read these papers, REALLY?  Be honest with yourself here, if you really read these you know they start with scientific mumbo jumbo and towards the end they get busy with side effects and DEATH warnings.

Logically for me this is the part where I decide if these risks are worth taking for some short term relief.

Watch and listen to the commercials carefully *watch them on youtube so you can go back and really HEAR this stuff*, the side effects they speak of in correlation to what the medication is for can be HILARIOUS. 

Viagra/Cialis *male enhancement* side effects include: headache, dizziness, indigestion, back pain, nasal congestion, diarrhea, abnormal vision, ringing in the ears… just to name a few.

*I know when I feel like total crap I want to get frisky… NOT*

http://erectile-dysfunction.emedtv.com/viagra/viagra-side-effects.html

http://erectile-dysfunction.emedtv.com/cialis/cialis-side-effects.html

Cymbalta *for depression* , I am just giving you a link because it depresses me to type all the possible side effects one may experience using this medication. As if you weren’t depressed enough or feeling bad BEFORE you started taking this drug!

http://depression.emedtv.com/cymbalta/cymbalta-side-effects.html

Zoloft *depression*, this one I laugh at not because it is funny but because I actually know someone who exhibits MOST of the side effects yet the doc says it’s ok to take. It states that this drug “has been studied thoroughly in clinical trials, in which a group of people taking the drug have side effects documented and compared to another group not taking the medicine”  yet I have only found short term studies (24 months or less) and people are taking this stuff for YEARS!

http://depression.emedtv.com/zoloft/zoloft-side-effects.html

Celebrex *arthritis/pain*, I will not take this med! If I can’t move that well because of my arthritis and/or pain then I surely don’t want to take this and have a side effect pop up and not be able to RUN for the bathroom!

http://arthritis.emedtv.com/celebrex/celebrex-side-effects.html

There are more prescription medications on the market than I could list here, just Google a drug name and start reading *although that may make you feel sick*.

In my next post I think I'll take a jab at those Medical Lawsuit advertisements we see on television.... everyone's entitled to something, right?