the pharmacy...

well we talked about the pharmecutical industry in class today. I have a lot things to say about it actually. I was worried for my friend who was getting a test done, and basically waiting on some bad news. She kept getting shoved to the back burner by nurses and doctors. Their favorite question: "Well when can you come in???"

My friend would say. "I had to switch my insurance and I wont have any till march. How serious is it?" She got the run around for like three days. Come in come in come in...well...how serious is it? They finally told her to come in sometime in march to do a re-test. Now I'm sure my friend is not at death's door, but still when the question is so serious a straight answer would be nice. It's like doctors have become unfeeling...maybe they have patients every other day who find out they have cancer,but that doesnt make it any less traumatic for the person involved.

I had another friend who was on paxil..paxel? for anxiety because he had panic attacks. He didn't really like the way he felt on the medication and after a long time he decided he would like to get off of it. IT was really expensive and he wasn't having the attacks anymore.

well the doctor refused to get him off paxil saying he needed it. However, this doctor was not a psychologist or psychiatrist..so really how did he know?? This went back and forth of the patient insisting and the doctor refusing until my friend decided to get off the medication himself. Well that was a whole nother story..the stuff was hard to quit and he ended up cutting up little tablets into peices like an addict trying to get off drugs. It says alot about that medication doesn't it? He just couldn't afford it and the doctor wouldn't listen...


Now on how medicine only works 30 percent of the time well I have a complaint about that too! I have been on three different kinds of birth control pills because of the side effects. On the website for all three medications it clearly says that 92 percent of people will not get this side effect. well I did and its a side effect that also suggests worry. It could be something else wrong and its the number one reason women quit using the pill. Terrified i go to the doctor and tell them about my problem. They assure me its fine and I stay on the same medication for over 6 months the entire time experiencing side effects. They have changed me two other times since and it seems like my body is finally accepting this new medication..

but here's one thing that bothers me. When I told the doctor about my side effects their answer was "Oh yes..we see this all the time" Really??? Because the websites say a very few percentage will experience any problems.Yet I have on every medication and i'm not alone. I found a whole livejournal community to confide in all these women taking the medication and dealing with the side effects.

well I wouldn't have had to worry if i knew it was so common but i didnt because the website made it sound impossible and the doctors didn't tell me at first. I guess they dont want to discourage me because like i said its the number one reason women quit taking the pill. Well guess what I should have at least gotten to make that decision myself!