Quote from muztang777:

It all comes down to who you trust. Your doctor or some people you have never met on a message board :-)

I agree with ya... I think the dose I was taking was way too much... I wish I would have known better back then not to have taken that much... But I trusted the Dr.... I think a low dose of Dexadrine shouldn't hurt.. But that's for a doctor to decide.... :wave:

I agree too, but only to a certain point. Doctors only go by drug co's claims/info when it comes to drugs. Doctors can not know everything, they are too busy to know every detail of these drugs.

We ourselves must educate ourselves to what meds do, thank goodness for the internet. Between the mix of personal experiences (posters) and legitamite reasearch/articles out there, it's been a godsend.

I trusted doctors when they said I did not have a bad reaction to some codiene prescribed for a cold and went through a form of withdrawals. Believing this, I allowed them to prescribe benzodiazepines, which soon proved to cause even more harm in the form of tolerance, tolerance withdrawals and new, withdrawal symptoms I did not have previously.

Of course, I did not know this at the time and soon I was moved on to a psych doc who tried that liver-killing drug Serzone on me(caused more woe),other benzos. I decided time to get on the internet and find out what all this crap was, since I seemed to get worse and worse as the months went by instead of better. At one point I thought I would either die or go insane. I wasn't suicidal at all(always been an upbeat person), but frankly, I didn't care if I lived.

I found the benzo withdrawal sites; people on there were telling my exact story. But what was surprising to me, it wasn't just people telling their story, the sites had actual research references, and one site was full of professional and doctor articles, including a manual by a Dr. Ashton. I found out the brain damage those drugs can do. I had a very protracted withdrawal, but I can safely say today it was worth it to get off that crap!!!! All I did was let doctor's do their job and they almost killed me.

So although I admire and respect all the medical advances these days in aleviating and curing certain diseases, I take drugs that mess with brain chemicals and base themselves on theory as not worthy of that respect.

Two drugs they tried on me during my tolerance to benzo included Serzone and Zyprexa. Both now are facing lawsuits, Serzone for liver disease and Zyprexa for diabetes/diabetic coma. Thank goodness I didn't stay on them long. I may have had not only my sanity, sleep and mind saved by listening to someone besides my doctors, but also my very health.

So, I think you can trust doctors to a point but other profession research and personal experiences outside the "mainstream" should also be considered.

I value my health and my children's alot more than someone's little framed piece of paper hanging on their office wall. I consider myself very lucky at this point, mind and health intact again. So if I want to pass on what I have learned,...... not only from my own experience but from others and also many professsionals who really champion for the truth for the sake of peoples sanity and good health.......I will no matter what anyone else thinks, because my concience will not allow me to be silent about it.

Quote from muztang777:

Two drugs they tried on me during my tolerance to benzo included Serzone and Zyprexa. Both now are facing lawsuits, Serzone for liver disease and Zyprexa for diabetes/diabetic coma. Thank goodness I didn't stay on them long. I may have had not only my sanity, sleep and mind saved by listening to someone besides my doctors, but also my very health.
QUOTE]
BLESS YOUR HEART !!! THANK GOD YOU GOT OFF OF THOSE MEDS BEFORE YOU HAD ANY DAMAGE... TAKE CARE SWEETIE... HUGS.... :angel:

Thankyou, and bless your's too for warning others about what happened to you. Good health wishes for your future... :)

Quote from Andocrates:

The herbal drug business is a $5 Billion a year racket. So they operate on the same concepts you accuse doctors of, more so when you realize doctors make a lot of money already. I think herbal medicines are far more toxic then FDA approved medicines. Ecstasy started as a supplement to promote well-being (which it certainly did) There are often extremely high levels of mercury in Fish Oil supplements and sea weed. Ephedra was only banned after it destroyed many lives, not only in America but more so in Japan and China. Many of these things Ginko Baloba can cause internal bleeding, potassiam levels that can kill. There are so many risks to that lifestyle. It's your choice of course, but it's far from "natural."

Hey sweetie, just trying to help. But for your information, fish oil isn't an "herb". I agree, some herbs can be toxic in concentrated form, the strongest herb I take myself is chammomile tea, which is so mild it isn't funny.

Mercury? THis is why you get a good brand, pharmaceutical grade which are purified. Or, there is also a brand, Nature's bounty, which is from salmon. Salmon is one of the fish that has no mercury, most charts on mercury show "ND", meaning non-detectable.

I am more into food supplements; now, even vitamins can be toxic but I'm sorry dear, you really have to be a nut to get to that sort of level (yes, there are mega-dosing nuts out there) You just won't have any problems if you take as directed, and most vitamins just wash through the system that aren't needed except for only a few like Vit. A and E.

Pharmaceutical psych drugs are another story. They are extremely toxic, even in theraputic doses. If they weren't, you could get them over the counter.

As far as the whole racket thing goes, many vitamins/herbs are made by, guess who, pharmaceutical labs. THey got everyone. At least most herbs will not cause the damage pharmas will; ephedra was an exception.

For every ephedra incident, there are several pharmaceutical counterparts. Pharma drugs have more incidents of damage compared to anything over the counter. The commercials by all these lawyer's firms are always showing up because of yet another pharmaceutical drug that is under lawsuit.

The latest I know of are Zyprexa, for causing diabetic coma and diabetes and Neurontin, for suicidal feeling and idealization. Both are psychoactive drugs used for mental "disorders".

I like how you used potassium levels as an example of a side effectof ginko, since my mother in law just had the same problem that put her in the hospital, but it wasn't Ginko that caused it,(she doesn't take that), it was a PRESCRIPTION her doctor gave her. Oh my. ;)

And internal bleeding??? What about that drug they advertise on T.V that can cause that very thing? They even mention it on the commercial as a serious side effect!

So don't preach about herb dangers to me, :nono: they are far less likely to cause harm than prescriptions by a landslide dear!!!!