Is Our Drug Supply Safe?

I have been wrapping up my CE’s.  I only put them off until the last minute cause I meant to!  I thought I would share one of them.  It made me never want to take another pill for the rest of my life!

“I was working on the Munson case when she walked in.  Tall, blonde, lips like a cinnamon bagel.  Yeah, she was trouble and I was needin a little more trouble.

‘I have a case for you’ , she purred like a pink kitten.

‘Not takin any cases right now.’

‘You’ll take this one.  It has you written all over it.’

‘Look, Doll, I run a serious business here.  I ain’t got time to follow ’round the husband so you’se can take ‘im to the cleaners.”

She moved in closer, smelling of spring and satin sheets.

‘I’ll take the bait, Darling.  I’m not married.’

‘Then whattaya here for?  A pretty dame like you could have any poor schmuck falling all over himself to help you.’  I lit a cigarette and gestured for her to take one.

‘No thanks, I’d rather suck on a tail pipe’  She clicked her heels two short steps and pulled a folder from her coat. ‘Look at this.’

I opened the file, intrigued.  Drugs, money, overwhelmed FDA personnel, Chinese corruption.  I snapped it shut.

‘Miss, this ain’t a case, it’s a bomb, and it would destroy you and me both.  Now, be a good girl and take that thing outta here.’

‘Don’t patronize me.  I didn’t pick you out of the Yellow Pages.  I came here because I know who you are and what you are not.’

‘Oh yeah?  Who am I?’

‘You are Joe America, and you are not a coward.’

My palms began to sweat.  She floated around to my side of the desk.  Leaning in close, she stared into my soul, searching.  I broke her gaze.

‘Lady, I haven’t taken cases like these in years.  It’s too big, too much.  I only take the ones I can win.”

She pulled my face back towards hers.  Softly, she pressed her lips to mine.  When she drew away she smiled.

‘Who…are…you?’  I stammered.

‘The name’s Liberty Justice and all that  implies.’  She stood up and glided toward the door.  She turned, smiled, and walked outta my life.

LOL’s!!!!!!

Anyway, the paper I had to read was about how China makes most of the active ingredients in our medications.  The FDA has their hand’s tied and cannot inspect everything that comes in our ports.  Yeah, so, I don’t trust our drug supply at all.

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Medical Monday: A Partial Pathetic admission on Yaz

I’m not a fan of synthetic hormones. That should be no secret by now.  Not because I am Catholic (I’m not), and not because I think they are mean, not because I kissed a boy behind a magazine.  Just was never a fan.  I had the Depo shot once after Jacob.  I felt three months pregnant for a year.  A scattering of times after that, I would try the Pill, and find that I did not enjoy it, and would quit.  After Jon and I started to try to have kids, we soon found out that I didn’t need it anyway.  Getting pregnant was TOUGH.

As I began my journey into the pharmacy, I learned a lot about hormone replacement therapy and the like.  I began to dread my future.  Taking a pill that consisted of a pregnant mare’s urine did not appeal to me in the slightest. Women are pumped full of hormones from their first zit to the last chin hair.  It’s nuts.  I am not about doing away with the pill, I think if used properly, it is an acceptable option in the family planning arsenal.  (Would much rather dispense pills than increase abortions, TYVM.) But the fact that women accept them part and parcel as a rite of passage into womanhood, is kinda frightening. Not to mention all the junk ending up in our water supply! (Moobs galore!)

Almost one year ago, I was given one month’s sample and a prescription for Yaz.  I was having some spotting after exercising vigorously.  (Running and anything involving Jillian Michaels.) So my doc touted these new pills as the greatest thing ever.  I wouldn’t gain weight, I would feel great.  Hell, I might even want to stay on them past the three-month trial run.

I took them for a week and a half.  Then I almost died.  After not dying I spent months feeling like I was going to die. After that, I spent months afraid symptoms would return.  In the end, my doctor said I was anxious, the ER got tired of seeing me, and I was left with wonky heartbeats and sheer terror. I had so many x-rays and CT scans I should be glowing.

Turns out I was not alone, I found website after website where women experienced what I had and were told it was nothing.  Anxiety.  Agoraphobia. Paranoia. Only a few had a nurse or doctor who admitted there was a problem with the birth control pills containing drospirenone. Some never got an answer because they dropped dead. Many found their gall bladders destroyed. Most had clots that had rapidly formed in the legs and rocketed into the lungs. Hundreds of women on each site, all with stories identical or worse than mine.

Imagine the surge of optimism when I saw this headline on CNN.com. “Blood Clot Risk Higher in Newer Birth Control Pills, Study Finds”.  Yeah, then I read it.

‘Bayer, the maker of Yaz, challenged the study’s methodology and the databases used,  saying that they “provide less reliable conclusions than are available from existing scientific evidence.’ ”

Of course.

“According to Bloomberg News,  6,850 lawsuits  were pending in the U.S. as of February 1 over alleged injuries and deaths as a result of the use of Yasmin, Yaz, or generic versions of the drugs.”

To Bayer, all those women are lunatics and liars I guess. The stuff is not safe.  It should be pulled from the market.  I am just so very thankful that my family did not have to sue on behalf of me because I left this world too early.  I will write a post one day that fully explains what happened to me.  Because the findings on all of my tests were inconclusive I was not able to sue.

Medical Monday-Nettie Pot-pourri

Oh man, I picked up a doozy somewhere.  My face feels like I have been swimming in an over chlorinated pool.  All day.  Maybe all week.Stuffed up, clogged sinuses.  It hoits! (I bet the foul disease was lurking on a WalMart shopping cart, just waiting for me!)

Thanks to a certain medication induced condition, I cannot drink, or take anything that gets my heart revved up.  So, I am left with my trusty nettie pot and packets of Neilmed Sinus Rinse.

I used it twice last night.  I did manage to get some relief, great relief actually, the first go round.  The wonderful sensation of free breathing lasted only 15 minutes.  It was a good 15 minutes. About an hour later, I broke down and did it again.  That time, one side was SO plugged up, the rinse went nowhere.  Just ran back out the same side I was pouring it into.

I found a jar of Vick’s and just started coating the inside of my nose and upper lip.  Then I collapsed into bed.  Didn’t do a lot a sleeping.  Just mouth breathing.  All night.  I also forgot to brush my teeth.  At about 5:30 am I gave up and got out of the bed.  I am sure Jon appreciated my green cloud of morning breath following me out of the  bedroom.

Any suggestions for me?  Some old farts at the pharmacy used to swear by this stuff:

Okay, this stuff scares me!  I’ll bet it works!  It probably blows up your sinus passages.  I may get desperate enough to try it.  The guys we ordered it for swore by it.

From the website:

Alkalol is a unique blend of naturally antiseptic ingredients, including: Purified Water (USP); Menthol; Eucalyptol; Thymol; Camphor; Benzoin; Oils of Wintergreen, Spearmint, Pine, and Cinnamon; Potassium Alum; Potassium Chlorate; Sodium Bicarbonate; Sodium Chloride; Alcohol (2/100 of 1%); Caramel Color. Alkalol is preservative free.

See all that minty crap?  Thats gotta burn!

Okay, your turn.  Help!