I tend to have problems
sleeping at night. I’m not an
insomniac, but for some reason,
no matter when I try to
go to sleep, I only get about
six hours of rest at best.
Sometimes I can’t sleep at all,
and I had one of those nights
only a few days ago. So when
I gave up trying to sleep early
in the morning, I got out of
bed, grabbed a cup of coffee
and lit a cigarette at the
kitchen stove. My mom was
already awake and doing the
same and asked me what’s
wrong. I told her I couldn’t
fall asleep and she suggested
that I should try one of those
sleeping medications that are
advertised every other TV
commercial.
For some reason America
has become a country where
no matter what problem you
have, there’s a pill for it. It’s
absolutely disgusting. I’ve
seen firsthand what prescription
pills do to people, prescribed
to them or not. Right
now I have a brother and an
uncle in methadone clinics
because of oxy cotton addictions,
I know people that
vomit every time, every single
time I see them because
they’re abusing their prescribed
“medicine” and it
makes me sick. Not the puking,
the dependence.
One friend of mine was prescribed
Xanax for his depression
which I personally
thought was a horrible idea.
Everyone gets a little blue
now and then, some more
than others, I’m no exception;
but I swear to you that when
he took those little blue pills
he was more depressed then
when he was clear headed. I
think that’s a bit odd, that my
friends’ doctors prescribed a
“cure” for his depression
actually made him more
depressed.
The next time a pill commercial
comes on pay attention
to the side effects. If that
pill is supposed to cure your
depression one of the side
effects is suicidal thoughts.
Isn’t the pill supposed to suppress
that particular urge? Is
it just me? Am I missing
something? Was a memo sent
out explaining this logic
while my fax machine was
busted?
And it gets a lot worse than
that. I’m sure by now a good
number of readers have seen
a commercial addressing the
new disease of the year, restless
leg syndrome. Watching
“The Daily Show” on
Comedy Central John Stewart
addressed this new illness
sweeping the nation, and he
played a clip of the commercial
when they were going
over the side effects.
Increased gambling; that was
one of the side effects of the
pills that will “cure” you of
your restless legs at night. At
the time I thought that that
was just a joke, but a few days
later, a commercial came on
for one of those pills and my
jaw dropped. Increased gambling,
you’ve got to be kidding
me! It really is one of the
side effects. What on earth are
they putting into those pills
that could increase your
desire to gamble?
It’s unbelievable, and
another thing that always irks
me about all of those prescription
drug commercials is
the line at the very end, “tell
your doctor about so and so.”
I think the comedian Richard
Jeni said it better than I ever
could, “If you’re telling your
doctor which pills you want
doesn’t that make him a drug
dealer?”
When someone goes into
the doctor’s office and tells
them that they can’t sleep
they’ll reach right for their
prescription pad and start
writing. But before they try
giving you pill that you can’t
even pronounce, maybe they
should suggest that you try
working out a little and to
reduce the caffeine you’re
taking in. Or perhaps maybe
trying to pick up a job that’s a
little more physically
demanding, that will tire you
out.
Personally, the only pills I’ll
be taking are my allergy pills
during the spring and antibiotics
when I’m deathly ill.