denim

Well, B5 was a decent show for a few seasons, but the perils of series production really fucked it over.

Really, I get my attitude WRT meds from long, fairly intimate, exposure to doctors, from paying attention, from READING those little paper slips which come with various meds, from asking LOTS of questions, and from seeing the results of a fuckup at times. Meds are nothing to fuck with if you don't know what you're doing. You can really hurt yourself.

Basically, if you want to be safe, make sure your doctor knows what you're taking over the counter, including any herbals, before she gives you a prescription, ask questions about the new med, ask questions about alternative meds, ask questions about alternative dosage strategies, ask questions about alternative meds' dosage strategies if appropriate, ask questions about the relative benefits of taking nothing versus the various meds, and get all your prescriptions filled at the same pharmacy. That last is to allow for a final check for any likely medication conflicts, 'cause the pharmacist can sometimes catch stuff, but only if he's aware of all the meds you're taking.

And yes, I've seen what can happen if you don't have at least one person (doctor or pharmacist) who knows what's going on. She survived, but it wasn't a fun experience. I was there for most of it, other than the activated charcoal flush. I skipped that part, by request of what remained of her intellect during the episode.

She'd been going to different (specialty) doctors, getting scripts she was having filled by nearly random pharmacists, and eventually, either it caught up with her or some unknown person slipped something in her water. No way to prove either hypothesis. Either way, she had a kind of psychotic episode, which lost her her job and scared the shit out of her husband. Would you like something like that, or worse ('cause I think they were fairly lucky) to happen to YOU, or YOUR MATE? Or your child??