Is that the drugs talking?
How often have we heard, “That’s not like Obi Wan Kenobi (of Star Wars). It must be the booze talking”? It’s common and expected. We all seem to understand that alcohol often does things that changes a person’s personality. Gentle individuals can become belligerent, and folks who are usually polite and spiritual can start swearing like a trucker. When the effects of the alcohol wear off, old Obi Wan returns to his normal state, until he decides to imbibe once again.
But, do we hear someone explain another person’s behavior as, “that’s the antidepressant talking”, “that’s the stomach medicine talking”, or “he’s sleepy because of his cholesterol prescription”?
Probably never. In my experience it’s far more likely that a person’s behavior is commonly altered by one or more of the drugs they are using, but not attributed to the drugs. Although not every drug causes significant changes, bad things happen. As the number of chemicals and drugs increase, the likelihood for a problem increases, often dramatically.
Drug side-effects can be mild or severe, but there is little doubt they happen. The potential side-effects are spelled out in every drug package. To make matters more complicated, most who use prescription drugs are using non-prescriptions drugs. Sometimes, they combine recreational drugs, alcohol, or tobacco, all of which can have negative effects.
Our bodies are not equipped to operate with unnatural (foreign) chemicals circulating through them. Although they may be helpful over the short run, long-term drug usage, prescription or otherwise, often will bring about numerous unpleasant changes, from additional aches, pains, or skin eruptions, to frank personality changes and mental aberrations.
No drugs are safe for all individuals all the time, and the toxicity from a drug changes over time and in different environments. So what? Chances are that you or someone close to you is using one or more drugs, every day. Any personality or mental changes, however slight, may be associated with one or a combination of those drugs. It’s usually undetectable, but we never know what might trigger a more serious outburst. Think of the increasing number of reports of crazy actions that, just aren’t like the Mikey Milquetoast we’ve known and loved.
There aren’t any drugs that are fully safe and effective and some of the most serious negative effects show up only after the drug has been in distribution to the larger market. Some individuals get paid to test drugs, but there is no way any drug company can do enough tests to assure the drug works as safely as possible. After minimal testing, the products hit the market, and that’s when the serious problems gain attention. Millions of test subjects purchase the drugs and hope for the best. When things go bad our FDA (Food & Drug Administration) recalls the product, which is certainly not a rare occurrence.
Ask your doctor and pharmacist for information about every drug you use, and have them tell you about the possible interactions between your drugs and other substances you may consume. It takes effort, but you will be spared hearing stories that, “Jabba didn’t really shoot the neighbor’s cat. It was the drugs that pulled the trigger.” Be mindful that drugs act differently on different individuals.
Larry Frieders is a pharmacist in Aurora who had a book published, The Undruggist: Book One, A Tale of Modern Apothecary and Wellness. He can be reached at thecompounder.com/ask-larry or www.facebook.com/thecompounder.