On Tue, 13 May 2008 23:58:45 -0400, Jim Henderson wrote:

> This is true of many drugs in general, IMHO.
>

Yup, at least here in the USA. Every drug has a theme and a catchy new 
name for a disorder that's been around for a long time. But the one with 
the catchiest words gets prescribed.
 
> Just look at the number of Ritalin scripts written in the 90's in the
> US.  Many of the kids who this (or other ADD-"fighting" drugs) was
> prescribed for didn't actually need it.
> 
> My stepson went to a school for gifted ADD and highly-distractable
> students, many of whom were on various drugs for their conditions - and
> while I'm no MD, it was clear to me that many of them were just very
> active kids with parents who wanted their kids to be "less active".
> There probably was a percentage who actually *needed* the drug, but I
> wouldn't hesitate to say that all of them didn't need it - though I
> certainly wouldn't be the one to decide who got it and who didn't.
> 

I'm afraid that if I commented on this, I would end up ranting. I'll 
leave it as that I agree with you on this point, and lazy parenting seems 
to be a source of a lot of issues.

> Today we have so many new "medical conditions" that we've got drugs for
> it's ridiculous.  "Restless Legs Syndrome"?  Are you f-ing kidding me?
> People who "suffer" from that sound to me like they need to go and get
> some exercise.  (And I do get it from time to time - usually after
> taking Benedryl for my allergies or Tylenol PM - but in both cases, it's
> only the tabs that do that to me - the capsules don't).
> 
> Jim

Some people can't exercise, so I can see the use of the medication. On a 
bad day when I can't walk, my legs get that feeling. And when you can't 
walk with two canes and a decent level of opioid compounds in your blood 
stream, you just aren't going to get that exercise. On the up side, you 
don't notice "RLS" with that level of pain killers, so it doesn't often 
become an issue.

Diphenhydramine HCL(Benadryl) gives me the heebeejeebees, plain and 
simple. Past seeing spots, even the allergy dose has me seeing cats 
walking through walls. Probably why SSRIs give me trouble too, since 
Benadryl begot Prozac begot the rest of the whole mess.


Also funny, seeing a doctor's face when the read 'Allergic to benadryl' 
on a form. They don't know how to process 'allergic to an anti-allergy 
medication'.

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