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The VA Hosiptal hands out drugs like trick or treating

Posted , 4 users are following.

jerome83558
jerome83558

I am a veteran and i can't believe how bad my heath as declined since i followed my care provider advice and stopped smoking;which is a good thing.But,I have hypertension real bad while smoking and i really didn't fell a the side effects of my b/p medication.Maybe,the nicotion was blocking the side effects?Anyway,I quit cold turkey foe 6 months now.But,my body has suffered greatly!Now i experience all the unpleasant side effects of 3 different b/p medications.So my care provider decided i hee wisdom to put me on gaba.Why did i take this terrible drug!Lost my good appitite,sleep has took a vacation,my chest hurts all the time and my b/p has been spiking at will now.It never did this even when i was a smoker. Been back and forth to the VA emergency room so much the docs dont even come to see me;they let the lower medicial people tend to me.Told me i have anxiexty.I said "u think".I aaid what have yall given me?I cant sleep,eat and i feel worse now than i ever felt since finding out years ago i had hypertension!Oh no problem lets get you ao Lorazepam!If i only knew.Now,can cant sleep but,i dare not just stop taking this bad boy.Withdrawal can cause death,seizures just a very very bad day for you.Went back to ER told me increase your dose to 300mg 6 times aday!Are yall serious?rold them i am constipated in the ER because,of the gaba.No problem,gave me some "Docusate"a stool softer.I tried to cut a gaba cap in half.Insides went all over rhe place.I regret going to the VA for my health care.I had to stop work because,of a back injury and couldnt go to my family doctor because i lose the health insurance.Alot of our veterans arw being overly medicated and i have personnally wondered how some of them function.This drug is a bad drug and should be banned.

0 likes, 11 replies

11 Replies

  • charlotte1824
    charlotte1824 jerome83558

    Posted

    Poor you, can't you taper down slowly the gaba and get off of it if it is making you Ill? Slow means slow, I read cymbalta patients discarding a bead every day to withdraw with minimal side effects.

    Have you looked into natural supplements and lifestyle changes to lower your blood pressure, bananas contain potassium which lowers blood pressure although you can't really just take a supplement of potassium as that could be very bad for your health but eating bananas should be fine just not to excess.

    I can't offer any real advice I'm afraid. I tried gaba once and didn't take it again as I felt like id taken bad ecstasy.

    • jerome83558
      jerome83558 charlotte1824

      Posted

      hey charlotte!

      I take lisinopril so got to be careful with potassium.Have be contispated since taking gaba.I quit smoking 6 months ago,dont eat fried foods since then,dont drink and do illegal drugs.My body i guess has gotten clean and now its feeling all the side effects of these meds.I was feeling much better when i was smoking!Now i am sometimes so sick from the meds the VA gave me i tried to get them to change them but,they refuse because,when i go to see them my pressure is high.so i just cut pills in half.I brought prune juice but,got to be careful because of too much potassium.But,I am going ro beat this stuff because,i got to stand and trust the lord jesus.They VA have a drug program as well for vets.I have a goiter that was told years ago that the endocrologist found the problem causing my blood pressure to be up.But,i got laid off and lost my health insurance.Now,years later i got insurance and made a appt.So its the loss of sleep and the dizzieness etc.I am Minoxidil also.All these together is a hard and tasking sluth of side effects.But,gonna keep on keeping and trust god and get to these appointments.

      Thanks for caring...

    • charlotte1824
      charlotte1824 jerome83558

      Posted

      Hi Jerome, if you have a goiter then surely you have a problem with your thyroid, a goiter normally indicated hashimotos.

      Should they not be treating this if that's the cause of your high blood pressure? Time to get a new Dr perhaps?

      If you don't feel comfortable taking the gaba then slowly come off them and speak to a pharmacy about an alternative that has less of an impact. Are you on the gaba purely for anxiety? If so there is other choices, elavil is in my opinion a less harsh medicine although not without its side effects and it can be used for both anxiety and chronic pain if that's an issue? I've tried a few things for chronic pain and gaba was awful but i think I had a reaction to it after 1 pill. Lyrica made my heart race to high, topomax made me feel depressed and elavil didn't do a lot but I quit before i was on a dose high enough to really work well. A lot of people have success with elavil or nortryptylin which is its sister med.

      I hope things get better for you

    • jerome83558
      jerome83558 charlotte1824

      Posted

      Thank you charlotte.

      All behind hypertension.aFunny thing.I didnt have all these problems when i was smoking cigarette.I didnt feel allll the side effects of the blood pressure meds.Since i stoppes 7 months ago.I now feel alll the side effects of these blood pressure

      meds!When i do take the gaba.I cut the capsule in half.same thing with loraozapam.. .5 instead of 1mg

  • Holly1974
    Holly1974 jerome83558

    Posted

    Dear Jerome,

    Pleease be aware that either many doctors are failing to pass on the patients what they KNOW about gabapention and pregabalin ( both same CLASS of drug ) or just don't know....I have afetr 5 years evetually WEANED myself off these drugs. I was 1800 mg gabapentin for nerve pain from a bad back ( 3 slipped discs etc), it was amazing for pain relief at first, when I got past first few months of side effects, but 18 months down the line I began suffering effects on my memory and language centres of my brain functionning. It felt like I had Alzheimer's Disease, excpet I was a Medical rep and have a 2:i in Pharmacology, so know better, Thus they kept me in smae class of drugs but swapped me to pregabaln. No better Seide effects I have had, 1. loss of appetite so bad I didn't want to eat anyhitng until got shkay due to low blood sugar, my husband made me ring the hospital and the dr rang me back at home !!, poor concentration on both of these meds, memory problems and problems when typing on PC ( I write letters back to front in centre of words ) ...very odd, but true....forget what I am talking about, ramble on more than I ever used to, and forget why I am doing something ! ....it is the drug. It works on GABA receptors in the brain. They do not fully understand the way it works. SO many times I was told I was imagining it, well know they DO know about it, I am 41 and do not kow how much of my memory function will return. The appetite side effect can go either way, some people put 2/3 stone in weight on, other like you and I lose their appetite....this came back on pregabalin but the memory problems were so bad and getting worse I decided enough was enough. I was feeling embarrassed out when my words elluded me, and its was making depression I get due to chronic pain worse. Hope this helps.

    • jerome83558
      jerome83558 Holly1974

      Posted

      Thanks for getting back holly.So its the gaba thats been messing with my appitite!I can hardly eat a bowl of cereal in thw morning.All i do is stare a this drug in the bottle.I am not going to take anymorw.I mean i stopped once before. Can barley sleep and they had the nerve to give me Lorazepam.Take this and become a addict.Just look it up on the internet.But,thanks for replying and god bless you and your husband.
    • jerome83558
      jerome83558 Holly1974

      Posted

      Bad News..I broke down last night after 3 days of little sleep and took a half of lorazopam.I was told to take 1mg everynight to counteract the side effects from my blood pressue meds.I fall asleep at 2am woke up around 7 something.Um thinking if i take the whole 1mg i would probaly sleep 8 to 10 hours a night.I am working on see a high blood pressure specialist next month.Ans i am confident he can find the curpit of this condition.He suppose to be one of the best.I guess if he is successful,I might have to go to our VA hospital and demand yes demand they put me in there drug treatment program on their hospital campus;to ween me off all the poison the issued to me.I aleast havent had a gabapentin in a week!I cut them in half holley ever sense they were given to me.Never kept taking that 300mg pill!Went to VA eroom because of alllll the side effects.THE NUTS kept asking me "what is your PAIN LEVEL"not thinking i would just said a number between 1 and 10.They used that to diacarge me with directions to "INCREASE MY DAILY DOSE of gaba to 600mg 3times aday!!WHAT!!!I wouldnt be able to function...They dont know how to treat the side effects....But,I will beat this stuff.Gonna take the lorazapam for 5 more weeks at half a pill so it wont be too bad hopefully to stop soon.Hard to make a bowel movement.TRIED almost everything,they gave me DOCUSATE.Nothing.Might try a enema.Or someone said try some virgin olive oil.
    • Holly1974
      Holly1974 jerome83558

      Posted

      HI,

      I was on 600mg 3 times a day, built up to that dose over time each week, there is no real clinical evidence that any dose above 1800mg daily works any more effectively. Drs have told me this, (The only thing that increases beyond 1800mg is side effects. )...I was on this dose a long time, and once the ''wodner pill'' had worn off I was left with terrible memeory problems as I havementioned before....so be wary. I would be mush less concerned about taking lorazepam short term to help you sleep, esp. if you have an appt with a diff dr in the pipeline who may be able to address the issue of your sleep probelms and you shouldn't have any side effects coming off a short term use of lorazepam. Lack of sleep leads to dperession, increased pain, and diff. to work / function properly. I found the memory problems increased over time and  also wwith increased doseage of gabapentin and same with pregabalin. I suffer constipation due to all my meds inc. SR morphine for pain, and as such have tried most of the meds of market, the best one I have found ( most effective ) is a sachet called Laxido ( I get from my drs but you may be able to get OTC from chemists ,unsure ). Lactulose liquid may be of help in minor cases and had very few side effects other than meade me fart a lot ( embarassing ).....I have had 2 diff GPs practices tell me that Laxido Sachets ( mix powder with water and drink quick !! and funny taste ) have cut their need to give patients enemas a lot !!......so if you may need to use for a few weeks I would rec. using one scahet a day at first, and can increase the number of sachets per day depending on how many you need ).

  • Holly1974
    Holly1974 jerome83558

    Posted

    Hi Jerome,

    I get so angry that drs do not share this information with people, I mean I know how many times I told them about the effect on my memory, and was ignored, but I agree with you do not let them give you one tablet to treat the side effects of the other, it gets ridiclulous, I do take 2mg of diazepam 3 times a day due to muscle spasm in my back but as you rightly say I I knew it wouyld happen eventually 2mg has little effect now, as with all this class of drugs the dose has to be put up again and again, they should only ever be used as short term treatments for sleep disroders, eg, afetr a bereavement, etc, certainly not long term as you mention. Thi is the reason all GPs acxross the UK have been under orders to get most of their patients OFF diazepam/ lorazepam, as they were handed out like sweets decades ago and known as ''mummy's little helpers''. No all these old ladies are being withdrawn from these little pills they were possing for years and put on SSRI's ( eg prozac etc ) in place of, which are antidepressants, but can help with sleep patterns if related to depression/anxiety in some patients.

    And yes, SLOW WITHDRAWAL or the potential side effects are hellish, are many people end up going straight back on. It took me 4 months or so from a high dose, I could have gone faster perhaps, but as I live on slow release morphine and other medicines for pain relief I didn't want to upset the apple cart !! I have been off it a month, and no way will I ever go back on it. Good Luck !! Hope you get sorted, feel free to ask me anything else you need to know about these GABA drugs or antidperessants / lorazpeam etc as I worked as a hospital specialist rep for 2 huge companies for 14 years in this area, or have taken myself - thus why I can give the drs a run for their monry and hate being not told the truth !!

    • jerome83558
      jerome83558 Holly1974

      Posted

      thank you.Had to take .5 of the 1mg lorazopam last night.Had to reply to the last post.Had problems with this reply button qould not open up the typing box.sorry.so thats where the reply is for this reply.lolMy wife is hooked on the gaba for feet nerve pain.told me she cant function without them.We are not together but she is my best friend.she the one who told me to cut them in half.instead of take them at 300mg.Holly thats alot of mg for the body.some people taking up to a 1600mg aday??!!
    • Holly1974
      Holly1974 jerome83558

      Posted

      Yes, I took 1800 mg a day , split into doses of 600 mg 3 x a day. Cleearly it took me about 12 weeks to build up to that dose. It was horrid side effects getting to it but my dr wsa insistent it woudl help a lot so I stuck with it, buth with 2 kids and a husband and my pooch, it was a hard job to stick with it !.It was like a magic bullett for maybe 12 months max, then I started to question was by pain getting worse or was the drug becoming less effective. I discovered that just like lorazepam and other drug it is poss. to become tolerant to the dose of gabapentin ( same with pregabalin )....I had just watched the film Still Alice ( Julianne Moore plays a Prof. diagnosed with early Onset Alzheimer's Disease ) - i related to so many of the memory problems I mad my decision leaving the movie theatre, I would decrease my dose slowly, I had taken it for over 5 years !......and see what happened. I am off, I am in lot of pain, but I would say that I am no worse off the gaba. than when I ws taking it. It's an individual thing, but for me at 41 years old, I was sick of feeling like I was losing my marbles as well as being crippled with my back. I am awaiting an appt in 4 weeks time to see a new pain consultant at Leeds teaching hospital, to see if I am a suitable candidate for a non-drug pain relief treatment....we will see.!! Take Care 
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