Rx

column

I’ll sit in a car and hear my friends talk about dealing Adderall. I see people mix prescription drugs with alcohol and watch as their faces progressively go blank and the surrounding world becomes a hieroglyph to them. And them my schoolmates might catch a glimpse of my pills while I dig through my purse, and I hope they’ll have enough sense to keep their mouths shut. And I wish these people knew how dangerous taking prescription drugs actually is.

Perhaps I am a bit biased. Like several of my peers, I take prescription drugs. However, unlike many of the people I know, I am actually prescribed to them and have no intention of giving any pills away. I have become a victim of side effects; my antidepressants give me migraines, have control over what I eat because they make me nauseous, make me overly tired and cause me to go through my days with dizzy spells.

Forgetting to take my pills is the worst �" on the days I forget, I’m incredibly moody and I spiral out of control, suffering from anxiety attacks, stomach pain, self-enforced seclusion, hunger strikes, and whatever other schemes to punish myself I can come up with. My antidepressants have even made me suicidal. Although my medication has seriously muted my depression and anxiety, there is nothing that I want more than to be independent of them, and I daydream myself sick wondering if I will ever see an age where I won’t have to take serotonin-producing pills to experience happiness.

            I am incredibly embarrassed of my medication; the face that I can’t even produce hormones that so many people have makes me feel subhuman, like a monster. I understand that life can seem dull and that others try to shake things up by taking prescription drugs, but I wish they knew how dangerous they actually are. If you think they’re harmless, then you’re wrong. My drugs mess up my life, and I’m actually prescribed to them.

            So I’ll leave you with some enlightenment that only a prescription drug veteran can give you: prescription drugs aren’t so great at all. Taking prescription drugs that you aren’t prescribed to is stupid and dangerous �" and not to mention illegal. They don’t even work for a few months anyway, so your effort to experience any reaction is futile. And if you are prescribed to your meds, never, never never give them away, no matter how persistent other peoples’ wants are. Not only is it a felony that translates as 15 years in prison, but giving away your medication is also a terrible thing �" I hate the life of migraines and dizziness that my pills have given me. Would you want your friends to go through something like that? I surely know that I wouldn’t. 

Reviews

[grady sedgwick]

some good writing here, but didn't notice the word column at the top until i finished. was thinking, this is not much of a story, no story elements, but as an advice column, ok, you did a good job.

"the face (fact) that I can’t even produce..."

best,
grady