832 93 How Can You Tell If You Are Taking A Placebo Of The Medication You Used To Take
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My doctor and I had discussed my quitting taking Clonopin 0.5 mg. as I have taken for so long, so he told me he would submit a placebo at some time without telling me. Got my RX filled and keep sweating and getting headaches. Could this be from the placebo as the pill looks and has the same imprint as the original one I was taking. How can you tell?
Re: Fedup (# 13)
I hope that you have followed up and resolved these issues. First of all, Id like to say that if you are a cancer patient you should be able to get meds but if you are having a hard time because you have been on it for a long time, then you have to get your MDs to refer you to a pain clinic.
The most important thing is your relationship with your physician. I know they are difficult, but we have to remember that there are many issues that they face. Doctors are there to help patients, but some of them, like the rest of us, dont always have the best bedside manners. We are all human.
Find a physician that you feel you can trust, if you cant trust him or her, just be clear about your fears, and just ask them to be honest. Don’t blame them for doing things such as prescribing medications you think are placebos, simply because you are having different responses to medications at different time.
There are poor doctors out there. I live in Montreal now and the healthcare system here is a nightmare. I went to the doctors the other day and the MD started asking me intake notes, asking me questions he already has. I noticed he didnt have my folder, and then he couldnt give me the results of my blood tests, and I had been waiting six months for those results! In any case, I was upset, but I didn’t say anything. If I complained, it would have appeared as though I was the one that was wrong, when clearly, he had messed up, or a secretary had, or someone.
Finding an MD that you can trust is very important. IF you are honest and find that your relationship with your physician has simply broken and cannot in any way be fixed, then ask him or her to refer you. IF the use of placebos is involved, then ask him or her if he will promise you that he/she will no longer prescribe them. If they cannot do that, then you probably should go somewhere else.
Re: Fedup (# 13)
Unfortunately some addicts and some crack pot doctors have made it difficult for legit patients to receive help. Guns are killing more people than pills. But let’s not address that. Am 63. Never been on drugs. Have a 91 year old Dad living with me. But do you think they’ll give you anything for stress ? No way. So I’ve since had a heart attack that was stress related. But you government people keep catering to the low lifes that have always made it bad for the legit people in life that need help.
Re: Jl (# 52)
I post the facts and laws because they provide answers.
It is illegal for a pharmacy to dispense a drug with something different that what is on the prescription container the patient received when they got their prescription filled.
When a child or someone else overdoses on a medication. The ER has to know what the substance is to try and prevent injury or death. Providing the wrong treatment can be dangerous or deadly. If a patient is treated for an over dose and the medication is a placebo. It could be deadly to the patient. That is one of the reasons the name and dosage of the drug dispensed has to be accurate and on the container it came in from the pharmacy.
If a patient could not read what their doctor wrote their prescription for. They can look on the label of the contained it was dispensed in from the pharmacy. If they still have doubts. They can google the imprint. If they still have doubts. They need to consider seeing a psychiatrist.
Re: tinker bell (# 3)
I AM HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM WITH MY VALIUM. iT SEEMS LIKE ITS A PLACEBO.BECAUSE ITS NOT WORKING OR HELPING MY ANXIETY AT ALL. wHAT CAN I DO?
You know when you can tell when the government is losing..when you have one name in group conversation that consistently quotes law..and has been at the beginning..they truly believe we're all stupid.
Re: BL (# 24)
BL it seems you have all the law abiding answers..maybe your trolling for the corrupt medical industrial complex
TEVA diazepam is completely inafective. I question the efficacy of this drug! After many years on diazepam, I just had my Rx filled with TEVA brand. 10mg...nothing, then took 20mg...nothing but a headache. Had some other generic diazepam and it worked like it should. This is not the first complaint of TEVA pharmaceuticals. I’ve heard of and read about SIMILAR experiences with this company. As a healthcare provider, the negative reviews of their products are CORRECT.
Re: oldhipichk (# 48)
Look on your prescription bottle. Under Federal Law the name of the medication in the bottle has to be on the label.
I am sure my doctor prescribed a placebo in place of my morphine sulfate ir. I also get er's, so thank goodness I haven't really suffered the drug sickness so bad as if they dropped me completely. However, the pain has been just excruciating. Even my husband asked if I thought they wrote me a sugar pill, because I have just been staying in bed, on the couch, or sitting in 1 place in my wheelchair, and not productive at all. I'm a crafter, and am always doing some kind of project but its taken all my energy just to live in my skin!
I almost always have a few of my meds left, at the end of each month, and I take the pill bottles and throw them in the hall tree seat. Well today, after 5 weeks of being miserable, I thought, I'm going to try to take one of my old meds I had left. Complete peace. And I finished a project I have been working on. So those pills, if they were the same, why would the old ones work and not the newest ones?!! I can get thru the next 2 weeks, (hopefully!!) and hopefully, my tolerance will be lowered and my meds will work even better than before. But if the next scripts are just more of the same, then I def need to find a new doctor! Oh, and my pills are just plain white little pills, the usual writing isn't on them. There is usually a line on 1 side, and some numbers on the other. I compared to my old ones.
Also, when I saw my doctor almost 2 months ago, they also dropped my pills by 30 pills a month. So when I saw them the other day, I explained that I was sure it was the doc who lowered my meds after my id doc told them I wasnt healthy enough to risk an infection by getting their inj's., (that baylor neurosurgeons said would do me absolutely no good, anyways!), but it was the pa who handed them to me, and I thought I could trust the medical professionals I trust to take care of me, and didnt feel like I needed to study my scripts, or count my meds. And I mean, surely, if they were changing my meds, they would have told me this. But not a peep was mentioned. Luckily I do not take as many as they prescribe, or id of run out of the ir's, a week early! After being completely puzzled at where my medicine went, I finally figured out they dropped 30 pills a month! On my own. I felt like that was terribly unethical, but what can we really do? If we make too much noise, they will cut us off completely. So its like I told them... Since I am at their mercy as to what meds I get each month, whether its enough to be productive, or not, it is, what it is, and I can do nothing about it. So I would appreciate the honesty, at the very least!!! I also told the entire office that I never ever wanted to see that pa again, and found out that my name was put on a list of many others who also refused to see her!! If it gets too bad, I will just have to come up with an alternate plan of attack!!
Best of luck to everyone. I know that, if you are reading this, on this site, then you are probably feeling as crappy as I am, and searching for anything you can do to make it stop. My prayers will go to all who read this, that you find peace, and are able to live in your skin without suffering so badly.
The sweating and headaches are probably from benzo withdrawal, which would make perfect sense if you were given a placebo, especially considering your long term use.
How can I test a medication at home to see if it's a placebo?? Can I place it in anything, like the test people do with vinegar and vitamins? Is there anything I could use to find out if the pill is a placebo without going to an expensive lab?
Re: Mo (# 6)
A lot of it is you building a tolerance, before I got insurance, I was getting my pills on the street, and it was so relaxing when I finally found some, sometimes I'd have to go without for a week or 2... When I got a steady prescription, it worked the same, but over time, your always in that state, & it simply feels normal to you, you don't experience the euphoria anymore if you're always in a euphoric state, the longer you take them, the longer your tolerance will build... I've taken up to 30 2mg Xanax throughout the day before, and my body is so used to it, the enzymes break up what your body needs and expels the excess as waste... Taking 10 vicodine is a waste, because your body is only going to accept about 4-5 of them, and you'll just waste the rest as.. Waste.
I strongly believe we are living in a bubble if we think that drug companies and Doctors will not give us a placebo. I have tried to take my anxiety meds on an empty stomach. I have tried relaxing techniques, calm breathing, stretches etc. None work. WHY ISN'T ANXIETY TAKEN SERIOUSLY? I chewed up my pill and there was NO bitterness at all, it tasted like a sugar pill, when I took an Alprazolam (an old script, it tasted bitter and worked like a charm). All the insurance we pay, co pays, Doc visits....it is cheating/lying and putting us in harms way not to relieve severe anxiety. So will we continue to be fooled and abused by an industry that took an oath to help us or will someone step up to the plate and tell me EXACTLY what is in this pill that does NOTHING. HELP. If we purchase something that has misled us or that doesn't work, we take it back and get what works. This broken system doesn't work if you have letters after your name even when our comfort of life is in the hands of Doctors. You know drug companies pitch drugs to docs and they get bonus vacations and other bonus incentives for writing out scripts. So come on docs DON'T GIVE US A PLACEBO!!!!! Shame on you!
Regarding the question, "can i ask another pharmacist to evaluate the medication to see if it's the real thing and not a placebo?" - You can ask, but you would be given short thrift! No pharmacist would ever do that ....it might apply if you were prescribed a drug of some kind in a third world country, even so for the same reason about asking to have the drug analyzed.
(1) Although any trained pharmacist, i would hope he had the knowledge! He would not have the equipment in a normal pharmacy, plus they like any professional group would not go so far as to criticize a fellow member, although, in theory, it would be the doctor's shoulders that the blame would fall on. As an add on it could be highly dangerous to hand out a placebo instead of the active drug.
(2) The only way to find out, well it's self-evident really if for example you were given a placebo instead of Valium after having that active drug prescribed previously you would have severe withdrawal symptoms.
(3) A placebo is usually written backwards ie: Obecalp
I found I was just a heavier person and had to up my dose
They are saying the pharmacy can't give you anything different than what is named on the bottle. It is against the law. Perhaps this is the only professional business not breaking the law. I think not. Times have changed. I told my Dr. The pills I was getting were not doing the job they once did. I asked for the brand name adivan. They said they were 1000$for 30day supply. Told them bs. Got them Pryor to having ins. For 22$ for 30 day supply just 4 years ago. Guess they did go up. That is a ridiculous increase in four years. I can chew up the lorazepam they give me now an it tastes of sugar. Had a panic attack coming on moment s a go took half of one of theirs nothing in30 min. Took a half from an older prescription as I do have days when I don't need it. An Wala 10 min. Good.bottle says it's lorazepam pills marked as lorazepam. They charge the ins. Co. For lorazepam I get placebo. Going to talk to them about it. Will get a lot of different answers as in the past. That's what it takes to get it solved if possible. Everyone there is 100 o/o right be patient and persistent. Don't let them feed you a line.
Please don't take more than prescribed, it can have negative effects
MaggiM, if you get it from a regular pharmacy, it is the real thing. Manufacturers can change the physical appearance of a medication.. Look on your prescription bottle. Under Federal Law, the name of the drug has to be listed on your prescription bottle.
I take Levitericetum for epilepsy and have done for a number of years. The brand my pharmacy supply the 250mg dose is a blue oval tablet. My last two dosette my tablets have been bigger than usual making me very suspicious about them being placebos. I am on 1500mg twice daily. I have had suspicions leading up to the size change. My carer agrees they look bigger?
I have been taking pregabalin for years. I think recently they have been given a dummy drug. I can't sleep, am getting headaches, anxiety and sickness. I am too ill to leave the house.
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