Mental Health Issues: It might be you and not “them”

Since last week was Mental Health Week – I know this not because I am self-aware but only because I have seen several postings from Nikki et al at “Moms Who Drink and Swear” – which is a nationally recognized phenomenon now - (a blog, a book and a facebook page - probably soon a cable TV show - since there is so much swearing it has to go on cable), occasionally quite nasty blog, offensive to some but always funny and true - anyway, MWADS had several blog postings on the subject of Mental Health. Anyway it made me think - about my own journey - and that of my friends and relatives - and those small-ish and irritating people who suddenly developed an opinion about the age of two.  Also - lets not forget my husband - he has issues too.

According to the National Institutes of Health, about 1 in 4 adults are at any one time suffering from some sort of mental health issue.  As with many government statistics – this is certainly vastly under reported as this is likely based on those who are actually diagnosed – or who answered a survey.  In fact there are certainly thousands and thousands more with issues that they either will not see a doctor about – or refuse to admit it even to themselves – even if family and friends already know.

Unfortunately in today’s judgmental society, admitting that you have a mental disorder can disrupt many facets of your life.  First, it will likely affect your friendships – once your friends know that you have a mental disorder, they can hold it against you – be patronizing – disregard what you say, etc.  It may also affect your family relationships – "if you disagree with me, it must be because you aren’t taking your meds" – "are drunk or high" or "are just plain crazy which is "bull$hit" – or "I must make sure you are limited in your exposure to the outside world and therefore you are not allowed to drive or go anywhere by yourself" - or all of the above.

The eCigarette – Is “vaping” better or worse than smoking?

I am ashamed to admit that I have been a 1 pack a day smoker for nearly 20 years.  If you know that I am well over 40 – even with rounding - simple math will tell you that embarrassingly, unlike most other smokers – I didn’t start when I was a teenager.

I tried to start smoking when I was 13, 14, and 15 – it seemed like a good idea at the time but always resulted in nausea, dizziness and an extreme desire to lay down on the nearest flat surface to recover.  These flat surfaces included a backseat and several episodes of lying on the ground – including places such as a gas station parking lot and my best friends driveway.  In any case – I didn’t actually become a smoker until I went to my TEN year high school reunion – at the old age of 27!  How dumb is that?

By that time I was a healthcare professional – a pharmacist – and well aware of the dangers of smoking.  By that point in my life – I still wanted to seem cool in front of these people who had haunted me in high school and beyond even though I really had nothing in common with them but my adolescent past.

Smoking, in particular nicotine is one of the most addictive substances on the face of the earth.  It is more addictive than cocaine, alcohol, marijuana, amphetamines, anxiety medication, muscle relaxants, pain medication – and yes, even heroin.  In fact, even heroin addicts will tell you that though heroin withdrawal is immediately painful – if you can go through the withdrawal – quitting heroin is easier long term than quitting smoking.  By contrast, quitting drinking or quitting anxiety medication can be life-threatening but still not as hard as quitting smoking.

To be fair to myself – I hate smoking – it is one of the nastiest, smelliest and downright disgusting habit a person can have and I have tried just about everything out there to quit.  This list includes the patch, nicotine gum, lozenges and lollipops, plain candy, herbal cigarettes, exercise, abstinence and prescription medication – to no avail.  My husband has also been an intermittent smoker for his entire post-puberty life (possibly before) and has an extremely “addictive” personality.  He can “quit” at any time with seeming no negative effects from his point of view.  From the point of view of those who have to live with him, in truth for about FIVE days – he is a raving jacka$$.  But I digress.

Because of his “a$$iness” (in general and not just while he is quitting smoking), I have failed at abstinence – because I become a raving B!tch – which he does not tolerate well.  Consequently, I have continued to smoke.

A few years ago, congress voted to add more taxes onto cigarettes – I escaped this monetary javelin for the first year by buying tobacco in bulk, cigarette “tubes” and a machine to make my own which cost about &1.50 per “pack” vs. the near $7 that actual packs were – but then congress wised up and increased the price of my bulk tobacco from $13/can (about a pack) to $45 a can.  So I was stuck paying at least $5/pack with a lot of hassle – but I kept going for reasons stated above.

A couple of years ago – eCigarettes made their debut.  Electronic cigarettes involve a liquid that is heated by a battery device and inhaled.  It provides the nicotine but little of the “other” stuff in cigarettes – the “smoke” exhaled is largely water vapor, quickly disseminates and doesn’t smell.  In fact it can even be obtained in flavors.

I resisted the eCigarette for a long time – even though my best friend (oddly from high school) had raved about how great hers was.  My husband called me one day from the local “vaping” store, saying that he was going to buy a kit.  This included 2 batteries, 2 reservoirs, a bottle of nicotine “juice” and a case – for $129.  You can actually get them cheaper on the internet.  In any case once we paid for the initial investment – we had 2 devices that cost in maintenance about $1/day each, vs. the near $14/day we had been paying for both of us.

He took the bait first – used it for a week or so – and then quit (he was still and a$$ for several days). But he quit with less frustration.  Still I resisted until diminishing financial support forced me to reconsider – so I tried it, costing me about $30/month vs. the $210 I had  been paying. 

About the same time – the medical community and the FDA said they were going to investigate and possibly start regulating eCigarettes because the risks were yet “unknown”, had not been studied and may contain toxins, harmful to human health.  Oddly, the FDA does not regulate the consumption of tobacco which contains literally thousands of toxins – probably the worst of which are carbon monoxide (the same stuff that people use to commit suicide by locking themselves in their car) and tar – which is mostly what gunks up your lungs and causes cancer.

This is a clear representation of the government’s ironical behavior in what they choose to regulate.  Common sense will tell you that inhaling vapor from an eCigarette is much less harmful than smoke.  Any attention to the news will tell you that the government is doing a piss poor job of inspecting tons of crap, including sheet rock, medication and children’s toys that pour into the US by a ton on a daily basis and is sold to the unwitting American consumer.

The medical  community, large pharma and the tobacco lobby cannot stand to have anything that is not under their control available to the public – especially if it circumvents the large number of dollars that are made from both cigarettes and traditional “stop-smoking” regimens.  The AMA and the tobacco lobby are huge, influential entities in Washington – i.e. in the pockets of elected government officials.  Despite all the hullabaloo, even my dad, who still has a drugstore in a small town and who quit selling cigarettes years ago – carries a version of the eCigarette. He said that some people just can’t quit and this is way better.

The point is that nicotine is a very addicting substance – it has a weird mechanism of action where it simultaneously causes a bit of a calming affect while at the same time provides a bit of stimulation – which is why it is hard to quit, because there is a double reinforcement mechanism.

In any case, my journey to quit smoking is on the road – I haven’t touched a cigarette in over 6 weeks.  I can also decrease the nicotine in the “juice”, thereby slowly getting rid of the amount of nicotine in my eCig – and eventually quitting, in a controlled manner which will be a lot easier on those who are forced to be around me in these troubled times (a little melodrama).

Again – the big point is, no matter what alarms the mainstream media reports directly from the government’s health – no matter that adolescent and teenage use of eCigarettes has doubled – they aren’t smoking, they likely aren’t starting with eCigarettes and it isn’t nearly as harmful as the actual smoke.  Notice carefully that NONE of the information is comparing the drop in cigarette use to the increase in eCig use.  That information would actually allow you to think for yourself – which they don’t want you to do. 

In the meantime – I will continue to “vape” while those around me are relieved that they no longer have to smell the cigarette smoke and hear the morning hack.  Just my opinion.

Does your kid “fake” being sick? – Probably…

Last week, my oldest kid woke up coughing.  He didn’t have a fever (which is one of the two absolute reasons you are supposed to keep your kid home) and wasn’t vomiting (the other reason) but he was coughing in a barking like manner.  It truly sounded awful.  Other than that, he did not appear to be in massive discomfort – I kept him home anyway.

In the past – when the kids were younger, I often kept them home for sniffles, clothing issues, sleepiness, arguments that occurred before school, general moodiness and such – as well as fever, vomiting, diarrhea and extreme coughing.  During those times – I pretty much let them do what they wanted if they felt good enough and were behaving. 

As they have grown older – I no longer let them stay home for piddly issues – and when they do, they are required to stay on the couch or in bed, take medicine when I say and eat/drink what I tell them.

Back to the story – the oldest boy stayed home – restricted to the couch.  He was given cough medicine, cough drops and ibuprofen for the throat pain.  Later in the afternoon, he did develop a bit of chest congestion and I think he swallows the phlegm he coughs up.  This is way gross to some people but actually ok with me because the one body fluid I cannot deal with is “sputum” – also called phlegm or “lugies” (loogies?) – what a disgusting thing – makes me wretch.  Anyone who spits up something from their nasal passages or lungs at my house is required to go outside or into the bathroom, WITH the door closed before spitting it up. Phlegm is not allowed in the house (though I still have a hard time convincing my husband of this rule).

OK – back to the story again.  In the afternoon he complained of nausea – ran into the bathroom and said he was going to throw up.  He did not – but then he almost never vomits while I puke at the drop of a hat.  I looked around for some sprite or ginger ale – nada.  We did however have some regular soda (Coke) so I poured a half of a can into a cup with some ice.  The carbonation will help the stomach AND the medicine “Emectrol” for nausea in children is basically coke syrup.

I only gave him half a soda because he is a sugar hog and is massively affected by sugar – no matter what the health professionals and dumb-a$$e$ that spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on such nonsense when you can ask most any mom…in addition, the kid doesn’t need the calories, seriously.

About 2 seconds after he swigged down the half-soda he was given.  He looked around for the other half of the can.  Then he made eye contact with me, ducked his head and ran straight to the bathroom where he “fake” wretched.  He came out and said that his “stomach still hurt” and he” felt like vomiting.” (Imagine mom mimicking giant whining 10-year old boy) Upon hearing this, I replied “No. If you feel like puking, then go do it – you will actually feel much better”.

Surprisingly – he gave up easily – because he was faking.

Basically at one time or another, kids will fake being sick – I did.  Once when I had been sick, I pretended to be sick for several more days – I stayed home a week but my mom still thinks that I was faking the whole time because she busted me.  In Junior High, I used to call home for her to come and get me, this was actually because I was afraid of the highly aggressive girls at school as I lived in kind of a rough town.  My husband discovered that cold milk would make his stomach hurt – so he would put the milk in the freezer to make it really cold, drink it on an empty stomach and then vomit in order to stay home.  The best one was putting the thermometer up to the light to make it go up – problem was that it usually ended up reading something like 140 – kind of hard to believe that one.

A friend of mine told me that he and his brother played sick several times one year – the dad got sick of it.  He went to the drugstore and got some ipecac (which was used to induce vomiting in case of a poisoning – not used much anymore but still available) and gave it to both boys.  It tastes horrible and causes profuse vomiting almost immediately.  The dad said “you wanted to be sick – well now you are” and then went to work.

Even my perfect brother played sick.  It is a normal part of childhood – but you do need to find out if they are really sick or if not, why is it they want to stay home?

Sometimes it is a simple case of boredom – as it was with my perfect brother.  He found “Bill Nye the Science Guy” to be much more interesting than 5^th grade.  He is now a trauma surgeon at the age of 30 – so it didn’t hurt him too much.

Sometimes it is a case of bullying.  Sometimes it is a case of constipation or some other illness that is undetectable.  Sometimes they don’t like a teacher, the food, the building, their clothes, a subject, or a number of other things. 

Sometimes a little tough love is required – get your butt up and go to school….NOW!

Kids with allergies…medicine unsafe….give me a break!

I was born in Oklahoma – the land of all flowering trees, grasses and all known allergens. I had allergies that were severe enough that my mother thought I would die….seriously. I had ear infections every 6 weeks and regularly visited a “pediatric allergist” who refused to take out my tonsils or put ear tubes in because he was not sure I would survive the surgery….seriously. I had full allergy testing performed and was taking allergy shots by the time I was four. Let me tell you this was over 35 years ago and they did not have “scratch” testing for allergies. They used to fill little cups with allergen solution and set them on 4 needles imbedded in your arm or back and wait for 15 minutes or so for a reaction. I don’t remember much about it but it must have been torture for my mother. By the time I was four, I was also taking adult strength allergy pills – not kids allergy liquid but adult tablets. I know this because my mom used to put one under my tongue as she dropped me off at day care and say “run in and get a drink of water to swallow it.” At the time – this was not considered dangerous and this way she knew that I got my medicine on time and it would last the rest of the day.

Fast forward many years. I now have 3 children – 6 and under. They all have allergies. Fortunately, we don’t live in Oklahoma so they are not quite as severe but as we do live in Central Texas – they are certainly noticeable and bothersome. Consequently, I have had to give them allergy medicine almost every day since they were infants.

A couple of years ago, the American Pediatric Association in conjunction with drug manufacturers came out with a statement that medications given for colds and allergies to children under two years of age are ineffective and could be unsafe. Because of this, all over the counter cold/allergy medication formulated for infants and toddlers were removed from the shelves of your local drugstores and grocery stores. All children’s cold/allergy medicine had to be relabeled to eliminate dosing instructions for children under 2. Cases and cases of cold medication were actually thrown away. A year or so later – this was repeated for children under 6. Now there is news that the same situation may be repeated for children under 12…..What is next….18? 21? 30? All cold medicine for all ages?

The medical establishment says that cold and allergy products do NOT work for children and that they may be unsafe. This is an outright lie.

The real problem is twofold. The first is that the medical community thinks the average American is too stupid to take medicine properly and especially that American parents are too stupid to know when children need medication and too stupid to give it properly. They claim that “hundreds” of children are seen each year in emergency rooms due to overdosing. Since we have become a litiginous society, the pharmaceutical industry and their insurance companies are unwilling to take the risk that some kid might get overdosed by his dumb parents….huh? I worked in hospitals and emergency medicine for many years and I don’t know of any cases that a child was harmed from an accidental overdose of allergy medicine. It would take way more than mom giving 1 teaspoons instead of 2…

The second reason is this: allergy and cold medication is still available in pediatric formulation for children – you just can’t buy it unless you visit a doctor. In fact, the last 3 times I have taken my kids to the doctor for a respiratory infection, I have been given a prescription for exactly the same medication I would have purchased over the counter. So the statement….these medications do not work is a LIE. If they didn’t work – why would the doctor prescribe it? The truth is they just want you to be required to see a doctor…..This in a time where many, many Americans including hundreds of thousands of children are not covered by health insurance –you have to see a doctor to get a prescription for medicine that was available 40 years ago…..sounds fair….(NOT).