First Impressions

[El]

(Jesus, I hate Eli Lilly.)

Prozac?

Worse.  Zyprexa.  It'll fuck you up way royaller than Prozac.  My psychiatrist was giving me the damn stuff because I'd been on it a long time (8 years) rather than because he even knew what it was helping- he outright admitted it. 

I think Eli Lilly's practices in marketing are unbelievably evil, not because Zyprexa (a heavy-duty antipsychotic with heavy-duty side-effects, and a withdrawal that as of yet I have to find mentioned anyplace except customer reviews and personally found excruciating) was prescribed off-label for what appears to have been insomnia, but because they are indiscriminately (and only quasi-legally, if that) marketing such drugs to anyone they think they can get to buy them (encouraging off-label prescriptions), although they are fully aware of the potential risks involved and how off-label prescribing makes it even more likely that the cure will be worse than the disease than prescribing a heavy-duty drug as it was intended to be used.  The fact that I was someone that this happened to just makes it more personal.  I hate the pill-popping culture of health in general and mental health in particular- "Give me a pill and it will solve my problems" would be a dangrous mentality no matter what, even if (ha- trust again) you could trust drug companies and the system in general to give you what you need.

Perhaps to give you a wee bit of an idea of what I mean (because without backing the prior paragraph up, it sounds conspiracy-theory-ish to me):  Eli Lilly has started the process of getting a new, injectable form of Zyprexaon the market (well, they're damn far along the path, or almost all the way there by now- I heard of this moneths back).  The worst side effect, according to them, was "extreme sedation."  Apparently, Eli Lilly considers "extreme sedation" to be adequate to describe being unconscious and unwakeable, or in a coma (both of which were observed in their study, and then lumped into the "extreme sedation" category).  I think that their claim is that the injections were not given correctly.  I have trouble imagining that the injections would be given perfectly correctly no matter what, even if it was going to be prescribed apppropriately.  It will not be prescibed appropriately- it will be prescribed and/or used off-label.

I understand that these are suibstances that can truly help people if the substances are used appropriately- I am not anti-med so much as anti-med-corproation, and pro-nonmed alternative wherever possible, (sometimes it isn't).  However, I think that the way they are used now is morally reprehensible, abusive, even disgusting.

[odeon]

Well, that's the thing, really. Once something gets FDA approval, it can--and therefore will--be used for everything else, too.

[Calandale]

If I'm motivated to trust, it can go crewy.  If I'm motivated not to, it can go screwy.  Trust is tricky.  Hope is maybe a bit safer- or so I hope.   

I certainly hope that I'm giving off different impressions now than I did a year ago or earlier, but it may not translate into teh forums at all, let alone favorably.

I remember my first impression of you actually
You are one of the only ones I remember for some reason
I wasn't on here much though so didn't read a lot
I just remember thinking you were probably hot, even though I hadn't seen a picture of you

LMAO.  TY, soph.

That's cause yer a postwhore, and postwhores are hot.

[Pyraxis]

I understand that these are suibstances that can truly help people if the substances are used appropriately- I am not anti-med so much as anti-med-corproation, and pro-nonmed alternative wherever possible, (sometimes it isn't).  However, I think that the way they are used now is morally reprehensible, abusive, even disgusting.

Agreed, though I haven't done enough research into the subject to have good knowledge of Lilly's practices.

I'm not against the corporations so much as a culture that encourages patients to just trust the doctor's knowledge without question. In an attempt to feel safe, people pretend far too often that doctors and surgeons are infallible sources of wisdom, when they're just as prone to human foibles as anyone, from being bought out by med company incentives, to scribbling the wrong number on a prescription slip, to failing to properly listen to a patient's needs because they're too rushed, too prejudiced, etc.

I think it's inevitable that there's going to be corporate corruption in a capitalist society, so we'd be better off if economic incentives and restrictions were put in place so that it became less profitable to do what drug companies have been doing. Patients should be encouraged to do more of their own research, and seek opinions from more sources, even if it means some people making ill-informed choices about their own care. I would much rather see people be hurt of their own ignorance than by putting their trust in a flawed system and being betrayed.

At least, with the spread of information over the internet, we're getting closer to a society where patients can, on their own, find plenty of information about drugs, studies, and treatments. I hope technology continues to evolve in such a way that independent thought and self-responsible judgment are encouraged over ignorance and helplessness.

[Mr Smith]

My first impressions of a lot of people are  varied.

I didn't like Soph when she first joined here because I thought that cat spamming at WP was stupid, but since then I've realised Soph is really cool and I respect her opinion a lot.

[Yuri Bezmenov]

This thread should've been revived but it's probably too late.     

[Gopher Gary]

This thread should've been revived but it's probably too late.     

You could try. 

[Yuri Bezmenov]

I can't remember my first impressions of anyone here.     

[odeon]

See if you can remember some of the newer ones. I can remember some of my first reactions to, if not impressions of, many people here.

Take someone like QV: I remember thinking "who is she afraid of?" Had to do with her original nick here.

Or PPK: hard as nails. Turned out there was a lot more than that to him.

Or Parts: "should he really join *this* place?" (I knew him from OTS.)