Posts by Nicole Barrett76

Amanda Ross10 said:I’ve also gone to the pharmacy to buy certain medications without a prescription, just by showing my medical history... for instance, they would enter my details, the name of the doctor who prescribed them, and I would pay for them, and if I wanted, I could bring in the prescription later and get a refund.

I simply cannot fathom where the issue lies; why does it bother you all so much when they request your personal information? 😕
Surely we must consider that these are prescription-only medications, and therefore they must be held accountable for them—they have to know exactly who they are dispensing them to if the person isn't the one named on the actual script...🤷

It bothers me immensely! Because, for example, you used to be able to purchase 5mg of Valium without a prescription. And what happens now if you hit a difficult patch in your life lasting a month or two where you need a little more Valium, where you mooooost likely take more than one pill a day, and you happen to live in a small town far away from the nearest clinic—are you expected to go running back and forth to your primary care physician every single time??? Or are you supposed to hunt down a referral for a psychiatrist, whom you might have to wait two months to see in a rural area??? It isn't that I support people buying pounds of medication every month—one must learn self-control—but who truly has the right to measure how many boxes of a specific medicine I have purchased over the course of a year??? For what it's worth, I can't even remember the last time I felt the need to take a sedative, so... but living in a small town far from the city is genuinely difficult, and it isn't easy constantly rushing to the doctor for medications that you were previously able to obtain without a prescription. Furthermore, I don't head to the pharmacy or the doctor solely for myself; I often assist others when I am already out making my own errands, and in that way, we at least help one another a little.

But ever since this madness took effect, I have been absolutely distraught!!!

Rachel Brooks63 said:Indeed, there were certain medications that required us to present a government-issued ID just to complete the transaction. Those were the more potent opioid analgesics, weren't they?

Is there any sense left in this world when they suggest some random antibiotic or blood pressure medication? It is truly an absolute disgrace. 😠

I certainly wouldn't raise an objection against the use of stronger opioid analgesics if they were necessary. However, wouldn't you agree that the medications I previously mentioned actually fall under the category of treatments for high blood pressure and cholesterol?

I am referring to this new legislation where prescription medications no longer require a physical paper script to be handed over; instead, all the data is transmitted via the internet directly to the pharmacy, allowing us to simply walk in and collect our medicine.

Now, there is a significant catch here. I visited the pharmacy today to pick up some medication for my mother, and I was honestly taken aback when the pharmacist demanded my full name and proceeded to enter those details into her computer system—specifically noting that I was the one collecting the drugs on behalf of my mother.

To be fair, I actually DID have physical prescriptions in hand, as they had been issued a week or two before this wretched law officially went into effect.

I find myself wondering: have any of you fellow members gone to the pharmacy to assist your parents, neighbors, or loved ones, only to have the pharmacist demand your own name or even your home address?

If so, then we are looking at nothing less than a dictatorship upon a dictatorship! If they already possess all the pertinent information regarding the insured individual and the specific medication dispensed, why on earth would they also require the identity of the person physically picking it up? It is absolutely unheard of!!!

And yet, people act as if they are completely drugged. Not a single soul in that pharmacy protested the collection of such sensitive data; I voiced a slight objection, but I was ultimately FORCED to provide my name. I truly do not know what else to say. It is as if we are all sleepwalking through life with our eyes wide open, refusing to push back no matter how much we are being squeezed by authority.

Lisa Grant2 said:Does anyone else remember when prices started climbing right as gas hit $3.25? Back when it dropped down to $7, you wouldn't have noticed a single thing changing at the grocery store. Now, premium gas is sitting under $2.75, yet I still don't see any actual relief—not even a 10% dip. All we get is some corporate PR talk about how retailers are just "waiting out the storm."

It’s honestly pathetic. A small bag of Kraft costs $8.75 here, but if you head over to a similar Target just down the road, it’s $7.25. Even cleaning supplies are way cheaper than they should be. Then you look at the Nestlé frozen veggies for soup at our local Kroger $3.75, while they go for $2.75 just a few blocks away.

Oh, wouldn't it be grand if one could simply construct a pedal-powered submarine, dive into the Mississippi, and with just ten rotations of a pedal driving generators that power electric motors which then drive propellers, you'd find yourself on the opposite bank! And if one were able to smuggle through 1,000kg of frozen Coca-Cola vegetables every single day—obtaining them even cheaper through bulk purchases—imagine where one might end up! One wouldn't even have to bribe customs officials or deal with such trifles; one would finally be your own boss.

Americans, our future lies within the realm of science. Let us invest heavily in the development of small-scale submarines.

I desire both lower prices and higher wages!

But fine, let us return to reality. It is supposedly argued that a three percent annual inflation rate is beneficial for the economy. If one were able, for instance, to earn six percent more in dollars annually, and three percent of that was accounted for by inflation, would that not be considered a positive outcome—provided that those additional dollars were reinvested into the economy, bolstered liquidity, accelerated the circulation of capital, or fueled production and so forth?

Robin Roberts said:It’s entirely possible that your settings have resource "preloading" enabled. This essentially means that the next time you go to open the file, it will launch much faster since it was already cached...

If we are discussing this latest version of Office, I am afraid I can offer no assistance whatsoever...

Why don't you simply make the switch to LibreOffice? It is free, and more importantly, it is incredibly robust—not to mention it originates from Sol! 😁

I am currently using Office 2003 en. Where might I locate those specific settings so that I may immediately disable preloading if it happens to be active? Thanks in advance!

There seem to be several versions of LibreOffice available, but is that Sol Microsystems version compatible with Windows XP?

silentwolf53 said:Is there any chance you've picked up some malware?
To start off, try running a scan with an antivirus and Malwarebytes. If it isn't a virus or something similar, then perhaps there is a specific setting that needs adjusting.
By the way, which version of Word are you using?

I ran an Avast scan, and it claims everything is clean. I also tried Malwarebytes, but I didn't find any Microsoft files initially, only to have them reappear later. Honestly, I am losing patience with Malwarebytes because the scans take forever, and even when they work, the fix is only temporary. My setup consists of an Intel Sempron 3000+ with 512 MB of RAM, the 2003 American version of Word, and Windows XP.

If the issue is indeed related to settings, what specific configurations should I be investigating?

I believe my auto-save frequency is set to every ten minutes. However, the real mystery is that as soon as I launch Word—even if I haven't typed a single letter—I already see about fifteen of those Microsoft files waiting for me when I try to open a document. This happens even in a completely blank document where nothing has been written at all.

It strikes me that people simply desire to be mercenaries.

Lawrence Rodriguez27 said:Does isolation contribute to schizophrenia? In my view, it certainly does. When an individual is isolated, they tend to dwell on thoughts and patterns that they wouldn't normally encounter in social settings. This solitude can lead to skewed perceptions and erroneous conclusions, which may ultimately result in severe consequences...☕

I find myself wondering if I would sooner succumb to a complete mental breakdown than ever label myself a "social butterfly." To endure the staggering, relentless onslaught of human stupidity that constantly bombards those who consider themselves extroverts, one truly requires an iron stomach. They possess such fortitude simply because their temperaments are fundamentally different from my own, but as for me? To throw myself into the chaotic depths of vast, diverse social circles—no, thank you.

The moment I launch a blank Word document, about fifteen Microsoft temporary files immediately pop up, even though I haven't typed a single solitary word yet.

Why does this phenomenon occur, and is there any way to prevent it from happening? Just yesterday, while I was nearing completion on a critical document, my computer abruptly crashed out of Word without any warning at all. I was in the middle of translating a text—which was an incredibly grueling and frantic process—and to lose those final few lines due to such a sudden exit was nothing short of devastating.

coppernomad28 said:👍 Honestly, this is the exact same thought that crossed my mind when I stumbled upon yet another one of those endless threads started by the ever-prolific Donna Wood52.
I mean, it feels like she’s just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic just to start a brand new conversation thread... ☕

Now that I think about it, I remember how stoked I was, calling up all my buddies once I finally hit it big at a blackjack table in Vegas and met my current wife... ever since then, I've stayed far away from any kind of gambling. No poker, no nothing.

haha

🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏

Nicholas Gomez27 said:Is there any truth to the idea that you can manage schizophrenia using herbal remedies?

Also, how does LSD actually impact someone dealing with schizophrenia?

I'm really curious to hear about your personal experiences with this—thanks a ton for sharing.

Would you really attempt to treat schizophrenia with LSD, when the brain of someone experiencing a psychotic episode naturally produces a substance nearly identical to it, known as LSD-25?

ruggedscout91 said:I was just thinking about why people treat doctors like deities, and I decided to look into it and write something up regarding the way doctors are treated, the constant excuses made for them, and so on.
Of course, we should probably start a separate thread dedicated solely to medical errors; then all the aggrieved patients can line up. That would be fair.

I have something else to address. Regarding how they treat patients and the intrusion into privacy—regardless of the established boundaries between doctor and patient during care, procedures, or exams—it hasn't exactly reached an enviable standard here in America.
People are forced to strip down and trust any random staff member. They have zero protection from the "hundred eyes" and the constant commentary, especially in OBGYN. For some, the experience during a hospital stay can lead to lasting psychosis or depression, depending on the individual.
Doctor arrogance isn't just about mistakes (everyone slips up); it's about how they carry themselves toward their supposed "end consumer," which is the patient. Their behavior is often appalling. They don't say, "Please prepare for the exam." Instead, a gynecologist at a local clinic might just bark, "Get naked." I've heard of interns crowding a pregnant woman, shoving past her while she was exposed and panicking. There are rude comments directed at elderly women who are perfectly fine, just because some uneducated person finished med school. Or they leave a patient wandering in a hallway, unsure how to even find their ward. During rounds, they mock you openly and laugh at things that aren't funny.

In our hospitals, a patient constantly feels like they've wandered into a concentration camp where only Mengele stands between them and recovery.

That is why people recoil. And yet, in the absence of rational thought, some people still insist on treating them like gods.
Most of them are just ordinary people who fell in love with a calling that doesn't pay well. Everything else is just nonsense we make up. Personally, I would never marry a doctor. You won't end up with a husband, a lover, or a provider; you'll just end up with someone who stays overnight occasionally and tries to compensate for every neglected responsibility with money. That is not a solution.
And don't even get me started on the nurses and the staff on shift with them. If you are a spouse, you are better off staying away from the ward entirely. But I will save that for another time. It might turn out they are great lovers, or they aren't. That's all there is to it. Some of this knowledge comes from firsthand experience during internships in certain facilities, and some comes directly from being a patient.

Perhaps I am mistaken, but I would argue that the nurses are often more reasonable and empathetic, even when compared to the female doctors. It seems to me that more doctors tend to treat patients as if they were merely pieces of meat.

Regarding what you mentioned—about doctors lacking basic communication skills, telling people to "just strip," or failing to respect personal boundaries—I believe that was particularly true of the urology department at Mount Sinai. That was the one right by the main entrance. I’m not sure if things have changed since they renovated the complex, but my goodness, it was an absolute nightmare! Patients wouldn't even have time to get properly dressed before the next person was ushered in like they were on a conveyor belt.

Furthermore, I don't think we can separate this discussion regarding why doctors are viewed as superior beings from the constant litany of their professional failures.

wearyowl29 said:It was an American documentary about women from a small village—a true story where their husbands would slowly vanish, essentially ending up in cemeteries, because the wives were eagerly burying them just to collect their Social Security benefits or something similar.

Oh, you actually reminded me of a specific case in Canada from the feudal era, when some noblewoman named Batori murdered 600 young girls, drinking their blood in a desperate attempt to achieve eternal youth. In the end, she met her demise by being burned at the stake instead of simply facing decapitation.

ambasadorica;7203202 said:I think we should start by defining what a serial killer actually is.
How many victims does one truly need to earn such a label?

If someone takes more than one life, they fall under the definition of a serial killer.

Sean Hernandez5 said:I think we really need to establish a clear definition for what constitutes a serial killer first.
How many victims does someone actually need to claim that title?

To me, it just feels like a trendy label used for anyone committing multiple similar crimes.
So, theoretically, if someone kills two people with some time in between, they’re already a serial killer, right?
If that's the case, there are way too many of them. Most of the examples mentioned here seem to fall outside that typical pattern (🤣) which is why they're actually interesting.
We also have to keep in mind that the recidivism rate in the USA is around 80%—though I don't know how many of those are specifically murderers.
The point is, there are probably more serial killers than people realize. The idea that they're all just monsters hunting specific groups of people is mostly a creation of crime novelists, and I don't think it reflects reality very well.

🙂

Precisely so.

Sarah Wood8 said:It’s honestly pathetic how your average hypochondriac usually ends up knowing more about medicine than actual doctors, often diagnosing themselves before a professional can even step into the room.
Most of these physicians are just straight-up nerds who don't actually grasp the fundamentals, which is a tragedy. Being a doctor is arguably the most responsible job out there, yet it usually boils down to people being nothing more than arrogant pretenders.
It reminds me of that news story from yesterday where a woman was complaining about abdominal pain, only for them to dismiss her as a liar—then they actually left a surgical tool inside her and tried to cover the whole thing up once it came to light.
In my opinion, people like that have no business holding a medical degree.
The issue isn't just the fact that they left an instrument inside her; the real problem is their dismissive reaction to her pain and their complete lack of initiative to even order an X-ray, followed by that blatant attempt at a cover-up. People with that mindset simply CANNOT be doctors.

Is there any role more consequential than those commanding the teams at a nuclear power plant? If someone makes a truly catastrophic error there, everything goes to hell, and we could face a reality where hundreds of thousands of citizens are unable to return to their homes for nearly an entire millennium.

Sarah Wood8 said:It’s honestly pathetic how your average hypochondriac usually ends up knowing more about medicine than actual doctors, often diagnosing themselves before a professional can even step into the room.
Most of these physicians are just straight-up nerds who don't actually grasp the fundamentals, which is a tragedy. Being a doctor is arguably the most responsible job out there, yet it usually boils down to people being nothing more than arrogant pretenders.
It reminds me of that news story from yesterday where a woman was complaining about abdominal pain, only for them to dismiss her as a liar—then they actually left a surgical tool inside her and tried to cover the whole thing up once it came to light.
In my opinion, people like that have no business holding a medical degree.
The issue isn't just the fact that they left an instrument inside her; the real problem is their dismissive reaction to her pain and their complete lack of initiative to even order an X-ray, followed by that blatant attempt at a cover-up. People with that mindset simply CANNOT be doctors.

They would be better suited working as butchers.

Donna Wood52 said:I am not generalizing. Far too many women have lost their babies during childbirth because of medical negligence—simply because doctors are stubborn, burnt out, or just plain indifferent.

A slip-up? A woman loses her child; that isn't some minor "error" to her. And then, to top it all off, these cases get swept under the rug. There are plenty of these incidents—it's not just about "if you mess up once." 🤷

A woman once recounted how her friend was in labor, and the doctors in the adjacent room were actually giggling and laughing instead of providing assistance, even as her pelvis fractured during the delivery.

There you have it: yet another example of what passes for "patient care."

brightlynx39 said:Major respect to the medical field, though there are certainly doctors out there who don't deserve the title. Still, it's important that they hold that MD degree regardless.

I believe one of those who least deserves it is Asim Kurjak.

In my estimation, the most grueling academic paths are undoubtedly those essential for the construction, maintenance, and operation of nuclear power plants.

Anyone who manages to graduate from one of those specialized programs with a focus strictly on nuclear energy—well, they truly deserve our utmost respect.

Furthermore, I find it quite striking how society generally treats physicians as if they were some sort of higher species altogether.

Susan Rodriguez72 said:I’d say the exact same thing about psychologists. :P
Everyone acts like they're the smartest person in the room, mostly because they actually have the tools—and some even have the nerve—to manipulate people!

Personally, I don't believe they view themselves as superior beings, nor do they carry themselves with such immense arrogance; at least, certainly not to the extent that doctors do. What I find fault with them, however, is that they often seem lazy and perpetually bewildered. It appears to me that for many of them, their own vast knowledge serves more to confuse them than to set them free.

Roger Rodriguez said:On Friday, I decided to drop my Paxil dose from 20mg down to 10mg. This follows about three years of adjusting my dosage up and down, with the last year spent steady at 20mg.
The weekend went by without a hitch—I didn't feel a thing. But since Monday, things have taken a turn. I’ve been dealing with this strange dizziness, almost like that disoriented feeling you get when you're running a fever and your vision feels off. It isn't exactly spinning; it's more of a bizarre sensation in my head, making me feel unsteady on my feet, as if the ground is shifting beneath me while I walk.
Now, I wouldn't normally be worried because I’ve been fighting a cold with a 102°F fever for the last three days, but this specific sensation is hitting me pretty hard.
What's so confusing is that I didn't experience anything like this the last time I tapered down, so this is definitely unexpected. Is this actually related to my anxiety, or am I just spiraling into one of my old hypochondriac tendencies and imagining a serious illness?
Has anyone else gone through something similar? Please share your experiences—I'd really rather not have to call my psychiatrist and risk being pushed back up to 20mg immediately.

One should never abruptly decrease or increase doses of benzodiazepines, and if I recall correctly, medications like Xanax fall into that category. You really ought to have stepped down from 20mg to 15mg first, and only then transitioned from 15mg to 10mg.

Roger Rodriguez said:Oh sure, they're exactly the same! 😂
I can't even begin to imagine what 10mg of xanax would do to me... 🙂

When I was on those medications, I believe my highest dose was just 1mg of xanax along with a hypnotic, and if I recall correctly, an antidepressant too (though that never became a recurring issue). It truly felt like nothing more than a complete brain fog.

What are your thoughts on this specific combination a friend mentioned to me, even though he is fully aware that you should never mix benzodiazepines?

He told me he took:

10mg of Oxazepam and 5mg of Ativan

He said he took them the night before a day filled with exhausting negotiations, and at the time, nothing seemed particularly out of the ordinary; however, when he looked back on the events of that day, he realized people had actually been treating him like a fool, while he had spent the entire day feeling completely indifferent to everything.

Nicole Barrett76 said:The truth is, I feel an immense sense of joy now that I have successfully weaned myself off all hypnotics, AD, and anxiolytics... There was even a period when even my standard sleep aid wasn't enough, forcing me to rely on something much stronger. I am convinced that anyone can break free from this cycle, or at the very least, drastically reduce the dosage and variety of psychotropic medications they depend on.

One must simply find that inner strength or a spark of motivation to attempt the tapering process. I remember one New Year's Eve when I was still taking heavy sedatives; instead of waiting for the clock to strike midnight, I took my "little pill" around ten o'clock. I ended up wandering around at midnight congratulating everyone on the New Year, though I had no idea why I was doing it or even where I was! Only my mother knew I had taken the medication, as I tried to hide it from the rest of the household, but she told me later that I was making such bizarre facial expressions that it looked incredibly strange to everyone else, eventually forcing her to explain to the family that I was on medication.

It makes me wonder, what might have happened if, heaven forbid, I had experienced actual hallucinations or unpredictable outbursts?

Is it not a profound blessing when a person finally manages to liberate themselves from all of this? These substances are a great evil. I recall hearing—perhaps mentioned somewhere in this thread—that some children develop a significant psychological dependency on medications used for ADHD. I can't recall the specific name right now, but there are stories (or perhaps it is just prevalent here in the US) that these drugs are distributed so freely that schools almost had to hire a dedicated nurse just to hand them out to students, with children actually pleading, "Please, ma'am, give me my medicine."

Is it not truly horrifying to essentially drug young children?

It is important for me to note that while these pills typically take about thirty minutes to kick in, they would start taking effect on me in as little as fifteen minutes.

It isn't surprising that my memory of the situation is virtually non-existent, yet I am left feeling quite bewildered by how I managed to celebrate the New Year at all. How was I able to "know" when midnight had struck, or realize when it was time to get out of bed? How did I navigate my way through a room filled with furniture without losing my bearings, or—more importantly—without breaking anything or smashing my head against a wall?

bluerider512 said:Is it safe to take brewer's yeast and Plibex (Vitamin B complex) at the same time as antidepressants and anxiolytics? I'm just wondering if they might interfere with my medication or cancel out the effect. Right now, I've started on a newer drug on the market—Venlafaxine..

I believe you can certainly take Plibex. As for brewer's yeast, I am somewhat uncertain. If my budget allowed for it, wouldn't it be preferable to opt for a Vitamin B complex derived from botanical sources rather than yeast, given that yeast contains many substances we simply do not require, whereas Plibex provides a refined Vitamin B complex?

Furthermore, isn't it true that certain medications occupy a middle ground between antidepressant and antipsychotic actions? Some antipsychotics actually deplete Vitamin B complex levels in the bloodstream, necessitating supplementation. Therefore, I cannot help but wonder: if perhaps you are taking a medication that sits so precariously between being an antipsychotic and an antidepressant, might it not be wise to supplement with a Vitamin B complex? Though, wouldn't a natural source be better than a synthetic one?