Peg Kerr's Journal

It also upsets me that the general public (and MEDIA- damn, journalists need some basic bio 101!) don't understand that when a medication comes with a warning that you have to taper off of it (like many psych meds), that does NOT mean you are addicted!! There are meds (psych, cardiac, etc, etc) that work by altering your physiology, causing your body to change/adjust the way it functions WITH the med, so if you take away the med, you send your body into a tailspin, it's no longer functioning in collaboration, but on it's own, it hasn't had the chance to adjust to working by itself. Body functions don't often have on/off switches (a wee bit more complex!), adjustments often take time. And all drugs don't work like aspirin- in fact very few do, that's why you have to take them for a week or a month before seeing/feeling results (the body is adjusting) and are told not to quit just because you feel well. Ergh- I'm with you I need to stop now (because I'm probably preaching to the choir anyway). The diabetic and oxygen analogies are good, I'll have to remember them.