Fight or Flight?

[Your Old Dog]

This may look like an OT subject but judging from what we've witnessed on the board for a few months maybe it isn't

My father was on prednezone (sp) before he died. He had a lung disorder. The medication was to cause "fight or flight syndrome" which causes the lungs and other breathing parts to open up and become more efficiant. But it left him argumentative. Dad was ready for an argument at the drop of a hat on absolutly any topic. Wasn't the easy going old man I knew all my life.

Because we don't have any current inflamatory topics I thought now might be a good time to bring up the subject. I found this website, it's an easy read and might make "your" life better because you now know the jerk you have to deal with may be reacting due to some medications he's taking. I think it's okay to still get pissed at him but now I don't have to let it ruin my day and taint the fun I have on the board.

http://changingminds.org/explanation...ght_flight.htm

This is a great board. It'd be nice if it stayed that way.....

[Michael Az]

It is a drug you have to use a lot of caution with. I was on it years ago. The first time the doctor overdosed me with it. It was a nightmare because once you start taking it, it shuts down the immune system and you have to "wean" yourself off. I felt extremely "wired" up and couldn't sleep, lots of other side effects. My ex said I was crabby, I didn't think so. I think about all the ladies that have lupus have to take it.
Michael

[ibewgypsie]

Thyroid medication, hormonal imbalance, I feel for the women of the world going through menopause. Or is it Mental pause?

Lots of women get divorced during this period in thier life. They go nuts for a while.

As for "fight or flight?" anyone who has boxed knows it does not hurt right then, it's later looking through the puffy eyes and feeling the bruised ribs you are wondering why you stood toe to toe and what "that" accomplished. Runners? they call it a Runner's high..

David

[This message has been edited by ibewgypsie (edited 07-20-2005).]

[Steven G. Trosper]

I think about all the ladies that have lupus have to take it.

We had a woman up at work, who got lupus in 1987. She took medicene for it and gained weight, from water retention.

She quit after 25 years a little over a year ago. Her and another woman got in to a fist-fight at the plant. This was not the first fight this woman got into at the plant. That one was after she got lupus also.

Before she got lupus, this woman would have been the one to get between two people and try to keep them from fighting.

I have always felt the medicene she was taking had begun to warp her mind. A real shame because she was really a great person to be around.

I wonder if some of the school shootings are not a direct cause of kids being pumped full of drugs to make them behave?

[ibewgypsie]

They put me on prozac in the 80's. It makes me do things without thinking. Telling the doctor then about this made him laugh in my face and tell that it wasn't the drug.

Other aggressive friends, it makes them the same way.

Submissive friends (several friends wives), it sedates them, calms them.

I was told Patrick Purdy (Ca AK47 school shootings) and the teacher up north was on Prozac (who also shot school kids). Recently a teen on the stuff killed his guardian grandparents. (court tv) Anything that affects portions of the brain are subject to causing non-normal behaviour.

Someone says it is outlawed in Europe/England. My doctor scoffawed at that and suggested recently I go onto it. Then she put me on some crap where I didn't leave the house for 3 days.. Mostly you don't need that crap. Solve your own issues in your own way.

Drugs or being "nuts" is a chemical imbalance that does not allow the brain to function logically. Most mental paitients are found to be vitamin or diet-mineral deficient.

There ain't nothing like a 300 pound man with a aggressive mental attitude. Except maybe six two hundred pound cops with sticks and flashlights.

[JPR]

Mood swings are especially bad during the first week and when tapering off. More information Mayo Clinic


[This message has been edited by JPR (edited 07-20-2005).]

[Your Old Dog]

Well, I only raised the topic so that we could be aware that when someone goes ape on a seemingly innocent remark and you wonder why he did it, it's just possible it's meds making him do foolish things. It will still draw the same fire from me, hell, I don't want to be anyones punching bag either but I hope guys don't abandon the board because of it. A lot of differant meds can make us goofy. What was the stuff that Lyle Acevedo the nasty football player was on?

Maybe that should be included on the forums personal profile: Are you now or have your ever been on any mind bending/altering drugs that might cause you to act weird and fly off the handle?

JFTR (just for the record), I ain't on any heavy duty stuff so if I did tell you "up yours", chances are I mean it

[This message has been edited by Your Old Dog (edited 07-20-2005).]

[zl1byz]

YOD that was an interesting post.

A good timely reminder that the people we meet on a bbs, we don't really know what there lives are like. They could be having health or faimily/personal problems causing them to strike out.

A thought that came to my mind when I read the last part "so what?" was that on mediums like this bbs you can't see the other person to detect those signs, so it is easy to slam head first into an argument without seeing it coming.

John.

[caligearhead]

My mom has lupus and was on prednasone for a while...maybe a year or so. She was playing crads with my dad and her mother, and was getting her ass kicked. Which was not particularly unusual for her. But this time she freaked out! Full on steroid rage! I was not there, but my dad said she got really paranoid and was accusing dad and grandma of conspiring against her. Really wierd behavior. She calmed down after a while and was very embarrased. She had no control over the rage, and never saw it coming.

It was like an 'other'.

Needless to say she quit taking it, and fortunatly is doing fine without it.

I take prednasone when I get poison oak rash. That stuff goes totally nuclear on me, and the steroid is the only thing that makes the rash go away. Absolutely amazing results. I only have to take it for 4-5 days tho. I think they were 25 mg tablets. It was considered a strong dose.

Good luck everyone!

[Wirecutter]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by ibewgypsie:
They put me on prozac in the 80's. It makes me do things without thinking. Telling the doctor then about this made him laugh in my face and tell that it wasn't the drug.

Other aggressive friends, it makes them the same way.

Submissive friends (several friends wives), it sedates them, calms them.</font>

I once heard Prozac described by someone taking it. This girl was suffering from way too much worry, mood swings, and sometimes angry outbursts. Prozac fixed her right up, she said. She also said that the reason it worked for her was that it gave here a little more "don't-give-a-****", which was exactly what she needed. She quit stressing out about so many things, and things kind of evened out. That's one person's story, anyway.

Now think about that - isn't that also one of the effects of a lot of alcohol? There are calm drunks and there are violent drunks. You know the rest.

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by ibewgypsie:
There ain't nothing like a 300 pound man with a aggressive mental attitude. Except maybe six two hundred pound cops with sticks and flashlights.</font>

Ibew, sometimes you say things that make me really glad I don't have the life experience you have.

-Mark

[hammerhead74000]

Ahhh... yeah... that stuff...

I came down with a Bell's Palsy a few years ago -- the entire left half of my face went numb and was paralyzed -- and they put me on 4 or 5 different drugs (acyclovir, prednozone, and some others)... Dang, that stuff made me feel sick - hot flashes, irritable, lack of appetite, etc... and everything had an odd metallic taste to it, too...

I was so happy when I popped the last pill - yech, that stuff was nasty!

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV, but --

As for the SSRI - serotonin does a bunch of different things, depending on the region of the brain in question. They are often prescribed just based on your symptoms, without doing any tests to make sure that you really do need it... for many people, it's an accurate diagnosis, but for some symptoms in some people, the causes can be different. Also, different peoples metabolisms reacts to it differently; so the results do vary.

[pgmrdan]

Prednisone. Wonderful stuff when used right and very, very cheap.

It's anti-inflammatory action gave us an extra year with our dog when he had a non-operative nerve sheath tumor causing nerve inflammation and partial paralysis of his back legs. On the medicine he was able to take his 3+ mile walks again without any trouble. Without the medicine he couldn't walk out the back door to go to the bathroom.

My son used it many times to reduce inflammation during asthma attacks. It, along with his home nebulizer treatments, kept him out of the hospital several times.

I've used it a few times for asthma and pneumonia. I didn't have any irrational behavior but it made me eat like a horse. I looked at my tray when I sat down to eat lunch in the company cafeteria one day and couldn't believe how much I had bought. I then proceeded to eat every bite.

Good stuff but a bit scary.