Thanks for posting that Alkemyst...I know I spelled your screen name wrong....but my hands kill today and I just cant go back and look it up to spell it right.....

I just got my copay totals...and one doc insisted that I try Cymbalta, not once but twice, after I told him that SSRI type drugs end me up in the ER...anyway, for one daily dose, of 20mg....$495 for the month!!! Now if I had to pay that myself, I would have told them where to put that bottle of meds.

I took a total of 3 pills and was sicker than a dog...so look at the money wasted!!! Luckily I did not require a trip to the ER, as I had diazepam to offset the problems I had....but think if you added another $2000 to that for ER fees, IV, meds for puking and pain in the ER.

I am really sick of the pharmaceutical industry. Zyrexa is another big problem...they tout these drugs for everything....snake oil sellers.

Taking an SSRI is like putting your brain in a bucket of serotonin.

There is absolutely no good science behind any of this. They invent diseases so they can apply old drugs for 'new diseases'. Elavil or amitriptyline is another good example. It is highly anticholinergic.

Zyprexa is a major dopamine antagonist.

I take a dopamine Agonist...now I see they are selling that on TV too...Restless Leg is not a disease....it is a symptom. Peripeheral Neuropathy is not a disease-it is a symptom. Fibromyalgia is a fancy name for 'you have muscle pain and we are too cheap to do an epidermal nerve biopsy' or 'you really have something wrong with you but, good luck, we have to do what the insurance companies mandate and you are not getting any more tests until you come back here with some concrete evidence that YOU found yourself...oh, and just describe the symptoms---if you tell me you might have the disease, well, then, you are a hypochondriac."

I had a rheumatologist tell me...with NO blood tests and NO history, that I had fibromyalgia. That when I have small fiber neuropathy by biopsy, and a proven history of Lyme with titer and EM rash and he KNEW that!!!! Two weeks later I had an ANA elisa that was thru the roof....but those are 'non-specific'.

You will only be diagnosed with an autoimmune disease if you have blood markers. Now they are finding neurological ones that regular rheumies do not have a clue about...

And, honestly, I am totally unsure if I was diagnosed with any autoimmune stuff, if I would take those meds either. IVIG is risky, but I would sure make an argument for that over the other stuff....(I say that, but I have not gotten any relief from steroids, which probably makes a good case for a non-autoimmune cause. My thought is genetics in my case. I am likey a mutant of some type. I say that with great affection for myself and tongue in cheek, folks.)

I have on several occassions brought up the Cytochrome P450 chart. They update it often....I know it requires a bit of chemistry and all drugs are listed as generics, but, please take a look at what interacts with what...and new isn't always good.

A lot of adverse reactions could be avoided if we were all tested prior to treatment with many of the liver metabolized drugs. We have the technology to do genetic testing to see who tolerates what.

Most people do not report adverse effects either, we just stop taking the drug.

My opinion is Cymbalta is reformulated Prozac, and I for one, get horrible road rage, punch people in the nose reactions to those drugs....plus I get migrainous headaches, muscle aches, hot flashes, throw up sick on them...to think 10 years ago....they gave me zoloft with amitriptyline!!!!! Now that is malpractice.

Well, I am back to my genealogy studies....I am trying to figure out how my great grandfather x 6 can be that on both sides of the chart-that makes him both maternal and paternal for that lineage. Must be where I get my brains from.