Drugged

Had a bout of mild shingles a week ago. The doctor prescribed a week's dosage of a strong anti virus medicine which fogged my mind. The effect of this medicine on me is rather frightening because it is not just about being drowsy. For the whole week my mind was in a state of mild confusion and lack of clarity. For example, a few times I had difficulty recalling whether I had taken my medicine at the required time. I had to resort to counting the number of tablets left in each slab to work out the number of dosages I had already taken for the day.

Recently I read an article which described how a change in the brain chemistry can affect one's behaviour. In 2001 some sufferers of Parkinson disease in the US who were given the drug called pramipexole were found to have acquired an excessive gambling addiction. These were people who had never previously gambled in their life. Basically when a person suffers from Parkinson disease he has lost some brain cells which produce a neuro transmitter called dopamine. The function of the drug pramipexole is to impersonate dopamine. However dopamine in itself also performs another function which is to help a person weigh the costs and benefits of his actions,something like a risk audit. Any imbalance of this chemistry will lead to an impairment of this "risk check" function. Other patients who were given this drug were also found to become addicted to sex, drugs and over-eating. When the dosage was reduced their behaviour returned to normal.

I have at last finished the last dose of the prescribed medicine, and the fog also appears to have lifted. The pain in the affected area however still lingers. I would have gone running to the doctor again given my hypochondriac nature; but the fear of being robbed of the clarity in thinking stopped me. More than ever I see the importance for us to maintain good health and keep ouselves drug free. I dread the day when I have to choose between sustaining life and losing my own mind.