Read the fine print, indeed. Actually, what I disdain about such articles is that they really do seem to pander to a degree of idiocy that makes me wonder how the species has come this far.
However, of Zoloft, which I took a generic version of for years, the side effects are all contradictory, and that's because you have neurons in other places than your brain.
Digestive? Well, the drug can cause constipation. Or it can cause diarrhea.
Sexual? Can increase libido, can kill libido. Can charge a long-term erection, can cause erectile dysfunction. Can induce premature ejaculation, can cause anorgasmia.
Actual mental side effects? Can make you manic, can make you suicidal.
And in truth, that sort of thing really does start to get to you after a while. A few days every now and then where you just can't get enough sexual stimulation, and long periods where who knows, you might be suffering erectile dysfunction but you wouldn't know because you just can't be bothered to check.
Leaving the house not knowing whether your gastrointestinal tract is going to decide it really, really needs you to stop what you're doing and er ... right. Or going to dinner not knowing when the spent fettuccine will see daylight again.
Getting out of bed not knowing whether you're going to fall asleep; going to bed not knowing whether you
can fall asleep.
The actual intended effects are even worse: On the manic side, it can make you want to fight with people over simple perceptions of dignity. On the depressive swing, you'll just sit there and take it while people lie to you and talk down to you.
Funny thing is that, being off the medication, I personally have no inclination to deal with either situation, so I walk away from unnecessary disputes.
Naturally, this action unsettles people, so they want me back on the pill for the sake of my health and happiness.
It's the kind of thing that makes one feel paranoid. After a while, it is possible to start believing that you never needed to be medicated in the first place. I can't say the world is out to get me or anything, but neither am I convinced I'm the one who needs to get back in touch with reality.
But it's true, I'm one who reads the PI, and it strikes me as incredibly strange that other people don't.
Amusing anecdote: A friend of mine went on Lexapro at a time when I was already on it. She was recounting something about how the drug made her feel that didn't seem quite right, so I started running through the PI over the phone. When I got to the bit about how it (like Zoloft) can go either way on a number of things, including hyperlibido and anorgasmia, or loose stool and constipation, she suddenly said, "Oh."
I really wish I hadn't asked the next question: "What?"
"Well, that explains why it was so messy."
"Why ... what ...?"
"Anal sex."
And the funny thing at in moment, what made me incapable of coping with that line is that she doesn't like anal sex, and I, colloquially speaking, can't get poked in a prison. And then, of course, just the thought of ... er ... yeah. Right.
Chantix, also, is an interesting drug insofar as I can't remember a damn thing about it. That is to say, it worked, but I didn't stay quit ... again, for reasons that evade my memory.
But it's also just a weird thing to see articles like that. I mean, when I was young, part of what they taught about reading comprehension was to understand what both the purpose and audience of the writing was. So, yeah, when I see a list like
that? No, really, holy shit! Am I the only person on the planet who reads the damn PI before I take the drug? Hell, if it's a prescription, I'll read the PI on a pill I've taken before. You know, like Vicodin, which I had certainly used for recreation long before I ever had a super-cheap prescription for more than I would need. But, yeah, I read the PI, anyway. Then again, that whole episode was unsettling in a
different way.
