Are Doctors & Big Pharma & Govt like Puppetmasters?

I have bipolar disorder. It's been apparent since my teens. 30 years later my journey continues.

I have seen doctors all these years for my BPD. They encourage me to take medications. Meds make me feel worse. The side effects are worse than any benefits I feel.

Along my journey I've discovered that yoga, whole nutrition, sunshine, and cardiovascular exercise make me feel completely well. Yes it's high maintenance because I need to keep those things going every single day in order to feel well, but it is absolutely essential to my minimal functioning.

My doctors don't seem to acknowledge my discovery that a healthy lifestyle trumps meds because if I don't take their medications then there's nothing they can do for me and there's no reason for me to see them.

But I NEED to maintain a relationship with my doctors because I'm filing for disability because I can't hold a job when 1) I'm either exercising all day to maintain minimal sanity or 2) non-functional without exercise. Either way I simply cannot hold a responsible job. My marriage failed because I'm insane (I was insane to marry HIM in the first place but that's another story), and my ex-husband has custody of our children because I can't take care of them.

But please don't think that I'm not trying. In 2012 I went through a grueling training program to become a certified yoga instructor. It was grueling for me because of emotional instability. Since yoga maintains my sanity, it was my best option for an occupation. Then I went through the interview & hiring process at two different international gym chains and taught yoga for a total of 22 months since then. And please don't think that my bipolar disorder never reared its ugly head that whole time. I only feel well while I'm actually doing yoga. Within 30 minutes after exercising, the healing bliss dissipates and I need more of something...more running, more sunshine, more healthy food, or sleep. This may sound like a Club Med vacation but it has been my PRISON! I literally have no social network, no family, no social skills, no other vocation or hobbies. Every waking moment is spent trying to consciously find balance and sanity.

Well I've been filing for disability for a couple years, and this is why I need to stay close with my doctors. The government will not recognize disability without regular, consistent doctor agreement.

So herein lies my conundrum: I've tried all of the medications for bipolar disorder. (Lithium blurs my vision. Lamictal gives me the Stevens-Johnson rash. Wellbutrin feels great the first day, then feels like nothing after that. Celexa makes me feel emotionally dead. Latuda has no effect on me. Geodon made me need to take a 5-hour nap in the middle of the day. You name some others, I can't remember them all.)

Yoga, exercise, sunshine, nutrition is all I need. Why can't my doctors accept this? When I'm in that regimen I'm absolutely thriving, therefore my doctors assess that I'm well, so they tell me to go get a job. But when I'm in a job I go insane because I need to be exercising.

My gig as a yoga instructor hasn't been enough for financial survival because in our society I can only teach a one-hour class every few days. It's a very unstable way to live, and combined with my emotional instability, I ended up in the hospital this past winter because, well, I don't have a car so riding my bicycle an hour or two to get to work through the bitter cold & wind & snow took a physical & emotional toll on me and I wanted to die so my doctor put me in a psych ward.

All of this has been unnecessary. My stay in the hospital was about as beneficial as being in a third-world country in medieval times. I KNOW what I need in order to feel well: sunshine (or at least a light box which I have at home), yoga, cardiovascular exercise, and optimal nutrition. But those fundamental elements of wellness simply aren't a part of Big Pharma. In the hospital they kept us literally locked in a ward with no fresh air, no full-spectrum light, no place to run around and exercise, and they pumped us full of pharmaceuticals every day. HELLO! WHY CAN'T DOCTORS IN 2015 SEE THAT SUCH TREATMENT IS NOT HEALTHY?! As for nutrition, I have such high standards for food, so kale, quinoa, hummus, almonds, walnuts, blueberries, etc were simply not available at the hospital.

I left the hospital feeling bedraggled, numb, and ill.

Ever since I got out of the hospital in April 2015 I have been agoraphobic & depressed in my bedroom. I have stepped out once every couple weeks to get groceries, and I taught one last yoga class in April. After 90 days of not teaching classes, as per my contract at the gym, they terminated my employment in July.

Thankfully a friend has been letting me stay with him rent-free since last fall when I was facing homelessness.

Can anyone out there empathize with me and agree that I need government assistance to stay alive? My two children still need motherly love that can only come from their biological mother. I think that I deserve to live.

I have been filing for disability for two years now, and it's a tedious, cold-hearted process which contributed to my despair that landed me in the hospital.

Are doctors & Big Pharma & the federal government all linked together as puppet masters to keep lowly citizens on puppet strings?

All I need is sunshine, yoga, cardio, and nutrition. Doctors, Big Pharma, and the federal government even PREACH about the benefits of such a healthy lifestyle. But their actions truly seem in opposition to healthy living.

Zelpha wrote:Are doctors & Big Pharma & the federal government all linked together as puppet masters to keep lowly citizens on puppet strings?

No. Don't conflate your political opinions with your mental illness.

This thread is being moved the the appropriate forum.

Zelpha wrote:All I need is sunshine, yoga, cardio, and nutrition. Doctors, Big Pharma, and the federal government even PREACH about the benefits of such a healthy lifestyle. But their actions truly seem in opposition to healthy living.

Since I moved the thread, I suppose I will respond to the quote above. My Psych would love it if I found a solution that would replace meds. In fact, for a time I did go off meds. I came back because I needed the help they offered. I am now on a path to better health through nutrition and exercise. In time I will also try Yoga and other things. And there may come a time when I go off meds. My doctor will be fine with it - no preaching, no pressure.

The issue with meds and Psychs isn't all one thing or all another. I'm sure there is a lot of bad in it. But it isn't ALL bad.

Otter.

TheLongStruggle wrote:

Zelpha wrote:Are doctors & Big Pharma & the federal government all linked together as puppet masters to keep lowly citizens on puppet strings?

No. Don't conflate your political opinions with your mental illness.

I'm not incorporating any political opinion. Here's what I mean by the title:

I'm trying to go on disability for my mental illness. The Federal Government oversees that aspect, Social Security.

In order to be approved for Federal Govt Social Security Disability benefits, I need to maintain a close, documented history with my doctor.

In order for my doctor to agree to help me in any way, I must agree to take the medications.

Do you see how Pharma, doctors, and the govt are all interconnected here?

If I choose a natural, non-pharmaceutical treatment plan (which in my case has been proven to work better for me than the meds), then the doctor has no interest in working with me or supporting me in my claim for disability.

So do you see what's happening here? If I hope to survive by means of a monthly $700 check from Social Security, I must agree to take pharmaceuticals (which have proven to be toxic to me)!

If I decline the pharmaceuticals then my doctor will not support me in my disability claim, and I will eventually be homeless, cold, and dead.

So I can't help wondering if doctors receive bonuses for prescribing pills to their patients? I really want to know if they do.

Otter wrote:

Zelpha wrote:All I need is sunshine, yoga, cardio, and nutrition. Doctors, Big Pharma, and the federal government even PREACH about the benefits of such a healthy lifestyle. But their actions truly seem in opposition to healthy living.

Since I moved the thread, I suppose I will respond to the quote above. My Psych would love it if I found a solution that would replace meds. In fact, for a time I did go off meds. I came back because I needed the help they offered. I am now on a path to better health through nutrition and exercise. In time I will also try Yoga and other things. And there may come a time when I go off meds. My doctor will be fine with it - no preaching, no pressure.

The issue with meds and Psychs isn't all one thing or all another. I'm sure there is a lot of bad in it. But it isn't ALL bad.

Otter.

Thank you Otter. May I ask if you are on disability? If so, it's nice that your doctor is encouraging you to incorporate natural healthy treatments so maybe you won't need your meds some day. If you eventually do come off your meds because the healthy approach is working for you, (and you are on disability), then your doctor will still stand behind you receiving disability benefits even without medication?

I'm pursuing my disability case because everyone in my bipolar support group is on disability, and I just learned this a couple years ago. So seeing how my life is debilitated, I'm confident that I would be approved for disability too.

But I've been filing for two years and have been denied THREE times. It's agonizing, and I'm hanging by a thread.

Hi Zelpha,

I'm sorry if it seemed like I was insensitive to the rest of your post. Anyway, no I am not on disability. I am getting support from the state however. I am finishing up school and will be back at work in the new year.

I am Bipolar as well, but I am medicated. I have never tried for disability, though I imagine it can be rough to qualify for.

Good luck,

Otter.

Zelpha wrote:All I need is sunshine, yoga, cardio, and nutrition. Doctors, Big Pharma, and the federal government even PREACH about the benefits of such a healthy lifestyle. But their actions truly seem in opposition to healthy living.

Mental health "care" is an expensive disaster .


I did a post someplace where I showed that the price of a hospitalization and the inevitable prescriptions would buy a new house and car !

"Abilify"

2mg 30 tablets $717.30
10mg 30 tablets $717.30
20mg 30 tablets $1,011.76

http://www.truemedcost.com/abilify-price/


And who just gets put on one drug ? Next the hospital,

Charges were 2.5 times higher than the hospitals' reported costs to deliver care. Reimbursed amounts indicated by MarketScan were similar to the reported costs to deliver care. The average cost to deliver care was highest for Medicare and lowest for the uninsured: schizophrenia treatment, $8,509 for 11.1 days and $5,707 for 7.4 days, respectively; bipolar disorder treatment, $7,593 for 9.4 days and $4,356 for 5.5 days; depression treatment, $6,990 for 8.4 days and $3,616 for 4.4 days; drug use disorder treatment, $4,591 for 5.2 days and $3,422 for 3.7 days; and alcohol use disorder treatment, $5,908 for 6.2 days and $4,147 for 3.8 days

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22588167


Then add doctor visits, stuff like blood tests, out patient groups and you can see they could have bought you a house and car with all the tax and insurance money they basically spend on themselves.

One problem is groups like "The National Alliance On Mental Illness" or NAMI , its totally corrupt.

Drug Makers Are The "Advocacy" Group's Biggest Donors

The New York Times revealed in Oct. 2009 that the US Senate had to force National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) to disclose that a majority of its money is from psychiatric drug companies, a fact that NAMI's board kept secret for years. The funding of NAMI by multiple pharmaceutical companies was reported by the investigative magazine Mother Jones, including that an Eli Lilly & Company executive was then "on loan" to NAMI working out of NAMI headquarters


See http://www.namiexposed.com


They system is totally wacked, you can be homeless and 'mentally ill' and they will spend 10s of thousands of dollars on their hospital lockups and psychotropic drugs and then they send you back out to be homeless.

Happens to people all the time.


I wish I had better news but ya, this system is messed up and all corrupt. And often makes people worse .

I lost the edit button but the question was Are Doctors & Big Pharma & Govt like Puppetmasters?





The drug companies run "Advocacy" groups like NAMI who pressure the government into making policy that benefits them not us.

I don't know what else to write except that it would be great if they helped people diagnosed with mental illness with money to live instead of just money for people who own psychiatric hospitals or sell drugs to "help" us.

Zelpha wrote:So I can't help wondering if doctors receive bonuses for prescribing pills to their patients? I really want to know if they do.

Pharmaceutical and medical device companies are now required by law to release details of their payments to a variety of doctors and U.S. teaching hospitals for promotional talks, research and consulting, among other categories.

Has Your Doctor Received Drug Company Money?

Use this tool to search for general payments.

https://projects.propublica.org/docdollars/