Conference turris::womannotes-v1

    
    Note to one and all, especially <jym>, thank heavens your not in
    the CLOSET, on this issue...
    
    Where to begin, perhaps a few questions for each of us to answer.
    
    Are you, your mom's, friends, loved ones dependent on, " good drugs",
    those the doctor hands out to women like candy.How many women don't
    have to ask Alice? How many of your friends, lovers, family chose
    to be especially careful in public about their drinking, and in
    private have become,"Mom the lush". The woman who is still able
    to work, but not always there. 
    
    To often woman are given drugs to medicate them away from feelings
    of rage, of terrible unacknowledged anger. Medicine believes in
    giving us products for which little or no information is available
    to warn us of possible "side effects". Just give the "little ladies
    a pill", and they will be docile, will become good medical zombies.
    What a great business...socially approved, medically sealed junkies.
    
    Perhaps, it would be to out of me to say I've been a victim...But,
    my rage and the abuse I've suffered is fuel to help to warn others.
    Get out of the closet, open the medical chest in your bathroom...Have
    any of those drugs stolen your life?
    
    Is this adding any fuel to anyones fire?
    
    Did any of your know that getting off some drugs can create a psychosis
    in some patients. That the long term affect of those drugs most
    often given to women are know to cause serious medical problem.
    Bladder cancer,heart problems...
    
    Doctor receive no more than two lectures about medication during
    their internship...most if not all the information doctors and patients
    have available to them comes from drug companies. The FDA admits
    to an incestuous relationship with drug companies with respect to
    the information they get about drug studies. When you have the time
    reading the PDR about various drugs is very revealing...
    
    Well, I guess I've been a bit heavy handed about this subject. At
    least now I have the ability to think, to question before injestion...
    I've opened this door, who else is inside? I'm just glad that I
    can now own my anger and work beyond it...
    Meg

    
    When my husband first left me I suffered a serious of "mini"
    breakdowns... they were periods of which I would go into grave
    depressions and sleep all the time.  It was all I could do to get
    through an eight hour work day.  Well I kept all that anger bottled
    up until I cropped an ulcer and then I figured it was time to see
    a doctor.  First I was given a series of medications for pain...
    the ulcer was causing me real bad pain so I figured they were o.k.
    also I was given three kinds of ulcer medication... One was to
    tranquilize my stomach, one was tagamet for the actual condition
    and the other was one to help me digest things thus avoiding pain.
    I had been on this therapy for about a month... I was taking four
    kinds of pills four to six times a day!!!  I am not the most organized
    person in the world and this was really confusing me!!  Well the
    kicker was here I was already so doped up that I often could not
    tell you my own name and then I was prescribed anti-depressants
    on top of everything else.  I am telling you I never could have
    imagined such horror as I experienced with those things!!  I don't
    know what is in them but I was a babbling fool while on them...
    then I could not sleep so guess what I got next!.. sleeping pills..
    Well this went on for close to a six month period.. a pill for this
    a pill for that.. finally one day when I thought I would surely
    go out of my mind I put them all in the toilet with the exception
    of the tagamet because I really did need that for the ulcer... By
    this time I had in my possession Valum, Codine, Perkasets, Bental, 
    anti depressants, sleeping pills and Tagamet!!  I found a good family
    counselor through Concord Family Services, learned to talk about
    what was bothering me instead of drugging myself and eventually
    worked things out without all those drugs.. I am telling you to
    this day I am scared to death of anything more than a vitamin pill!
    I was only 25 when I went through all of this.. 
                                                    
    never again!
    
    later, gailann
    
    

        We live in a drug culture.  Maybe it's from the "recreational
        drug" craze started in the 60s, and the medical profession
        caught on that "people like drugs".  Maybe it's because drugs
        are "easier" for everyone involved (no surgery, no
        hospitalization or long therapy sessions, etc.).  Our society is
        very much into immediate gratification; even large companies
        frequently ignore their own long term goals in favor of short
        term gain. 
        
        Drugs appear to be particularly popular in psychiatry.  Maybe
        it's an attempt to "legitimize" themselves by showing that
        they have real physical things which can be treated by
        established medical techniques (however useless some of the
        treatments may be).
        
        What's really unfortunate is that prescribing "a drug" is
        so easy for the doctors that they seem to do it a bit too
        casually.  There are certainly cases where drugs are useful...
        but I doubt that that accounts for even 50% of the cases where
        they're prescribed.
        
        The big question is what can be done by people who don't
        *want* to be drugged up.  Probably saying "I don't want drugs,
        I want help" isn't going to do much good (and, of course,
        at least *some* of the time, *some* of the drugs *may be*
        helping, so how do you know where to draw the line?)
        
        	/dave

    As a male, I swore to myself that I would only "watch" this conference
    and not contribute... However, one of MY hot-buttons has just been
    hit and I'll break the rule for a moment.
    
    The very idea of a "Women's Therapy Movement" is to me violently
    sexist. I do not believe that anyone has ever been able to establish
    any "natural" differences between the workings of the minds of men
    and women. What has been established is that the "programming" of
    these boxes is different. Society tends to load one pile of sh*t into
    the minds of men and a slightly different pile of sh*t into the
    minds of women. Do your programming right and you'll end up with
    a man with the "psychology" of a woman or vice versa.
    
    By isolating the "women" into the region of "Women's Therapy" you
    simply continue to enforce the artificial, learned differences between
    men and women. You are attacking the symptoms not the causes of the
    problems. You are actually contributing to the perpetuation of the
    subjugation of women. Separate but equal is no good in racial issues,
    it should not be tolerated by feminists either. 
    
    		bob wyman

        In general, Bob, I agree... however, there's another side.
        Which is simply that adult women have already been programmed,
        and therefore it may be that certain diagnostic/repair
        techniques are more applicable to women than to men (and,
        of course, vice versa).
        
        We should try to avoid propagating the "difference programming"
        on new people... but we still have to deal with existing
        people.  The issue of how to accept and deal with existing
        programming while at the same time trying to say that
        programming style shouldn't be used any more is obviously
        somewhat complex... but what choice do we have?  (Wow, this
        topic's starting to sound like a computer conference :-)).
        
        I have no way of judging whether the "Women's Therapy Movement"
        is actually of any value to anyone... but I don't see anything
        intrinsically vile about the concept.
        
        	/dave

    
    It's interesting to compare the content of women's responses and
    men's responses to this note.  
    
    I wonder why it is that I am so much more interested in the "I know,
    I've been there" replies?
    
    It's funny to think how often I've wished I had just the sorts of
    drugs you are given without asking, just so I could turn off those
    terrifying feelings of rage and violence....
    
    Maybe the Diary of a Mad Housewife isn't so far behind us after
    all?
    
    

re .-1 Yep.  I'll keep this non-experiential one short.

re .4  Comparing gender issues to racial issues is valid in some cases, but
I think in this case it is not.  The anatomical, physiological gender
difference is far greater than the racial difference.   This physical
difference has some (large/small?) impact on our psyches, and this fact
has been ignored by the largely male psychological community.  Two well
documented (case histories, etc.) books on this general topic (not
Medication and women, but on the psychology of women) are Carol Gilligan's
In_A_Different_Voice and Anne Wilson Schaffe's Woman's_Reality.  While you
may not agree with these books I think you will find them challenging and
stimulating considering the position you've taken. 

All of the above does not address the predisposition of the medical
community to over medicate women, but they certainly helped give me some
new perspective on that and other related topics.  These problems are not
chimeras, and they are not on the verge of disappearing; though its not my
place to say, feminism is at its best when it helps the victims (Women and
men) of these and other gender problems deal with the resulting trauma, and
when it struggles to prevent reoccurrence of preventable tragedy. 

-Byron

    I am currently in therapy; I don't know if the particular association
    (Acton Mental Health Association) is, in any way, affiliated with
    the Woman's Therapy Movement. I see the social worker every week
    for almost three years now, and if I had to summarize what it is
    doing for me, I would have to answer that it is helping me take
    control of my life, without drugs or crutches of any type. I have
    had, and still have, in some measure, problems with alcohol, with
    sexuality, with identity, with how to handle rage and frustration.
    My social worker CANNOT prescribe drugs; in order to get them, I
    would have to see the psychiatrist who is also a member of the staff.
    Except for an initial encounter with "downs" (bad reaction and actually
    counter-productive), it's been a long, sad, weekly journey into
    myself. I wish there were a "magic" drug out there that I could
    take instead of the incredibly hard work involved (not really 8^}).
    It's hard, SCARY, and the rewards are long in coming, but when I
    compare myself now to three years ago, there simply wasn't, and
    still isn't, any other way to go.

	    [RE .4]:  It's called the Women's Therapy Movement because
	it was created by women, most of the professionals involved
	with it are women, and it's based on the application of some
	feminist ideas.  It's not exclusively for women or about women.
	    Remember that I lament its not being made part of the main-
	stream.  If it were, it would revolutionize psychology for both
	sexes.  Also, remember that I (a man) am part of the movement -
	I use its concepts as a rape crisis counselor, and they apply
	very well to clients of either sex.
			<_Jym_>

    
    A couple of recommendations, both on prescription drugs, and on
    therapy:
    
    o Buy a copy of the PDR and look up any and all prescription medication
      that your doctor gives you.  Understand it for yourself.  If your
      doctor has been consistently negligent in explaining side effects,
      drug interactions, or any other information that you find in the
      PDR, get another doctor, immediately.  I speak from experience.
      I spent a couple of months on disability because I was prescribed
      medications that were inappropriate and caused more problems than
      they solved.  If you have trouble finding a doctor who is competent
      and sympathetic, call up the Boston Women's Health Collective
      and ask for a recommendation.
    
    o If you feel you would benefit from counciling (and most people
      can), choose a licensed clinical psychologist or a licensed
      clinical social worker.  These people CANNOT prescribe drugs,
      and rely on their personal sensitivity and understanding of
      human psychology to aid people with their conflicts and problems.
      Only psychiatrists can prescribe drugs as part of psychotherapy.
    
    o Shop around for a therapist.  Make a list of things that are
      important to you - woman's rights, sexism, sexuality, the use
      of drugs in therapy, religion - whatever.  Make appointments
      (try only one or two a week, otherwise you may experience some
      burnout) with several therapists, as many as you need to find
      someone you feel comfortable with.  Explain to each that you 
      are interviewing therapists to find a suitable and comfortable
      match for yourself.  Ask about her/his opinions on each of the
      subjects on your list.  Ask about her/his therapeutic style and
      and approach to psycotherapy.  Ask about where each studied, what
      they studied, and what they expect their patients to get out of
      psychotherapy.  Discuss your individual needs, what you expect
      to accomplish or resolve, and whether your therapy will be ongoing
      or short term.  Ask anything you can think of.  Any therapist
      worth his or her salt will welcome such an approach.  Do not stop
      this process until you find someone really compatible.  
    
    
    I hope this helps - it is more than a little confusing to untangle
    the web woven by the medical profession.  Good luck to you all!
    
    
    Rita
    
    

  I don't disagree with anything that has been said so far about the
  dangers of drugs.  However, I'm afraid that a casual reader might get
  the impression any therapy that includes drugs should be avoided at all
  cost and this would surely be bad advice. 

  Lithium carbonate was the first commonly-available drug that affects
  neurotransmitters, the brain chemicals that control the transmission of
  neural signals.  There are many new drugs of this general type, though
  the specific neurotransmitter affected varies from drug to drug.  No one
  knows exactly how and why these drugs affect behavior, but indeed they
  do. Such drugs have been said to be helpful in the treatment of various
  forms of "clinical depression."  There are a couple of excellent
  articles on this subject in this week's Science News. 

  In essence, the article says that they tested four groups of clinically
  depressed people.  One group was treated with a placebo, one group with
  the new drugs, one group with "cognitive therapy" (in which I gather
  that the therapist tries to convince the patient that he/she is not
  worthless), and one group with both drugs and cognitive therapy.  The
  course of treatment lasted for 16 weeks. 

  29% of the placebo group got better.  ~60% of both the drug and therapy
  groups got better.  The results were not complete for the group that got
  both drug and counseling therapy, but this group's preliminary results
  were best of all. 

  Again, no one knows why these drugs work (but then, does anyone know why
  psychoanalysis works?).  Some patients respond to one drug but not to
  another. Some patients don't respond to any drugs.  But some patients
  get better and I happen know one of them, which is why I brought the
  subject up. 

  So, if you go to a doctor with a problem and s/he suggests that all you
  need is a vial of valium and another of barbiturates, you probably want
  to look elsewhere.  But don't reject the use of all drugs out of hand. 

  JP

	    [RE .11]:  Depression is often long-lasting because it works
	in a cycle:  Something triggers the depression, and the depress-
	ion triggers more depression.  Lithium carbonate doesn't do any-
	thing about the initial trigger; it simply suspends the feelings
	of depression (and of anything else:  anger, happiness, etc.).
	    This is a short-term solution, for the most part.  Sure, you
	can put people in a lab and administer the drug to them and have
	them stop being depressed, but what happens when their feelings
	start to function again?  As a short-term solution, it *does*
	have the very important effect of breaking the cycle, and that
	can open the door to recovery.
	    Not everyone's going to walk through the door and down the
	road by themself, though:  many people need help, which usually
	means getting at the problem that triggered the depression in
	the first place.  All too often the drugs just lead to a long-
	term dependency on drugs:  take them when you feel depressed
	and then zombie out.  Most of the people I've known who were
	caught in this (rather expensive) cycle just get more depressed
	(when they're not drugged, that is) because there's "something
	wrong with them that they can't deal with without the drugs."
			<_Jym_>

    As a general note to anyone who is considering therapy for depression,
    take an important step by examing your nutritional habits and your
    activity level.  I was in psychotherapy for a little over a year
    with a wonderful (female) therapist, and the initial part of my
    treatment for depression was adding vitamin supplements to my diet
    and teaching me relaxation techniques.  Because medical causes had
    been excluded, and I knew (at least subconsciously) that my depression
    was emotionally based, drug therapy was never considered.  
    
    My emotional problems were worked out via "talk therapy"; I learned
    to accept certain emotional betrayals and face my anger.  The vitamin,
    relaxation and consistent exercise helped me get over the hump.

    I seem to be a latecommer to this file but I want to contribute
    this anyway for what its worth.
    
    I worked with a Pilot who had a problem, He drank to excess.
    No person knew what was behind the problem.  Later in counseling,
    it was brought out that he had sever nightmares.  He drank himself
    to sleep by drinking until stupor arrived and when he sobered enough
    he woke with nightmares and began his day.  He spent less than 
    four hours in sleep each night 365/6 nights per year.  He was a
    physical wreck.  Just able to maintain his liscense and rating.
    (when sober he was a perfect pilot)
    
    Hypnotism brought to light that he had been brutally raped by
    a savage step-father.  Being seven or eight years old he was
    convinced that he was the one guilty of a "crime" and that 
    was what started the nightmares.  He was sodemized and left 
    a bloody mess for several years..about age 11, when he ran 
    away from home.  The doctor was able to supress these memories
    after a few sessions and then able to remove the guilt associated
    with the years of abuse.. now years later, this pilot does
    not drink, is married, a responsible parent and flies for 
    a major airline.
    
      The victim always needs support, understanding and loving
    kindness without being made to feel that the whole thing
    was their fault.  PITY IS NOT NEEDED NOR CONDONED BY THOSE
    WHO REALLY CARE.  Drugs are no answer and the posibility
    of peer counseling could have its value if not pushed at
    the one in need.  The victim needs help and the courts
    often punish the guilty but not many care a damn about the
    victim male or female.  the victim is a person worth caring
    for and we must do all we can to help.
    
    thanks,
    
    Dave

    I found it hard to believe that this notes file hasn't been more
    active.  I'd be interested in hearing from other people who have
    or are suffering from depression.  The stance taken about the drugs
    here is all well and fine and good but what happnes when the options
    become either taking the prescribed medicine or going to the hospital?
    To me that was not much of an option.

Response .10 offers some really good advice on how to shop for a 
therapist.  Getting a therapist is the _best_ thing to do, I think, 
and I can't add anything more to .10.  So, I don't know how to 
respond to you other than personally.  In answer to your question: 

"...what happens when the options become either taking 
the prescribed medicine or going to the hospital?"

It's too bad there are (or were) only two options at the time, but 
that is better than only having _one_ option, or having someone else
make the choice for you.  If I was asking that question for myself, 
I'd take the prescribed medicine, if the drugs would make it possible 
for me to continue functioning at a minimum level.  To me, "minimum 
level" means "able to work" and therefore able to support myself.  
I've done this in the past: when things got so bad that I wasn't able 
to concentrate on my work, I went to my doctor, told him how I felt, 
and asked him for what I needed.  In one instance, it was tranquilizers.  
In another it was sleeping pills to combat what I've learned is the 
"classic" depressive-insomnia of being able to fall asleep, but waking 
up in the very early morning hours (like 2 or 3) and not being able to 
get back to sleep (till say, 6:00 or 7:00 -- when I was supposed to 
be waking up).

My doctor once offered to prescribe anti-depressants, but I didn't 
want to take them -- aside from my immediate suspicion at his readiness
to prescribe a mood-altering drug after only a brief office visit, 
they seemed too heavy duty to me, and (more importantly at the time) 
they wouldn't have provided the immediate relief I wanted.  I'd waited 
till I felt like I was coming out of my skin, a very weird and 
uncomfortable feeling.  My brain was going 'round an obsessive circular 
course, and going round and round commanded all of my mental energies 
and left me drained.  Tranquilizers worked very well for me on the 
short term.  My mind may have been dulled, but dullness was heaven for 
awhile, and it enabled me to do my job and take care of the day-to-day 
tasks we all have to do -- laundry, eating, grocery shopping, putting 
out the trash, getting up in the morning, facing little frustrations.
I was also able to find some enjoyment in things outside of myself.
And, look at issues calmly.

But, after visiting my doctor, I called the local mental health center 
and made an appointment to talk to someone.

I think I've been depressed most of my life.  I've heard and read 
that depression "runs" in families, and I'm not one to disagree.  
Whatever the cause, I've got a depressed aunt who spawned (at least) 
one depressed child; a depressed mother with one depressed daughter; 
my beloved grandmother was also depressed.  I've finally come to the
realisation that therapy (for me) isn't just a short-term, crisis
oriented patch-me-up and put-me-back-together thing.  I'm in it for 
the long haul, now, and much better for it.

    
    Jym - could you give the statistical basis for the claim that
    1 out of every 3 women will be raped during their lifetime?
    
    I'm reminded of the latest Hite report where she over-estimates
    by (I think the NY Times or some such magazine decided) a factor
    of ten the number of married women who had extra-marital sex (70%
    instead of 7%).  [The figures in this paragraph are based on reading
    an article in the local paper a couple of weeks ago - the only fact
    I am sure on is that it was a drastic overestimate, and the statistic
    being measured].
    
    Hite's "mistake" illustrates both the difficulties of getting accurate
    measures in this area, and the potential benefits of getting them
    wrong (in terms of publicity/interest aroused), and hence the need
    for justifying any statistics such as 1-in-3.
    
    /Bevin

    Reply to .18; Brett,
    
    Jym left Digital about a year ago. The only place I've seen him
    is on UseNet. Try soc.singles or soc.women if you want to get his
    net address.

    /Bevin:
    
    Just for your information, Jym was always very thorough, and anytime
    he said something then it seemed he had good information to back
    it up.  I have heard the 1 in 3 figure several times before, so
    it is not considered far off base, but it IS an estimate, since
    so often sexual abuse is not reported.  I believe the 1 in 3 figure
    included both "sexual abuse" and rape (a crime of violence).
    
                 Carol

    I believe one source for those "1 in 3 women have been raped"
    statistics come from the USA Department of Public Health.   (And
    I know I have heard those stats from other sources as well.)
    The DPH supports many hotline crisis centers in Mass (and I assume
    nationwide) and requires careful documentation of hotline calls.
    
    Tamar

    Does anyone know where lists of hotline crisis numbers for
    rape and abuse situations can be found. I recently checked for
    same out of curiousity and found that no such numbers are listed
    as such in my phone book.

    I found a list of "Crisis" phone numbers in the first few pages
    of the 1987-1988 Metrowest "Talking Phonebook" under Self-help
    numbers (I suspect that other Boston Area phone books contain
    similar pages). The organizations listed include:
    	an anorexia/bulimia center
    	AIDS action hotline
    	help for alcohol and drugs
    	child abuse / battered women
    	rape crisis
    	mspca
    	suicide
    
    and more
    
    liz

    I have a friend who (...no, really: no coverup here...) diagnosed
    himself as clinically depressed (not just a phase), did a good deal
    of reading up and discussing it, and decided to self-prescribe 
    l-tryptophan (which you can buy at a health food store).  
    I think it helped, but I don't recommend it, because
    I cannot recommend self-prescriptions.  In his case it wasn't quite
    right, and he eventually sought a physician and was prescribed
    er, a tri-cyclic, I think.  The new medication was more effective,
    but addictive (extreme nausea was the only withdrawal symptom I
    can remember) and had a few other less disastrous but still
    uncomfortable side-effects (dry mouth, for one, and of course you 
    can't take alcohol).
    
    The side-effects and addiction were something he fought for awhile,
    anyway--which I can understand, being an independent person fond
    of my irregular habits.
    
    He would talk about the problems and how the medication seemed to
    lift a fog that had always obscured his vision, but people often
    reacted badly.  I believe that people don't want to talk about
    depression, not only not their own, but other people's.  Too often
    it is implied that it is up to the individual to bootstrap themselves
    up and out of it, almost as if it's their own fault that they haven't.
    (While I agree that self-motivation has to play a part, depression
    really isn't a forbidden sin that can't be discussed.)  And people
    are often treated as though it's contagious--isolate the sufferers,
    and all that, make sure they have no responsibilities, as if
    responsibilities are dangerous sharp objects and the sufferers are
    tiny tots who don't know about sharp objects.  Good grief,
    responsibilities are what make life worth living.  (Admittedly,
    one can have too much of a good thing.)  
    
    Well, that was all about why people sometimes don't talk about their
    depression--because they've learned it frightens people.
    
    Is there really a choice between taking the medicine and going to
    the hospital?  I thought it was merely taking the medicine at home
    or going to the hospital where they make sure you take the medicine.
    
    Do what you have to.  No amount of me telling you you're a fine person
    is going to help much at all, I learned.  I'm still likely to do
    it, although I don't mean to annoy. 
    
    Of course, be wary of people lacking first hand knowledge.  This
    includes me, I must say.  But people who haven't, often have all these
    prejudices about what *they* would or would not do, and frankly,
    how-the-heck would *they* know.

    re .24
    
    Clinically depressed and l-tryptophan???  
    
    I remember during my senior year at school I had major sleeping
    problems. I coudn't fall asleep until about 7 am and naturally I
    couldn't wake up until 1 pm or so. I was sure that what I was
    experiencing was my first psychotic break. So I went to the university
    mental health clinic. He, the psychiatrist/psychologist, recommended
    l-tryptophan to solve my sleeping problem. It worked.  Since then
    I always have a bottle hanging around the house for hard times.
    
    Now that you've mentioned your self-diagnosed clinically depressed
    friend you are scaring me.... :-) :-) 

    -karen

    I've forgotten the mechanism, but somehow it affects firings.
    It makes you sleepy too.  I haven't tried it since the time I had
    some annoying auditory hallucinations, but that could have
    been due to lack of sleep and too much stress instead.
    
    A glass of warm to hot milk probably has the right amount of l-tryptophan,
    and it also works well.  It's also probably hard to od.  Glug, glug,
    glug.  :-)
    
    Of course I don't drink the stuff myself--being lactose intolerant,
    I'd probably explode!  :-)  :-)

    Re:  14.2
    
    Just imagine what our working world would be like if the men in
    the office were as a routine prescribed valium, anti-depressants,
    sleeping pills, pain pills etc. all simultaneously!  What would
    happen to progress and accomplishments?  If the men were drugged
    and the women were alert what would the results be?  Would the women
    be obliged, to do a favor for, the men and take over and be management
    because the men - poor helpless things - were incapable of doing
    their job?

RE: .27

  >  Just imagine what our working world would be like if the men in
  >  the office were as a routine prescribed valium, anti-depressants,
  >  sleeping pills, pain pills etc. all simultaneously!  

What makes you think that men, also, are not prescribed the same
regimen of medications?

Judging by *some* of the decisions of *some* of the powers-that-be,
perhaps that *is* the case. :-)

  Alan

    Well, you probably haven't had the pleasure of speeding your brains
    out on "FemCaps" 3 days a month :-)
    
    :-(

    What the heck is a FemCap? Details, please.
    
    dov

    Tablets for PMS which you cannot buy over the counter, but which
    most DEC Health Services offices in the northeast appear to carry.
    
    They are the only PMS medication which allows me to forget that
    it's that time of the month.  The effect is like drinking a lot
    of coffee, though, and if I forget and drink coffee while I am taking
    them I kind of fly through my day...
    
    Ingredients:  Acetominophen, Caffeine, Ephedrine Sulfate, Adropine
    Sulfate 1/2000 gr.                                
    

    Yeah, well, I had a friend who had to take speed (prescription).
    Three days a month she couldn't sleep if she wanted to.