Annoying Questions I'd Like Answered...

[Count Arioch the 28th]

On a less serious note, is there a 3E D&D monster in existence similar to Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors? I think it would make an interesting addition to my campaign. (Less singing and making wisecracks than the movie of course, but a highly intelligent plant with limited mind-control ability might be pretty awesome.)

[ubernoob]

Yeah, for instance there's a drug that cure various addictions... But it is also psychotropic. So it is allowed by prescription in some countries, and Schedule 1 in the US.

-Crissa

Which drug are you talking about?

[Username17]

On a less serious note, is there a 3E D&D monster in existence similar to Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors? I think it would make an interesting addition to my campaign. (Less singing and making wisecracks than the movie of course, but a highly intelligent plant with limited mind-control ability might be pretty awesome.)

Greenvice. Basically, it's Audrey II, but it can also cast acid fog. CR 10 or so.

-Username17

[CatharzGodfoot]

Scheduled drugs are annoying because it requires me to call/see the doctor everytime I want a refill script. Granted, this makes me seems as someone too lazy to make a phone call.

No, it's totally understandable. Having to call your doctor every time you paid rent wouldn't be unmanageable (for renters; probably not for doctors), but it would be annoying as hell.

[Koumei]

Seeing a doctor takes fucking forever here unless you have a broken bone, are bleeding, or suffering chest pains, where you can cut the line for emergency reasons.

With my Efexor, that's no big deal, they write 6 months of scripts at a time (even though I would say you can get high: the first time I took one it was amazing. It just levelled out as "almost managing, kind of sort of" after that). But for painkillers, it means basically I get a script for the 30mg codeine pills any time I'm there for any other reason, and occasionally manage to get there for a script of those on their own.

But they can't just write a series of scripts. So often, I end up having to buy over-the-counter pharmacist-only painkillers, the 15mg ones. And sometimes just double-dose, because that's the same amount of codeine as a single dose of the 30mg ones (4x15 as opposed to 2x30).

Though today it caused incredible abdominal cramp-style pains, sweating, paleness and nausea and I ended up having to induce vomiting. I'm guessing this is the paracetamol at work, in line with the government's "It's better people die of a deadly poison than get high/get sufficient pain relief". Fuckers.

Fortunately, I've managed to lower the frequency of needing codeine for the pain, these last few months, I can generally get by with some ibuprofen and rubbing a local into my back. Though if someone invents a painkiller as effective as oxycodone that isn't a narcotic/illegal/addictive then that person deserves a double-decker bus full of cheerleaders and alcohol.

[CatharzGodfoot]

Speaking of Efexor, I would like to mention that my wife's psychiatrist is an asshole. Rather than tapering her off it, he just told her that she could stop taking it. At a result, she's been horribly depressed, nauseated, and having dizzy spells and nightmares all week.

Lately I've really been getting the feeling that psychiatrists just don't give a fuck as long as they get to prescribe expensive new drugs. It probably has something to do with it not being economically feasible for any of them to actually build a rapport with their patients. Yet another win for American drug laws and the AMA.

[Cynic]

Psychiatrist beef of mine. I recently learned when I went into an appt that my psych didn't take either of my insurances anymore. Rather than give me one more courtesy visit, I had to pay 140$ for a visit and then she saw me for like 3 minutes...

[Orion]

. Though if someone invents a painkiller as effective as oxycodone that isn't a narcotic/illegal/addictive then that person deserves a double-decker bus full of cheerleaders and alcohol.

Supposedly that painkiller now exists, and it's synthetic frog venom. Dunno when we'll actually get any though.

[Koumei]

brb, eating frogsohgodpoisonarrowfrog

[Count Arioch the 28th]

On a less serious note, is there a 3E D&D monster in existence similar to Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors? I think it would make an interesting addition to my campaign. (Less singing and making wisecracks than the movie of course, but a highly intelligent plant with limited mind-control ability might be pretty awesome.)

Greenvice. Basically, it's Audrey II, but it can also cast acid fog. CR 10 or so.

-Username17

That's a decent base. I want to tweak it a bit, of course but it's a great start. thanks.

[Zherog]

On a less serious note, is there a 3E D&D monster in existence similar to Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors? I think it would make an interesting addition to my campaign. (Less singing and making wisecracks than the movie of course, but a highly intelligent plant with limited mind-control ability might be pretty awesome.)

Greenvice. Basically, it's Audrey II, but it can also cast acid fog. CR 10 or so.

-Username17

That's a decent base. I want to tweak it a bit, of course but it's a great start. thanks.

What book is it in?

[RobbyPants]

Monster Manual II, I think. It's been a while since I cracked that open.

[CatharzGodfoot]

Speaking of Efexor,

I would like to mention that my wife's psychiatrist is an asshole. Rather than tapering her off it, he just told her that she could stop taking it. At a result, she's been horribly depressed, nauseated, and having dizzy spells and nightmares all week.

Lately I've really been getting the feeling that psychiatrists just don't give a fuck as long as they get to prescribe expensive new drugs. It probably has something to do with it not being economically feasible for any of them to actually build a rapport with their patients. Yet another win for American drug laws and the AMA.

I just learned that in drug trials, 10% of participants experienced "serious side effects" of hospitalization, brain damage, birth defects, cancer, or death. Minor side effects like regular dizzy spells (making it unsafe to drive) are known to normally last from a month to over a year after discontinuation. Often it is suggested that patients ease off the drug by removing one more grain of medication from the capsule each day.

Apparently my wife's psychiatrist is either stupid or actively malicious.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

One of the medications I was on at one point makes you grow boobs if you're a man. I wish I was making that up.

As tempting as being the world's least attractive futanari sounds, I decided that I'm fine with the non-functional mammary tissues.

[Crissa]

Effexor can be replaced with several other medications which has slightly less damaging discontinuation effects, such as Cymbalta.

But yeah, you can't just stop. You could get your pharmacist or general practitioner to assist in weaning off.

-Crissa

[Koumei]

Yeah. That time I couldn't afford my meds and had to go a week without, I was suffering a long list of symptoms that are apparently a copy-pasta of heroin withdrawal.

[Crissa]

Well, minus the cravings and heart palpitations. The sweats, sounds in your ears, and the mallet hitting your head randomly - no fun. Cymbalta is slower down, but not as bad, just dizziness, no brain damage.

Pharmacists will generally give you a few spare on loan, though. And if you need more than that, you can pay some pennies at a health food store for gelcaps to split them out a bit.

-Crissa.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

I question the value on medications sometimes. I mean, if someone really needs them to get by, that's cool. Some people do need to be balanced out.

That being said, I think they like to write scripts for people for little reason.

This is my experience, YMMV is a given here.

I went on medication briefly for reasons that weren't that good back in the day. First off, I never even saw the doctor. Seeing the doctor was $400 an hour. I saw a nurse practitioner that didn't consult the DSMIV and basically wrote me a script any time I asked for one.

Right now, even if I wanted to take them (I don't, everything I was on sapped my creativity and drive and made me put on massive amounts of weight), I couldn't because the category of meds I was on run about $150 for a month and I just don't have money for something like that. (There are charity organizations that will get you meds for cheap, but they don't supply antipsychotics.)

That being said, I don't feel I need to be medicated. I can hold down a job for as long as it takes, I have good friends and a fairly active social life for someone my age, all the complaints I would have involve money and not behavior. I just act outside the narrow spectrum of what is considered "normal". and I notice a lot of people, kids especially, are medicated for reasoning that poor.

I'm not saying that some people don't need to be medicated, I do think that psychiatric people are a little too eager to prescribe expensive, addictive drugs to people.

[Koumei]

Pharmacists will generally give you a few spare on loan, though. And if you need more than that, you can pay some pennies at a health food store for gelcaps to split them out a bit.

Yeah, I discovered since then that my pharmacy is pretty cool about that: I've been a regular for ages and it's where I did work experience, so we're on pretty good terms and they know they can trust me.

[Crissa]

Medication only goes so far. Many of the new ones help, alot, compared to older drugs. Of course, none will stop you from being depressed or whatever; but they give your brain the tools you need to fight.

Generally, I don't suggest a pharmaceutical response. However, for many things, it's no different than eating the right stuff - you're just giving signals or tools to your body to get better.

Lastly, the DSM isn't a list of treatments; it's a list of similar problems and associated sources. It's to help recognize what is out of order, and how to tell if it is impeding your life. Medical treatments are from a different manual, one a Physician's Assistant should know back to front.

My psychiatrist charges $200 an hour, and I thought that was spendy :P

-Crissa

[Cynic]

so, I'm going to start a regimen of EMDR and I've heard some horror stories about this. I hope at least it's better than talk therapy and the medication that i"m currently on.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

My psychiatrist charges $200 an hour, and I thought that was spendy

-Crissa

I'm not sure how that transfers into hours, but on this side of the continent $200 for a visit to a doctor's office is considered the norm, and if it's a specialist of some sort you can expect to pay much, much more. There's a company called Emergicare that's a non-emergency clinic, and they charge $180 for an office visit and they're considered cheap.

If you go to the emergency room, it's nearly a grand to even get in, and that's before any sort of treatment. $850 is how much it costs to have your vital signs checked by triage and get into the queue.

What can I say, I live in Tea Party Central. Most of you only see their crap on the news, I actually have to live through it and deal with their idiotic policy.

[Blasted]

That hurts. I'm obviously stupid for not become a medico.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

That hurts. I'm obviously stupid for not become a medico.

Naw, doctors and nurses don't make much money here at all. Nearly almost all of that money goes to the Hospital. The doctor may charge $100-$200 bucks for his services in the emergency room, the rest goes tot he hospital. You are stupid for not being a millionaire that bought part ownership in a hospital (/sarcasm)

[Count Arioch the 28th]

Question:

In the 80's when the rage in childrearing was that raising a kid's self-esteem would lead to better performance in school (rather than the more logical idea that kids who did well in school had higher self esteem), was there anyone telling parents to lie to their kids?

I'm just wondering, after flunking out of community college and when faced with the fact that I'm just not as smart as most people if my parents lied to me when they said my IQ was in the 99th percentile when I was 8.

I'm cool with being too slow, too dumb, and too poor to really accomplish anything, I just want to know and I don't think my parents would admit to it even if confronted.