I can’t think of a witty title

It has been some time since I updated this blogthingey.

Things have changed quite a bit.  I am currently unemployed and in the process of becoming re-employed.  Hopefully at the same institution but with a different boss. [It is a long and sordid story but the summary is that I did nothing wrong.]

Aside from applying for every job possible, I’ve been studying for the MCAT.  So life has been…boring.

But I do have time to think about things.

Something happened today and I’ve been thinking about it quite a bit. Here is the story:

I’m at the store paying for my groceries when a woman appears in the line next to me.  The woman has a transparent purse that allows everyone to see the contents of her purse.  I glance over at her purse, now perched on the checkout counter and count 5 pill bottles and one Rx cough syrup bottle in addition to the packs of cigarets.  I can clearly read the prescriptions on about 3 of the bottles.  All were for very powerful opiates.  Then the woman placed her purchase item, a handle of really cheap whiskey, on the counter and mentions something about “really needing this (the whiskey)” tonight.  Then she mentioned something about tomorrow being her pay day and that she would be back for more alcohol after she gets paid.

The future doctor/current scientist in me sees red flags everywhere.  Alcohol and opiates don’t mix.  The reason why your doctor tells you not to drink while taking certain medications and the reason your pharmacist puts a little sticker that says “DO NOT TAKE THIS DRUG WITH ALCOHOL” is that taking really strong opiates with alcohol can kill you.  As in dead.

The woman had at least 3 bottles of different opiates (those are just the ones I could see while glancing inconspicuously).   I had a momentary moral dilemma.  Should I tell the lady about the dangers of mixing the drugs in her purse with alcohol or should I just assume that she has been properly informed of the complex biochemical actions that mixing the drugs could cause?

I left the store still pondering what to do.  Luckily she exited just after me.  I approached her and gently asked, “Ma’am?” Once I got her attention I said, “I noticed the prescriptions in your bag.  You do know that it is very dangerous to mix those with alcohol, right?”

Her reply was- “My doctor gave me these drugs.”  OK…maybe her doctor is an idiot…so I tried again with a more blunt tactic.  I told her that the drugs in her bag could be very dangerous if mixed with alcohol.  For a moment she pondered my statement then informed me that she only mixes them “at night”.  I replied with, “doing that could kill you. Trust me.”

I reiterated the danger and possibility of death thing, hoping that something would stick in her head.  I don’t know if it will.  I’m glad I said something but I doubt my words will change her actions.  For her, the drugs (which were really powerful painkillers but she didn’t seem like she was in pain (I know that pain isn’t visible but people who need fentanyl are generally REALLY sick.  Sick and in so much pain that is not responsive to weaker opiates like…morphine. (Morphine is actually very strong but fentanyl is 80 times stronger than morphine)) probably were needed at some point.  Opiates are notoriously addictive because of the way they affect the brain.  They make the brain feel good.  Warm and fuzzy.  Alcohol is also a drug with the same effects.

The woman probably needed the drugs at some point for surgery or something but the fact that she is adding alcohol is an indication that the high isn’t working anymore so she has to pour more and more chemicals on her brain to get the desired effect.

The big problem isn’t so much that the woman is taking insanely strong drugs, or that she is buying terrible whiskey.  The real problem is that she doesn’t seem to understand that the pills and the alcohol are both respiratory depressants.  Mixing them can transform a passed out drunk person into a passed out drunk who is so sedated that they can’t wake up if something happens.  At this point the person can die from simply not breathing enough, or they could vomit and aspirate the vomit or their respiratory center in the brain can get so doped up that it forgets to make the body breathe.

I really wanted to sit down with the woman and explain the action and effects of each of the drugs (including alcohol) in excruciating detail then talk to her doctor to bring the dangerous actions to their attention.

But I’m not a doctor yet.  I did what I could.  I told her that her behavior was dangerous.  I just hope she doesn’t OD or something like that.

So there is your depressing glimpse of life for some people.

Don’t be stupid.

Please.

Also, (to the universe) give me my damn job back.