I Got This as a Comment

I have removed the name because I don't have permission to use it, but this essay is too good to languish in the comments section.

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"I must also agree, I have the kind of memory you mention and I am experiencing cognitive difficulty one week after the mind wipe procedure that was supposed to be only an examination. I yell at people now and have no tolerance for my eight year old son's behavior. I hope I can still maintain a good relationship with him but feel I'm not who I used to be. I say sorry to my son and my partner a lot now and feel ashamed that I can't take responsibility for my actions. I feel stupid now as I blame the hospital staff for my behavior which sets a bad example for my son. How can I teach my son to take responsibility for his actions when I've been screwed up from the inside out by a stranger? I'm not me anymore. I wouldn't wish these symptoms on anyone except people who push drugs into people who don't understand the effect. At this point, I think if I could see my anesthetist struggle with my issues and I could cause him pain while giving him Midazolam and say "It's a good fun time, isn't it? Give him more poison, he's being too loud." then I might start to shake this depression, or at least be happy to see justice for a change. Not the kind of thought I'm used to having but I guess he brings out the best in me.

I am worried I'll never achieve my goal to obtain a certificate in electronics since I require my mind for that endeavour. The paranoia, crazy dreams, tension and forgetfulness among other side effects weren't discussed before my procedure. I'm just glad the hallucinations stopped. No one told me they would be chatting to me about various things for 50 minutes, all of which would end up being forgotten. I am a very private person, don't use facebook and already had a distrust of people due to past problems. I'll never go back for any more tests which means I'll never get to the bottom of the problem I've been having for 6+ years with loss of blood when I use the toilet, so much so that I need iron infusions. The specialists were getting fed up with how long its taking and I think after they learn of the phobia to tests I've developed, they will stop giving me iron altogether. They did keep saying they were sick of filling a bucket that has a hole in it. Unfortunately when this bucket gets kicked, there wont be a replacement.

If these symptoms persist I fear my life's pursuit of electronics and computers will be destroyed. I wrote programs and built electronic devices with PIC chips for fun. Now I can't motivate myself which is out of character for me. One strange thing is that I tried to get motivation to make some music, which I did but my style is different now, possibly better. Not the result I was looking for when I went in for my examination.
BTW I think everyone should have the right to CONTROL what is done to them. If that's being a freak then so be it. If people choose to give up control then the doctors should let them make an informed decision." 

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I am so sorry this happened.  It actually does get better, but it takes YEARS.  Some of it, like the extreme anxiety about medical procedures doesn't really get better, but for the inappropriate rage, insomnia etc. that does significantly decline over time.  That doesn't help NOW, but it will get better.  My own daughter has a bright line of demarcation between before Versed mommy and after Versed mommy.  She survived it.  Talk about it.  Apologize.  Yes a brief time with Versed can cause problems for years.  It IS the drug, it IS the complete and total disregard for you as a person by the medical field that traumatized you.  

Try a supplement called Prevagen.  I take it every day.  I used Lexapro for a while for acute episodes.  Thanks for writing.  Hopefully your story will help others.

Here is Obfuscation at its Finest

This statement came in my inbox at nomidazolam.com  This is how the medical minions try to confuse the issue.
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"Propofol is in the same class of drugs as Versed. It has the same precautions and can cause the same problems." (quote Lance Baker)  

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First, before I lambaste this statement, thanks for actually using a name Lance.  

Lance, Propofol is certainly NOT in the same class of drugs as Versed.  Versed is a benzodiazepine.  Propofol is not.  Propofol is in its own class.  I see that you have tried to obfuscate the issue by conflating USES of a drug, like anesthesia, with the CLASS of drug.  Yes Propofol is used in anesthesia.  Yes Propofol is considered a "sedation" drug and also a "general anesthesia" drug, just like Versed, but it is not in the Benzo class.  It isn't a benzo.

Propofol certainly does have the same precautions.  It's a powerful drug and can KILL YOU if used inappropriately, just like Versed.  The problems you speak of do not include the same rebound anxiety and the other mental problems that Versed causes.  The two drugs are entirely different.  It isn't fair to sweep every drug up into the "sedative-hypnotic" category and pretend that they are in any way similar other than method of action.  

Just In...

Here is yet another erudite post from a reader.  He/she opines that regardless if we suffer from side effects, since we have no medical training, we are not competent to judge whether we like the drug or not.  Sooo, if we are not educated enough to dislike the side effects of a particular drug, then does it follow that deleterious side effects are not reported?  After all, who are we to judge, we are suffering, but it has no meaning because we aren't in the medical field.  Wow.  That's some logic.  The post is also heavy on gratuitous insults as usual. Really, is this how a well reasoned argument reads?

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You're a dumbass. When you have a license to practice medicine then you can comment of the efficacy and safety of medications. Until then, stop your fear mongering bullshit  

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Oh and by the way?  I want you to enlighten me as to how you plan to enforce your diktat?  In other words cupcake...how do you plan to make me stop my "fearmongering bullshit."  Who is the "dumbass" now?  Brave words from a typist with no way to back it up.

Midazolam and Murder on TV

Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, episode 25 has a plot which involves a murderer using Versed/Midazolam.  The exact same drug that your friendly medical providers will tell you is simply a little sedative.  Something to make you happy and relaxed.  If Versed/Midazolam is innocuous, why then are television shows using it as the method their fictional homicidal characters use to gain compliance?  They aren't using Fentanyl or Valium.  They are rightly demonizing Versed/Midazolam along with the killers.

Does it make you feel better that Midazolam is only available through a prescription?  Are hospitals et al lax with Versed/Midazolam because they believe their own hype about how "safe" this drug is?  It's very disturbing how many nefarious uses this drug has, not just in a medical setting where Versed is used to extract secrets from patients or so the medical staff can indulge in a little torture under the premise that the patient won't remember it anyway.  Murder, rape, torture, legal lethal injections, forced confessions, all using Versed.


Whether it's murder or unintentional (iatrogenic) harm this drug has no place in a civilized society, in my opinion.  Hopefully as professional writers use this drug in their plots, public awareness will cause people in the medical field to rethink their use of this poison. Maybe the FDA can step in and reexamine their sanguine attitude towards Versed?  I would like to see it banned.

Another Example of a Comment by an Ignorant Twit

Isn't this cute?  Yes I still get erudite posts from time to time.  Here is one person's idea of a well thought out, reasoned comment on a post of mine.  (giggling)  I sure hope that this person isn't in health care.
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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Recent Spate of Hate Mail": 

Implying you have your MD and know everything about midazolam. You probably are also an antivaxxer who probably hasn't even gone to college. 

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Let's look at how incredibly perspicacious this cretin is.  You would think that they would want to take credit for this little gem wouldn't you?  Instead they post under anonymous.  Typical.  

Honey babe, I have NEVER implied that I am an MD.  I have never STATED that I am an MD.  I have NEVER implied that I know everything about Midazolam.  I don't know EVERYTHING about anything, nor do you.  If you knew just EVERYTHING about Versed, why haven't you enlightened all of us?  Your imply that you know everything about Versed, so let's hear it.  

This next statement is truly bizarre.  What the hell has my attitude towards vaccines got to do with Versed?  Other than the fact that they are both injectable, the one thing has nothing to do with the other, does it?  I'm unclear why this red herring would be dragged into discussions about Versed, but it must make some kind of sense to the commenter.  

Look at the structure of this sentence:  You PROBABLY are also an anti-vaxxer who PROBABLY hasn't even gone to college.  Wow.  So well put.  Very good, you get an "F" for that sentence, just as a sentence let alone the ridiculous content.  Please tell me that you are not claiming to be college educated with that comment...

So, since I had a very bad experience with an immoral, untrained, arrogant, lunatic of a crna wielding a syringe of Versed, because he relied on an evil amnesia drug with KNOWN SEVERE SIDE EFFECTS to hide his lack of skill in pain relief, I am pretending to be an MD, I'm an anti-vaxxer (used as a pejorative) and haven't been to college.  Judging by the poster's lack of skill in either presenting his/her side of the argument, or writing a cogent sentence, I would have to say that this person is an uneducated rube.  God help us if he/she has access to Versed and helpless, trusting patients.

I love it!  Keep them coming all you oh-so-very-smart people.  The only reason I allow "anonymous" postings is because I'm amused by this kind of thing.  It gives me something to write about.

The ID channel

I watch the ID channel frequently and this jewel came up.  "Death and the Dentist" on 48 Hours ID.  Guess which drug was used to kill this man?  Imagine that.  Not only is this drug Versed/Midazolam used in death row inmates' lethal cocktail, but used for straight up murder as well.  Ever wonder how many hospital deaths can be attributed to Versed?



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0Dmvx4nDLA

Some Sage Advice From a Reader.

Gustavus has left a new comment on your post "Amazing Isn't It?":

I would walk out on pangolin, but only after making my recording of her "speil" and being sure to publish it on youtube. After all, I can choose to/not to do that with my own HIPPA info. Since I am in a single consent state that "dr" would never know it was recorded. I have taken to recording EVERY visit to any practitioner's office. 

If after I refused a med/procedure, I was pressured any further with any sort of their threat/scare tactics/falsified docs my first stop out the door would be my lawyers office (again). It is strangely satisfying to hear them backtrack once they find out about the existence of a recording. History has proven to me that their insurance company just asks how much to settle, and won't defend them at all. By the way, making recordings was a recommendation of a neurologist-friend who refuses any versed-like medications for himself and family. 

Easiest way to deal with these drug pushers/patient abusers is to cost them money, lots of money. It works, and it is the only way we, as patients can enforce our rights. There are lots of good doctors, and there is absolutely no reason to put up with the bad ones like the "anesthesiologist" above. 

Any Other Anesthesia People?

I got a comment from an anesthesia person on this post: No Midazolam: Heart Cath and Amnesia

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UnknownMarch 24, 2017 at 8:23 PM

The current recommendation in the anesthesia community is avoiding benzos in patients over the age of 65-70. I personally don't give them at all unless a patient is so nervous they are crying and shaking, and even then I will try something else first. Cardiologists, gastroenterologists, etc. don't have the luxury of administering propofol because of safety and liability issues, so they use benzos and narcotics for sedation.

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I am encouraged by this person's comment.  I hope that the age of the patient is lowered until the drug, Versed, isn't used. I do understand the problem with using Propofol in a setting without properly trained and extremely vigilant medical personnel who are properly equipped for emergencies. However, the medical field has ignored the problems with Versed because they are telling us and themselves that Versed is "just like Valium."  It isn't.  Valium is Valium and Versed is Versed.  The chemical construction is different, the amount of drug that is fatal is different, and the effects are different.  

I have found that Fentanyl as sole agent, isn't only a painkiller many times more effective than Morphine, it is also a sedative.  The real kind which ameliorates pain, and as a side effect calms the patient.  Not everybody likes Fentanyl, but for me, this is what I want.  I agree with the anesthetists assessment, with the exception of the age.  I think the cutoff age should be much lower.

Thanks to the commenter for leaving us this wisdom.  

A Gas Passer Says It All

I can't tell you how much I appreciate this well written piece by an anesthesia provider.  I'm sad to report that my prejudice about crna's remains intact because the author actually is a doctor.  Please remember that it is your RIGHT to request an anesthesiologist rather than an anesthesia nurse for your procedure.  If you have read the nasty comments on here from the nurses, I encourage you to compare those with this essay...

Enjoy!

All’s Not Well in La-La-Land | Having a Gas Passing Gas