Taking Pills

[quit-once]

Pills. It is universally accepted that taking a pill can make you feel better. It cracks me up how much faith most Americans have in the magical solution that a little tiny pill can offer them. My relationship with pills began with my earliest memories of taking Flinstone's Vitamins. It was fun to take those pills - I could dig my favorite flinstone character out ot the bottle, play with them first, and and either swallow it whole or bite off dino's head - they had a really good cherry flavor. As a four-year-old, I was busted by my mom hiding under the kitchen table eating and playing with my entire bottle of Flinstones Vitamins. She freaked out and called the doctor who just laughed it off and told her not to worry - that if anything, it would do more good than harm. They were MY pills, right? so why couldn't I just gobble the entire bottle? I was scolded and got a good lesson about the dangers of taking too many pills all at once. But I also learned that taking pills could be fun - Fred, Wilma, Barney and Betty all endorsed them on TV so they couldn't be that bad for ya, right? Fred Flinstone made TV commercials for Winston Cigarettes, too. Yabba Dabba Doo!

I have taken pills my entire life - chewable vitamin C as kid, long-term tetracycline therapy for my acne as a teenager; asperin and excederin for the minor aches and pains, and opioids for the major injuries and operations. I discovered speed in high school and college, but back in the 80's, prescription stimulants were scarce so I mostly took No-Doze, Vivarin and Dexatrim for the late-night studies and term paper cramming in college.

When I began taking adderall, I was already an experienced pill-popper, so it was within my comfort zone to dose up and re-up throughout the day. And taking adderall was really, really fun. I also tried to take calcium supplements and vitamin C while on adderall, but had to be careful about when to take the vitamin C (or drink anything citrus) so it would not kill the adderall buzz. When I ceased taking adderall, I replaced one pill habit with another - I began taking lots of supplements: L-Tyrosine, multivitamins, vitamin C,vitamin D, Vitamin E, fish oil, calcium with minerals, and a GNC pilll called Thermo Burst Super Hard Core energy supplement (that name just cracks me up). Now, I didn't take all of these every day, but I would take some pills with each meal. I started needing to take a Tums once and a while to deal with the heartburn caused by poor food choices or too many supplements. I also started a short course of Chantix after ceasing adderall and I am not sure that was a good thing, but it did work to help me kick the cigs.

About a month ago, I did a week-long cleanse and detox thing called the Master Cleanser where you cannot eat food or take pills. I felt great during and afterword, and it got me thinking that I really don't need to be taking as many pills. I followed the Master Cleanser with another two-week long pill cleanse - where I did not take anything in pill form, not even a Tums. And I felt great. Lately I have been taking a few energy / weight loss supplements along with an occasional tyrosine pill for a better mood, but for the most part I have remained pill-free. I don't think all pills are bad but I do believe I was taking way more pills than I really needed. There is no substitute for sensible nutrition, regular meals, mindful eating, and adequate sleep. Good hydration is also really important and I have forcing myself to drink three bottles of water a day, no matter what else I do or drink. I still have 25 lbs of excess body fat to eliminate this summer. I am not planning on going off all pills, but I do plan to incorporate MINDFUL pill-popping into my lifestyle. Does anybody else have an opinion about pills, in general?

[Jon]

I think you covered it all, Q-o. Some of us were conditioned to take pills at a very early age. My mother had rheumatoid arthritis and since there were no effective treatments for it back then she took a holistic view. She took vitamins, vinegar, juiced...the whole 9 yards. So as kids we went on the vitamin pill regimen with her. We skipped over the Flintstone vitamins and went straight to the adult version. We were all taking about 1 dozen supplements a day.

 

I suppose this conditioning lowered our threshold for consuming pills in general, but I believe that the doctors can take more of the responsibility for the whole pill mindset.

Now I can see your interest in doing another pill cleanse in September 2013.

[quit-once]

I am really glad you dug up this post for several reasons:

 

I completely forgot I even wrote it, especially when planning my pill cleanse.  But writing this post was a crucial step in my recovery because I remember mentally drafting it for several months.  I really needed to express my feelings and emotions about taking pills (apparently, I still do).  I really don't think I have thought about it for the last 16 months.  I completely forgot that I did a three week pill cleanse after doing the Master Cleanse for a week.  What does that say about my memory?? 

 

I wrote this post at a pivotal time in my recovery process.  I had been quit for almost exactly a year.  I was feeling a sustained improvement with more energy and mental clarity.  But,  I was overweight and eating easy foods.  I took control of my nutrition and made an effort to get in better shape.  I began doing yoga.  I wanted to lose 25 lbs.  I lost about 20 lbs and have stayed in pretty good shape - mentally and physically - and I have maintained the better nutrition.  Most days I make it a priority to prepare two good meals for myself.

 

After re-reading this post sixteen months after I wrote it, I can say that I feel exactly the same way about taking pills just to be taking pills.  And my pill habit is strictly supplements!  What will it take for me to learn a life lesson that I really don't need to be taking them in the first place?  Before adderall, all I ever took was a daily Vitamin C (and whatever recreationals I could find).  I would really like to get back to that point, minus the recreationals, of course.