I can’t believe I took so many
Pills for mental strife,
The doctors pushed them onto me
Throughout my adult life.
And never did one of those pills
Make any indentation
To darkest thoughts, but quite provoked
An increased fluctuation.
The side effects were awful
I had all sorts of things –
Electric shocks inside my head,
Nightmares, the shakes, and stings!
And when I thought I couldn’t take
The nightmare anymore,
There came the hideousness of
Trying to thus withdraw.
In fact, that is a paradox,
For sleep and every dream
Was blasted out and taken by
That drug quetiapine.
And when I asked the doctor, he
Did say, ‘At such low dose,’
I should be fine, ‘No worry boy,’
A folly, made-up hoax!
And after years of misery
In getting rid of potions,
I realised that bastard drug
Had blunted my emotions!
I knew I didn’t like these drugs,
I knew I did revile them,
But it wasn’t until ketamine
Induced months in an asylum
That I did say, ‘Enough’s enough,’
And left the NHS,
By now my brain a hopeless wreck –
I should have sued for stress!
But then I took upon myself
To do some further digging,
And found the most horrendous things –
Those pills so unforgiving!
For did you know psychotic drugs
Can increase risk of stroke?
How can we lie to innocent
And unsuspecting folk?
There’s warnings in the literature,
Read it – do – be my guests,
I once read that quetiapine
Makes boys develop breasts!
And not just that, I tell no lie
Indeed, I am no fake,
For from those breasts developing
They do in fact lactate!
Unfortunates can never get
Themselves off drug and pill,
And spend their lives in misery
Far worse and much more ill.
There’s even complications
From meds to combat mania,
Which make you want to leave your skin
They call it akathisia.
There’s others too with splendid names
Like tardive dyskinesia,
Where tongue comes out unprompted like
A drug induced bulimia!
The thing that people haven’t clocked
Is that these drugs are menaces,
The doctor harm that they create
Is termed iatrogenesis.
The whole thing’s complicated
By names of drugs seductive,
Like Seroquel, Lyrica too;
A shame they’re unproductive!
I’m sorry to the people that
Do claim they work a treat,
But how is drug that makes you want
To hugely overeat
A benefit to your own health?
Please do tell me the truth!
For when I heard the latest news
It put me through the roof!
And do you know what they have found
Like sleep and melatonin?
They now say that depression’s not
To do with serotonin!
That lie to package Prozac they
Dreamt up in eighty-six,
Was all a load of bodged research,
The ‘find’ a blatant fix!
So having just reflected on those
Things I have just said,
What choice does a poor person make
To medicate their head?
Well, I for one won’t risk that stuff
Of that I’m rid and free,
The only thing I do for now
Is take omega three!
Thank you. A wonderful cheeky little verse 😊