Friday, June 5, 2009

Drugs Can Hurt You, Man

In the late 70's/early 80's I smoked a little pot. In the late 80's/early 90's I snorted my fair share of coke. Ok, maybe my fair share and a little bit of your share, too. Every now and then my share, your share, and your Aunt Fannie's share, too. And Aunt Fannie likes her some blow. Just sayin', By the mid 90's my only remaining vice was liquor. And the occasional M&M. And love. Addicted to love, baby. Might as well face it.

Somewhere along the line, though (line. heh.) I lost my tolerance for drugs of any sort. Last spring I broke my arm and couldn't tolerate any of the pain meds that were prescribed. Those first two weeks on nothing by aceteminaphine were rough, let me tell you, but it was all I could handle.

Today I took two dramamines. We were going to be traveling in my sisters motor home and the last time I'd ridden in it for any distance I had motion sickness something awful. I've always been prone to motion sickness. I don't get it every time, but I do get it often. Those of you who experience it know that it doesn't end when the ride does. It ruins your whole day.

So to fend off potential motion sickness, I took two dramamine. This is on the high end of the recommended dosage, but still within it. Half an hour later I couldn't hold my head up. Four hours later I woke up refreshed and not at all carsick. But I fully and completely crashed for four solid hours.

So I'm thinking dramamine is the bomb.

I'd given one to Lea, too, as she inherited my motion sickness gene. She crashed, too. Her re-entry into the land of the living, however, was not as smooth as mine.

At a rest stop on the turnpike, Liv comes running over to me - "Hurry up! Lea is sick and she's on the ground! Come see!" She hadn't passed out, but her vision had gone blurry, her skin became instantly clammy and she lost all her color. Her lips were completely white. It was scary. She was too weak to stand.

It passed - the worst of it, anyway - and we got her back to the camper and into bed where she slept a little more. When she felt a little better, she ate. Then she slept a little more.

She's fine, now. But when we hit the road again Sunday, no dramamine for her. (I will try to pick up some of those pressure point wrist bands for her between now and then.) Momma, of course, will be fully dosed.

Once in the late 80's/early 90's - when I was transitioning from one drug of preference to the next (and therefore dabbling a bit in both) - I was at a party. This one guy was stoned on who knows what. He fell down the stairs. As I passed him, his face was squashed on the floor and his body was spread out full-length up the stairs. He opened one eye as I passed and said, "drugs can hurt you, man." Then he closed his eye and crashed, in an inverted position on a staircase.

True dat, my brother. True dat.

11 comments:

Alex the Girl said...

Er...that was me you passed, although I'd deny it in a court of law. Drammamine (spell check) is a wonder drug. My sis takes it every time she has to fly. Flying freaks her out and she figures that if she's out cold, it won't bother her too much.

Pam said...

The visual image of that guy sprawled upside down on a staircase and saying "drugs can hurt you, man" before passing out would make a great PSA on TV. Gotta wonder where that guy is now.

Macey said...

I am SO trying that Dramamine crap next time I have to fly. It only makes me sick to fly in the way that I'm gonna puke cause I'm pretty sure I'm gonna die.
Macey : )

Macey said...

Oh yeah, is Lea the one with the broken heart? Cuz if she is, she's having a rotten week!
Macey

AiringMyLaundry said...

I wish I could take a dramamine when I fly. But alas, I have two kids I need to take care of and I don't think the flight attendants would be pleased if I totally passed out...I wish though. I hate to fly. Every bump the airplane makes I start to panic that we're all going to die.

Anonymous said...

I am a Dramamine poster girl. Love the stuff.

the girl with the pink teacup said...

I love you!

Amen to that, my friend. I'm all about the sex and rock'n'roll, but steer clear of the drugs (mostly). Probably never going to touch them again, thanks to your flat-faced acquaintance.

And as for the motion-sickness thing, your daughter might like to try some ginger tablets/ale/whatever to counter the nausea. I get the craziest motion sickness just from travelling in the front passenger seat to uni (loser!), but ginger does the trick for me every time. No drowsiness, though.

If knock-out is your aim, drop that Dram, baby, and enjoy the ride!

xo

Claudya Martinez said...

"drugs can hurt you, man", words to live by.

Carma Sez said...

I am the same way (with the motion sickness- not the drugs LOL) - I've found it helps to chew gum when in a car. But I like your idea of being completely knocked out and missing most of the ride!

scrappysue said...

just say no!!! lol. i love rv's, but toally undertand they're not for everyone :)

Shawna said...

It's kind of a game to see which of my friends here at University are going to outgrow drugs and which are going to be pulled down by them. i know active dealers. I know past dealers. I know users and those in recovery.

But that doesn't mean they can't go back into their old lifestyles...

Shawna's Study Abroad