St. Claire August 19, 2015 Share August 19, 2015 Wow. An addition of one "satisfying event" per month. Totally worth it. I can think of a few non-pharmaceutical methods that could produce the same results. 6 Link to comment
pandora spocks August 19, 2015 Share August 19, 2015 (edited) Wow. An addition of one "satisfying event" per month. Totally worth it. I can think of a few non-pharmaceutical methods that could produce the same results. To me a satisfying event is Joann's having a 50% off sale on beads. This says a lot about my "event" life these days. Edited August 19, 2015 by pandora spocks 12 Link to comment
CarpeDiem54 August 19, 2015 Share August 19, 2015 To me a satisfying event is Joann's having a 50% off sale on beads. This says a lot about my "event" life these days. Or J.C. Penney's recent big sales. New towels! New sheets! I probably wouldn't know an "event" if it bit me on the ass. 3 Link to comment
Moose135 August 19, 2015 Share August 19, 2015 I probably wouldn't know an "event" if it bit me on the ass. Well, if you're into that sort of thing... 6 Link to comment
CarpeDiem54 August 19, 2015 Share August 19, 2015 Well, if you're into that sort of thing... Maybe I need to go to the local VW dealer for their rear end event! To be fair, if I ever meet a guy I'd like to "event" with, I'd more than likely kill the poor slob. I guess I'm not the target audience for female Viagra... 3 Link to comment
Haleth August 20, 2015 Share August 20, 2015 Wow. An addition of one "satisfying event" per month. Totally worth it. I can think of a few non-pharmaceutical methods that could produce the same results. And some don't even cost anything. A man should not underestimate the value of watching the kids for an afternoon or vacuuming the living room unasked. 3 Link to comment
smittykins August 21, 2015 Share August 21, 2015 (edited) But, but, but...according to the Pos-T-Vac commercial, "Why take the best part of life out of your life when you can have life with Pos-T-Vac?" Edited August 21, 2015 by smittykins 2 Link to comment
revbfc August 25, 2015 Share August 25, 2015 The mouth animation on this knee brace ad is just disturbing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmT1xFAlM8k Yeah. Look inside the cartoon mouths when they open. There are dicks in there. 1 Link to comment
DeLurker August 25, 2015 Share August 25, 2015 From my viewings of the Lyrica commercials, it would appear that fibromyalgia only strikes women who were "doers" and very active. As a couch potato (pronounced potahto because it is way klassier) I am not at risk. 4 Link to comment
riley702 August 26, 2015 Share August 26, 2015 Yeah. Look inside the cartoon mouths when they open. There are dicks in there. OMG, there ARE! Tongues/uvulas together... 1 Link to comment
revbfc August 26, 2015 Share August 26, 2015 OMG, there ARE! Tongues/uvulas together... I know, right?!?! 1 Link to comment
BubblingKettle August 28, 2015 Share August 28, 2015 There's still part of me that wishes that the pharma industry never became consumer-driven.....none of this "talk to your healthcare professional today about ___" and retired sportsmen talking about shingles and cholesterol. I would be just fine with returning the Rx decision-making to doctors and nurses. Anyway, tonight I saw yet another commercial aimed at opioid users having bowel issues. Oh the good old days, when the drug reps would share the info with the HCPs, and then the doctor or nurse would give the Rx during the post-op discussion or follow-up visits. Instead, I guess there are a disproportionate amount of people on opioids, making it necessary for us to see cartoon poop stuck in the bowel during prime time. ....and I just realized (since the commercial just repeated now) that the ad I'm complaining about is from a company I worked for years ago. I hated the consumer push back then, too. 5 Link to comment
CarpeDiem54 August 28, 2015 Share August 28, 2015 I agree. The one and only time I ever asked my doctor about some drug (can't remember what it was) I saw on TV, he gave me a little smile and then listed off the many, many reasons why it would be inappropriate and contraindicated for me. And then he said that even if appropriate, the side effects were hideous and he wouldn't prescribe it for anyone. 5 Link to comment
Haleth August 28, 2015 Share August 28, 2015 I wonder how much less medications would cost if the pharma companies weren't buying advertising time. 12 Link to comment
CoderLady August 28, 2015 Share August 28, 2015 I wonder how many years have passed since that was the case? My experience has been that the doctors prescribe whatever the drug reps have been pushing. Free samples, perks, etc. I admit that almost everything I know about medical professionals as a group is what I've learned from TV and the few people in the profession I've known over time, but what I know validates your experience. And a bit disturbing: I have the same experience with hair care professionals. They tend to push whatever has been most effectively, persistently and aggressively sold directly to them on to their clients. I guess it's ok, but knowing the power of marketing might universally be a substitute for doing your own research makes me uneasy no matter which group of people I put myself in the hands of. Link to comment
janie jones August 29, 2015 Share August 29, 2015 I wonder how many years have passed since that was the case? My experience has been that the doctors prescribe whatever the drug reps have been pushing. Free samples, perks, etc. On one hand, this bothers me. But on the other hand, I've been grateful when the doctor just gives me some free pills and they do the trick, especially since I didn't have insurance for years. 4 Link to comment
pandora spocks August 31, 2015 Share August 31, 2015 (edited) I wonder how much less medications would cost if the pharma companies weren't buying advertising time. IMO meds would cost a lot less. Can you imagine how much commercial time on the evening news programs costs, much less air time on TV Land or INSP, bastions of baby boomer shows? Half the time I can't remember what the med names are, only the commercial content: High-fiving cholesterol lady, big bad wolf grandpa, horny lady with English accent, etc. We're bombarded with so many commercials, it's a wonder we know what our names are much less the names of these wonder drugs. The drug names that I do remember are suddenly the object of class action suits. Not really a recommendation to try them. So the big pharm companies would do everybody a favor and cut back on the ads although I can't see that happening anytime soon. Edited August 31, 2015 by pandora spocks 3 Link to comment
Rick Kitchen August 31, 2015 Share August 31, 2015 It never ceases to amaze me how almost every ad on ABC World News is either touting one of their upcoming shows, or is an ad for some drug or other. 2 Link to comment
zoey1996 August 31, 2015 Share August 31, 2015 (edited) I started laughing hysterically at the Belsomra commercial - the one with the furry wake/sleep creatures. I'll try to link it. Part of the ad mentions possible hallucinations. Like the wake/sleep creatures? Ha! http://youtu.be/_kMzVNnv78w Edited August 31, 2015 by zoey1996 6 Link to comment
janie jones September 1, 2015 Share September 1, 2015 I love the wake/sleep creatures. They're so cute. But I don't understand why the guy in bed doesn't have one. 2 Link to comment
bubbls September 1, 2015 Share September 1, 2015 I love the wake/sleep creatures. They're so cute. But I don't understand why the guy in bed doesn't have one. I do too. They look and act like cats. I love the one at the end curling up with her. 2 Link to comment
riley702 September 1, 2015 Share September 1, 2015 Hmm, I thought the "wake"s were dogs and the "sleep"s were cats, and that they were stereotyping dogs as hyper and cats as lazy. I was possibly putting too much thought into it. 3 Link to comment
St. Claire September 1, 2015 Share September 1, 2015 Based on the patient walking the "wake," I think it was supposed to be a dog. 1 Link to comment
Ilovemylabs September 1, 2015 Share September 1, 2015 To me a satisfying event is Joann's having a 50% off sale on beads. This says a lot about my "event" life these days. Laughing out loud. I can identify! 2 Link to comment
crowswork September 7, 2015 Share September 7, 2015 (edited) started laughing hysterically at the Belsomra commercial - the one with the furry wake/sleep creatures. I'll try to link it. Part of the ad mentions possible hallucinations. Like the wake/sleep creatures? Ha! They are there so we don't really hear them say 'Suicide?' 'Sleep Driving?' 'Aggressive actions.?' "Awww cute sleep-kitty and wakey-doggie." Good commercial. Bad drug.... soon to be featured in the lawyers "Did you take Belsombra and drive to work in your PJ's? Commit suicide? Murder your husband? Grow two heads? You maybe eligible for compensation.....blah....blah" commercial. Edited September 7, 2015 by crowswork 4 Link to comment
DrSpaceman September 7, 2015 Share September 7, 2015 I had forgotten how many ED commercials are on football games until I was watching the college games. Cars, boner pills and beer, 90% of the commercials played during a game. 1 Link to comment
DrSpaceman September 7, 2015 Share September 7, 2015 I wonder how many years have passed since that was the case? My experience has been that the doctors prescribe whatever the drug reps have been pushing. Free samples, perks, etc. Its really two separate issues, the advertising on TV and the pushing drugs to doctors. They were pushing drugs to doctors for years before the TV ads appeared. This is actually one of the reasons why I think you see more TV ads. Some physicians have pushed back and no longer see pharmaceutical reps There is a middle ground. Not all doctors that see reps just automatically prescribe what is pushed by the reps. I don't. I can think of easily 10 drugs I have heard about that have no real purpose in my practice and they keep telling me about them, I keep using other things. I do think the reps serve a purpose though. And I do think there is a place for samples. I prescribe many medications with potential side effects and I don't want patients paying for a month supply if they are going t take 2 or 3 and not tolerate it. Dinners and other perks have been cut back or completely eliminated as well. And I am fine with that. I think its that money though the pharmaceutical companies have shifted to direct to consumer advertising. Belsomra while its commercials are weird actually is a completely novel and new mechanism for insomnia, so it certainly can have some advantages over older products. In particular it should not be habit forming and should not cause respiratory suppression. If you truly trust your doctor you should not being worried about how much influence the industry has on them. And conversely, if you are worried they might be influenced by them/the industry, think about if they are the doctor for you. 7 Link to comment
Rick Kitchen September 7, 2015 Share September 7, 2015 I saw an ad where a lawyer was saying that they were looking for clients who had been injured by a drug which is one of the drugs that I take (though I have suffered no ill effects for it). I asked my doctor, and she said the lawsuits have no grounds, there is no evidence that anybody has been injured. 1 Link to comment
Cobalt Stargazer September 7, 2015 Share September 7, 2015 Belsomra while its commercials are weird actually is a completely novel and new mechanism for insomnia, so it certainly can have some advantages over older products. In particular it should not be habit forming and should not cause respiratory suppression. This has been mentioned before, but what bothers me about the Belsomra ads is that one of the warnings they issue is not to use to product if you suffer from narcolepsy. Which....whut? It might cause you to sleep-drive, possibly operate heavy machinery, and maybe even burn the house down while you're asleep, but the narcolepsy thing is just weird. Being only slightly facetious, if you're already nodding off at random intervals, why would you need Belsomra? 3 Link to comment
Sandman87 September 7, 2015 Share September 7, 2015 I had forgotten how many ED commercials are on football games until I was watching the college games. Cars, boner pills and beer, 90% of the commercials played during a game. Football: The sport for older men who like to get drunk, then make bad decisions about driving and sex! 3 Link to comment
theatremouse September 7, 2015 Share September 7, 2015 one of the warnings they issue is not to use to product if you suffer from narcolepsy. Which....whut? It might cause you to sleep-drive, possibly operate heavy machinery, and maybe even burn the house down while you're asleep, but the narcolepsy thing is just weird. Being only slightly facetious, if you're already nodding off at random intervals, why would you need Belsomra?I haven't done any research on this drug, but in my experience when there are warnings like that, ie "don't take X if you have Y condition" when either it would make no sense to need X if you had Y, it's usually because in testing they found some elevated risk of a major complication but only in people with the Y condition. So all the little warnings like "may cause stroke, heart attack or your eyes to suddenly explode" might be super ridiculously rare, but happen 10x more frequently in people with whatever other condition, hence the "seriously, don't do it, yo" kinda thing. I'm not saying that's the case here. Like I said, I haven't researched that drug. But knowing the above is one reason I'm generally nonplussed by those types of other-condition-having specific warnings. Link to comment
Milburn Stone September 8, 2015 Share September 8, 2015 The FDA is considering allowing shorter lists of side effects in drug commercials. (The rationale is that the current laundry-list approach deafens consumers to the two or three serious side effects that they really should be paying attention to.) http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/fda-studies-limiting-tv-ads-drug-risk-lists-article-1.1617940 Link to comment
St. Claire September 8, 2015 Share September 8, 2015 My understanding is that the list of side effects includes all of the symptoms/effects encountered during trials. So, if you are in a drug trial and you eat bad sushi, the nausea, gastroenteritis, and vomiting becomes part of the list of side effects because you can't be sure whether it was caused by food poisoning or the drug. As such, most patients won't experience many of the symptoms listed, but the drug ends up sounding like it's methyl-ethyl death acid. Link to comment
Rinaldo September 9, 2015 Share September 9, 2015 My understanding is that the list of side effects includes all of the symptoms/effects encountered during trials. That's my understanding too. They have to mention anything that has happened in conjunction with testing even if only to one person and even if it isn't certain there was a causal relationship. The result is that a lot of people who might actually be helped by a particular drug, and suffer no bad effects, have a "and risk going bald and then dying? hell no!" reaction. Link to comment
DrSpaceman73 September 12, 2015 Share September 12, 2015 This has been mentioned before, but what bothers me about the Belsomra ads is that one of the warnings they issue is not to use to product if you suffer from narcolepsy. Which....whut? It might cause you to sleep-drive, possibly operate heavy machinery, and maybe even burn the house down while you're asleep, but the narcolepsy thing is just weird. Being only slightly facetious, if you're already nodding off at random intervals, why would you need Belsomra? There is a specific reason this is mentioned about narcolepsy. Belsomra's novel or new mechanism of action is that its a hypocretin antagonist. Hypocretin is the chemical/hormone in the brain that when deficient causes narcolepsy. this is why they have to put that warning in there. Would be specifically contraindicated in narcolepsy for this reason. This is also the reason for possible hallucinations, i think. One of the lesser known symptoms of narcolepsy is sleep related hallucinations. (Though its actually not common even in those with narcolepsy). And yes, some people with narcolepsy do develop insomnia, as odd as that may seem. Its messes up the sleep wake cycle and causes fragmented sleep, so this can lead to insomnia. There is actually a drug for this some patients use, believe it or not, that most people would be horrified to learn about. Its not advertised, its called Xyrem by prescription. Its actually Gamahydroxybutyrate, which is Rohypnol, the date rape drug. Tightly regulated, for good reason. It helps not just insomnia but some symptoms of narcolepsy. Just be glad there are not ads for that one on TV. You can imagine the warning for that 1 Link to comment
xls September 16, 2015 Share September 16, 2015 I started laughing hysterically at the Belsomra commercial - the one with the furry wake/sleep creatures. I'll try to link it. Part of the ad mentions possible hallucinations. Like the wake/sleep creatures? Ha! http://youtu.be/_kMzVNnv78w The music they use reminds me of the nightmarish Nymphomaniac movies. Link to comment
Milburn Stone September 16, 2015 Share September 16, 2015 They are there so we don't really hear them say 'Suicide?' 'Sleep Driving?' 'Aggressive actions.?' "Awww cute sleep-kitty and wakey-doggie." I can handle hearing about those side effects in the Belsomra commercial. (And I think the sleep-kitty and wakey-doggie are actually pretty insightful symbols, which is why so many of us have encoded the commercial.) But the side effect that leaps out at me is "may cause temporary inability to move while falling asleep or waking up." Excuse me? Temporary inability to move? That one freaks me out. 4 Link to comment
Muffyn September 16, 2015 Share September 16, 2015 I can handle hearing about those side effects in the Belsomra commercial. (And I think the sleep-kitty and wakey-doggie are actually pretty insightful symbols, which is why so many of us have encoded the commercial.) But the side effect that leaps out at me is "may cause temporary inability to move while falling asleep or waking up." Excuse me? Temporary inability to move? That one freaks me out. I already often experience the "temporary inability to move while falling asleep or waking up" sometimes accompanied by the feeling that the bed is falling away from my body, so I think I'll avoid belsomra like the plague. It is a really bizarre feeling. Took me a long time to not freak out. Then again, I cannot take "sleep aids" (remember when these were called sleeping pills? I guess that term got associated with overdoses and suicides). My rule is if a drug can cause hallucinations, it will. ah the things that I've seen while on seemingly innocuous meds. 2 Link to comment
cooksdelight September 21, 2015 Share September 21, 2015 I have a dog that will watch a pet food commercial with rapt attention. Now, he's got a new favorite. Belsomra. The sleep aid that has the fake cat or whatever it is that spells "sleep." He watches that with his head tilted as if he's trying to figure out what kind of animal is it that walks around and yet doesn't look like a normal cat. 8 Link to comment
bigskygirl September 27, 2015 Share September 27, 2015 I would be embarrassed if I was in the stupid commercial about the foot fungus medicine. The poor guy must be hard up for money or his five minutes of bad fame. Link to comment
revbfc October 6, 2015 Share October 6, 2015 It's not on YouTube yet, but we need to talk about the Xifaxan ads. More specifically, we need to discuss the weird, animated intestine-turtle mascot they use. It creeps me out more than that lady with the pet bladder. 2 Link to comment
Muffyn October 6, 2015 Share October 6, 2015 revbfc, I was just coming here to post about the walking intestines. They take themselves out to dinner. There are intestines sitting at a table, looking through the menu. Aaaaaaaarrrrrgh! 1 Link to comment
CarpeDiem54 October 6, 2015 Share October 6, 2015 revbfc, I was just coming here to post about the walking intestines. They take themselves out to dinner. There are intestines sitting at a table, looking through the menu. Aaaaaaaarrrrrgh! OMG! Now I have to see this commercial! I laughed so hard my pet bladder gave me the sad eyed look as I almost peed myself. 7 Link to comment
Rick Kitchen October 6, 2015 Share October 6, 2015 Here's the Xifaxan ad: http://www.ispot.tv/ad/AYS4/xifaxan-you-know-the-symptoms 2 Link to comment
Cobalt Stargazer October 6, 2015 Share October 6, 2015 revbfc, I was just coming here to post about the walking intestines. They take themselves out to dinner. There are intestines sitting at a table, looking through the menu. Aaaaaaaarrrrrgh! My favorite part is the intestines looking into the fish tank, and being magnified by it while the fish swim past. 1 Link to comment
CarpeDiem54 October 6, 2015 Share October 6, 2015 Thanks. Why is Mr. Intestine fascinated with that fish tank? 1 Link to comment
Prevailing Wind October 6, 2015 Share October 6, 2015 They say watching fish is calming, so if Mr. Intestine is acting irritable, that's probably how the human handles IBS - by getting the intestines to watch fish swimming around. NOW there's a drug that "may cause an increase in liver enzymes" to help with that, so you don't have to turn yourself inside out in front of an aquarium. I think. 1 Link to comment
riley702 October 6, 2015 Share October 6, 2015 Thanks. Why is Mr. Intestine fascinated with that fish tank? He's deciding he wants seafood? Especially gruesome as he waves at the fish as if to say, "See you later - on my plate!" 2 Link to comment
spaceytraci1208 October 7, 2015 Share October 7, 2015 It can't be a good sign when the list of potential side-effects is so long that you forget what ailment the advertised "medicine" is alleging to relieve 6 Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.