Obama delivers more empty words
To the editor,
“We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears,” – President Barack Obama

Obama’s speech was very eloquent, but it’s not based in truth. Freedom and equality are lies, and he has not upheld the Constitution. He has stripped us of our constitutional rights to protest. He has created a terrorist threat where anyone can be locked up without a fair trial. When he says “nobody is free, until everybody is free,” he would be correct. As long as we live in a monetary system, a world whose value is focused around money, there will always be scarcity, and nobody will be free.

Money is created out of thin air, with nothing solid to back it up. Patriotism, religion, education, human rights are just of few of the smokescreens to keep us from looking at the truth of our slavery. The banks and energy industries have taken over government and destroy our ecological health. The faster people wake up to this plight, the better chance we have for a future world for our children.

We need a fundamental change in values where people actually matter. We need to use our technology to help us create a better life for all. We don’t have to live a life focused on survival and gathering imaginary pieces of paper. Technology could free us from some of the most redundant of jobs: Free people to do art, write or relax. Why should we be tied to manual, menial labor our whole lives? The fluffy talk of “working together” to keep America free is just more empty words.

 

Why should God bless “these United States of America” any more than anywhere else? And what does God have to do with it anyway? Obama is just another puppet making the same patriotic speech about freedom that all the other presidents made. It’s all a lie.

– Heather Snow, Durango

Dog owners shirk their ‘duty’
To the editor,
Thumbs down to the dog owners who use Fanto Park adjacent to Park Elementary School and don’t bother to pick up after their dogs. I am from out of town and noticed at least five piles of dog waste in the park adjacent to the fence on 7th Avenue and on the sidewalk when walking my grandson to school this week. The city even supplies bags to use for clean up when you walk into the park.

This is a potential health hazard for the children who attend Park as well as a total disregard for a public facility intended for everyone.

– Dr. Martin E. O’Brien, Centennial

What your doc doesn’t tell you
To the editor,
It was like any other summer day. Evan, my boyfriend, and I headed up Little Molas on our bikes to enjoy yet another day in the San Juans. We were enjoying our ride, until I took a tumble down a 30-foot embankment, leaving me a little winded and shocked, but “unscathed.” Little did I know how my life would be changed forever.

That evening, I went to the emergency room to have my head examined after experiencing dizziness, nausea and vision problems. The doctor told me I had a slight concussion and to follow up with my primary care physician, which I did the next week. I explained to her that I had some problems with sleeping as a result of an unrelenting headache, and she prescribed Ativan, a benzodiazepine drug used to treat anxiety. I trusted that she knew what was best for me, and I did not question her suggestion. That night I took the Ativan before bed and for the first time in 14 days, I slept through the night and my headache subsided to a tolerable level. It was a miracle.

Three months later, while in Denver seeking a specialist to help me with my headaches, I started to experience panic attacks. They would come on suddenly for no reason. The first one sent me into a frenzy. I thought I was having a heart attack and rushed to the E.R. After running many scans and tests, they concluded I had suffered a panic attack and gave me an Ativan to “calm” my nerves. How could this be happening? I had never had a panic attack prior and it was unnerving to think I was now having one almost daily.

Days and nights became a blur. I woke up at all hours with tremors and sweats, leaving me unable to function the next day. I became paranoid and fearful of simple things such as going outside, and the thought of going to the grocery store was as scary as flying into space. I feared I was loosing my mind and contemplated checking into a mental health facility.

Later, come to find out it’s the Ativan causing all my mysterious symptoms after confiding in a friend who had had a similar experience. I promptly checked myself into a detox center in Denver and barely survived one of the most horrific withdrawals in history! I literally thought I would die. I couldn’t keep any food down, my skin was on “fire” and I didn’t sleep the whole time I was there. After four days of “detoxing,” I was taken to a nearby hotel, where I laid for two days by myself, trembling, sweating and praying that god would give me the strength to endure the pain. I asked, “How could this little drug cause so much havoc?”

I spent the next four weeks extremely sick, even the thought of eating would cause me to vomit. My friends and family could not fathom how this little “chill pill” could have caused all this. They all thought I must have a disease or the flu. I sought help from the Internet, as I was unable to go anywhere due to my condition. I found Point of Return, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people withdraw from prescription drugs. I learned that I was not alone, and soon found relief knowing that others had survived the same horrific withdrawal.

It has been a little over two months now, and my symptoms have subsided but not ceased. I am left with heart palpitations, severe anxiety and worst of all tinnitus, which haunts me day and night. I want so desperately to hear silence and the sound of wind and birds. My family and I spent thousands of dollars trying to find out what was wrong with me, when in retrospect the doctors should have known it was the medication all along.

 

It troubles me that our medical professionals are not taught to direct people on how to safely withdraw from these drugs or avoid prescribing them to begin with. Not only do they not know how to withdraw safely, but they do not concern themselves with the side effects. I was prescribed a medication that should have been used as a short-term drug for limited circumstances.

Take time to read about the medications prescribed to you, side effects and how to safely withdraw. Although I will heal eventually, the pain that I continue to endure could have been prevented.

– Christine Siodla, Durango