The cost of single payer .... the math at my house.

[nashville_brook]

59. yep. one of the comments broke my heart. a woman in mississippi...

no ACA, lives out in the country, so it's a major drive to the pain center every month. She's bedridden. Has a whole family to take care of, but the family is having to care for her. keep in mind, this a condition that most people don't believe exists, fibromyalgia -- which is actually on a spectrum of conditions that include migraines, chronic fatigue, lupus and some other autoimmune diseases. The comments were responding to a story about medication called Cymbalta, which is expensive, and can have the side effect of suicidal ideation...but I don't think she could afford the drug, so I don't think her state of mind had anything to do with the SSRI. in her comment she just flat out said that couldn't make the drive anymore, she could deal with being a burden, or taking on the debt, and she just wanted to die.

and i get it. you wake up in pain every single day. your world gets a little smaller. you're less able to work. with some of these conditions you're less able to think straight b/c they attack your central nervous system ("fibrofog" is a thing). the only drugs that are FDA and lobbyist approved are SSRIs that are super expensive, have terrible side effects and have a questionable track record for treating pain. when you look at surveys of what patients report help their pain, it's rest, hydrotherapy (hot water), medical cannabis and hydrocodone -- pretty much in that order. the SSRIs are further down the list.

this is a robust survey -- the green bars show "made it better," the red bars show "made it much worse"
http://curetogether.com/fibromyalgia/treatments/pmi/

i actually have fibro in addition to degenerative disc disease, arthritis and all kinds of fun mechanical bone issues. so, i know the difference in what kind of drug treats what kind of pain, and in what manner. the reason fibro patients like medical cannabis is b/c it releases their muscles and kills the pain. the opiates put the pain to the back of your mind so you can live. the SSRIs just take money out your bank account.