What is Bu$h's Mystery MED he takes 2X day?

[Eurobabe]

Any guesses? I think it is an anti-seizure med like Topamax:

Side effects fit perfectly....

Confusion, sleepiness, dizziness, clumsiness, difficulty thinking or talking, tingling sensation of the skin, nausea, decreased appetite

[Cleita]

1. Well, I'm sure it isn't Viagra. n/t

[ILeft]

58. That was just for the carrier landing/crotch-shot/photo-op

...I'm sorry. :puke:

[DoYouEverWonder]

59. He must be really small

Cause on a normal size man, that would have really hurt to walk like that.

[Crasher]

2. ...

I think he still has visits from Jack Daniels. I saw a video of him walking after getting of Chopper One and it looked like he was pissed.

[thecrow]

3. Pissed that they wouldn't serve him? eom

[Cleita]

4. Irish/English expression meaning drunk as a skunk. n/t

[meow2u3]

39. You mean, plastered?

Wasted, soused, bombed, three sheets to the wind, not to mention shit-faced?

[mike1963]

6. He projects that image a lot these days.

Welcome to DU, Crasher!
:toast:

[newyawker99]

35. Hi Crasher!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[kittykitty]

5. How do you know about this? Inquiring minds want to know? <nt>

[Eurobabe]

8. someone alluded earlier that it was written about in Woodward's

latest book? lost interest in reading Plan of Attack, never got to that part.

and no I don't take topamax. I just googled a list of anti-seizure drugs and played let's match the side effects to the bozohead's physical clues.

it's hot here today, i have to amuse myself somehow?!

[Straight Shooter]

7. Ambien

:shrug:

[deek]

24. $75 for 20---WITH insurance!

nt

[rucky]

47. that's my guess

wasn't there a comment about all of the neocons being on Ambien.

that would explain alot

edit: kept reading

[countmyvote4real]

9. a placebo to make him think he's precious. n/t

[Bluebear]

10. Jack Daniels or Haldol or both nt

[Alerter_]

11. Ambien, Colin Powell said so

He said "eveyone" in the White House takes Ambien. One of the side effects? Loss of REM sleep, which makes you go psycho!

[McDiggy]

13. IV Narcotic, eh?

Ah, Ambien, a schedule IV narcotic! It's a heavy sedative-hypnotic, to boot.

Side effects include:


• agitation
• amnesia
• chest pain (unspecified)
• confusion
• depression
• diarrhea
• dizziness
• drowsiness
• euphoria
• hallucinations
• headache
• lethargy
• malaise
• nightmares
• palpitations
• pharyngitis
• rash (unspecified)
• sinusitis
• withdrawal
• xerostomia

Resource: WVU Clinical Pharmacology (People in Pharmacy school get all the cool databases.)

[chelaque liberal]

15. Ambien is a sleeping pill. not IV

[dmr]

28. IV means it's a class 4 Controlled Substance

A Schedule IV narcotic means it has limited dependence liability.

Valium, for example is a Class IV.

[Stephanie]

21. Really?

I thought Ambien was supposed to be harmless. That's scary!

[tedzbear]

48. Ambien is a physically addictive drug!

...that effects the same brain receptors as Valium, Xanax, and other benzodiazepines.

The only real difference between Ambien and benzos is that it doesn't relax the muscles like the benzos do. But continued use leads to tolerance and a need to increase the dosage to get the original effect. Tolerance = addiction and one hell of a withdrawal.

I know, I came off of a benzodiazepine addiction (Klonopin, Ativan) and it is a nightmare. It lasted for months and months before I felt better. It was so horrendous I had to slowly taper off the drug over a 6 month period. After that, it took me another six months to recover fully. One year out of my life gone, zip. But it was worth it to get off of that poison. Nasty shit it is.

Wasn't Jeb Bush's daughter treated for Xanax addiction?? I think she was.

Benzo withdrawal is worse even than Heroin and Methadone.

[seabeyond]

23. then why is he taking it twice a day

need it for his nap too????????????

[K-W]

25. Ambien is a very serious drug

that should only be taken by people with actual sleep problems. This is very disturbing if it is true.

As a side note, it does cause hallucinations and is used recreationally. I had a relative trip accidentally when taking it for actual insomnia.

[Guaranteed]

29. I've heard about people taking it at the bathroom sink

and waking up on the tile in the morning.

[DoYouEverWonder]

30. Oh yes it's true

Here's a quote from Colin about Ambien that's posted believe it or not on the State Dept's website.


http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2003/26028.htm



Interview by Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed of Asharq Al-Awsat

Secretary Colin L. Powell
Washington, DC
November 5, 2003

2003/1138
(4:40 p.m. EST)

SECRETARY POWELL: -- from Panama to Nicaragua, from Nicaragua to Honduras, and that's our air base in Honduras, Soto Cono.

So in a helicopter it's Tegucigalpa, then back out to the -- Tegucigalpa to Soto Cono, then Soto Cono to College Station last night, then I had to change all of my software and take out all of the Central American software and put in the Chinese software to give a speech this morning in Texas.

QUESTION: So do you use sleeping tablets to organize yourself?

SECRETARY POWELL: Yes. Well, I wouldn't call them that. They're a wonderful medication -- not medication. How would you call it? They're called ambien, which is very good. You don't use ambien? Everybody here uses ambien.

QUESTION: I use it when I go on trip and long distance travel.

SECRETARY POWELL: Yeah. I didn't need it this time because I was in the same time zone.

QUESTION: I see.

SECRETARY POWELL: It's when I go to your part of the world. I need to get my rest.

[htuttle]

49. Here's a link to that

From 05 November 2003:
http://usinfo.state.gov/topical/pol/terror/texts/03110700.htm

Question: So do you use sleeping tablets to organize yourself?

Secretary Powell: Yes. Well, I wouldn't call them that. They're a wonderful medication -- not medication. How would you call it? They're called ambien, which is very good. You don't use ambien? Everybody here uses ambien.

Copy it before it goes down the memory hole!

[donsu]

53. yep, when asked how Powell survived all the time changes when he

traveled. he said they all used Ambien and it was wonderful.

and our airforce takes speed and downers.

they are on a Judy Garland roll.

[leftofthedial]

12. Dewars

(evil Dewars, to be precise)

[Bozvotros]

14. Topamax would be my guess too.

Topamax is an anti-seizure drug but it is getting increased use as a mood stabilizer like Depakote, for bipolar disorders. It is usually taken twice a day and also has a side effect of weight loss which might help him keep weight off. I think I have read that Bush eats a lot of garbage foods. If he drinks, even a bit on it, he could get wobbly or dizzy and maybe fall off a bike or even a Segway or something. We know he has fallen off the wagon many times.

[dmr]

26. Could be, this was posted yesterday by Seemslikeadream:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=1648428&mesg_id=1648944&page=

from
Iceburg
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic...


B*shs condition may be worse than any lay person could have guessed

Edited on Tue Apr-27-04 04:13 PM by Iceburg
Let's see if the media picks this up over the next few days

Origniator's name and location has be redacted (in keeping with the policies\habits of this administration)


> -----Original Message-----
> From: XXX
> Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2004 12:14 PM
> To: '[e-mail]'
> Subject: Bush's mysterious grounding
>
> Mr. Conason,
>
> I am a neurologist in XXXX. I've just read your excellent article on
> Bush's Guard service (thanks by the way for for your excellent book "Big
> Lies" which i enjoyed immensely). Ever since reading Bob Woodward's
> description (in Plan of Attack) of an unusual event in which Bush suddenly
> "began speaking as though in a foreign language" and looking
> confused...I've wondered if Mr. Bush suffers from temporal lobe epilepsy.
> The description Woodward gives sound very much like Mr. Bush had what's
> known as a "complex partial seizure". Woodward's further mention of a
> medication the president takes twice daily and the secrecy with which this
> info is guarded are also very suggestive : there are a number of
> anti-epileptic medicationstaken on a b.i.d. (ie twice daily) schedule. I
> would think that the stigma associated with epilepsy (often undeservedly
> so) would make it something Bush's advisors would hush up.
>
> Certainly the hard-drinking Bush would have been at risk for worsening
> this condition (alcohol lowers the seizure threshold) and having ANY type
> of seizures would be an ABSOLUTE loss of flying status...therefore
> explaining the otherwise inexplicable lack of interest the Guard showed in
> finding out why he was grounding himself, thereby wasting all that
> expensive training. It might also explain why he skipped his
> physical...wouldn't want the nasty "e-word" (epilepsy) in his file. For
> that matter, perhaps worsening seizure control was the ultimate reason he
> finally stopped drinking...by that time, however, he may well have had
> mesial temporal sclerosis...which would have perpetuated the seizures even
> in the absence of ongoing alcohol consumption.
>
> Furthermore, it might explain his habit of "early to bed' (sleep
> deprivation would put him at risk for further public seizures). There are
> a number of his personal traits that have been linked to temporal lobe
> epilepsy (his hyper-religiosity, his sometimes confused look, his frequent
> verbal mis-steps, ...perhaps even his avoidance of live interviews).
>
> I of course have no solid first hand evidence whatsoever of this, it's
> just something that occurred to me (as a Neurologist) while reading
> Woodward's book.
>
> Dr. XXXXXX

from
CaptainMidnight

Bush 'Seizure' Answer to his Awful Press Conference Performance?

TBR News | April 25 2004


"Vice President Cheney is the de facto President of the United States. When he arrives at the White House for one of his "briefings" of the President, all employees are cleared from the West Wing and especially from the Presidential office suites. Cheney arrives in an escorted armored limousine surrounded by his own personal, heavily armed bodyguard and is always shown directly into the President's office. It is reliably reported by that Bush has a thick pad of lined, yellow note paper on his desk, placed there by just before the Vice President arrives."

"After Cheney's departure, the notes taken by the President are transcribed by and prepared as talking points for the President..."

"At some time in the past, according to both and the President suffered what one of his aides called "a very minor seizure" and as a result of this, the President has a very difficult time following any unscripted conversations. For this reason, his staff carefully and aggressively protect the President from "unexpected" questions that he is not capable of answering."

"The President takes oral medication at least twice a day according to because of an unspecified "indisposition' and this subject is strictly off limits for any casual staff conversation."

"At one point during a staff conference, the President stood up and began to speak in an unknown language. Mr. Rove was able to stop the President and get him to resume his seat. It was reported by that for a period of time (about fifteen minutes) after this incident, the President appeared to be 'somewhat confused and very inarticulate.'"
more
http://prisonplanet.tv/articles/april2004/042504bushseizure.htm

[DoYouEverWonder]

31. Chuck Hagel was complaining yesterday

that Bu$h only consults with a handful of top advisers. That he never calls or consults with anyone outside of that small circle. He also complained that on the rare occasions that they invite a Senator or someone else to the WH to meet with the pResident it is never one on one. Bu$h is always accompanied by his minders, the VP or other high level officials. No one can just talk to the pResident by himself. Makes you wonder why they have to keep W on such a tight leash?

[Az]

37. Epilepsy and Religious mania

This would be a very dangerous combination. The incidents of religious experience are much higher in epileptics. The after effects of the siezeres leave the brain in a state that often gives rise to a disassocitative condition. In this state the mind no longer can identify flows of thought as coming from self. Instead it believes the communications to be coming from an external source. The source is typically identified by learned social associations and identities (Buddhist consider it being one with the universe, theists believe it to be god, etc).

This could well explain Bush's religious conversion and mania. He really does believe he is talking to god and that god is talking back to him. We need to find out what those meds he is on are.

What is it with the republicans and their being drawn to presidential candidates with real brain damage?

[depakid]

57. Topamax is a good possibility, but don't dismiss benzos

Topamax is a second generation anticonvulsant indicated for partial seizures exactly like those described in the neurologist's e-mail to Conason, but it's off label as a monotherapy (meaning you'd almost always be taking more than one medication). Even so, Crazymeds list of side effects is impressive:

"Pros: You're more likely to lose weight than gain weight... The best med on the market for temporal lobe dysfunctions.

Cons: If you don't have a temporal lobe dysfunction or problems with other parts of your brain that Topamax hits, or you're at the wrong dosage, it will make you dumber than a box of rocks. The kidney stones aren't much fun.

Typical Side Effects: The usual for anticonvulsants... Sodas and other carbonated beverages will utterly taste like ass, so you may as well give them up now if you're considering Topamax. Memory loss, aphasia (weird words coming out in place of what you meant to say or write), word find problems (not being able to recall the names of people, things or concepts), and a general cognitive impairment that has earned this drug the nicknames "Stupamax" and "Dopamax." As Topamax typically makes you really sleepy and has a long enough half-life, you can usually get away with taking it all at bedtime."

Another possibility is a benzodiazepine like klonopin (or valium), which is often taken twice a day and is indicated for drug and alcohol withdrawl. This stuff dulls your mind too and definitely impairs coordination. Moreover, it's addictive and (unlike topamax) was readily available and in common useage when Bush purportedly up and quit drinking.

One further note: Bush does not present as bipolar I, II or even cyclothymic. He's a person of very regular habits and does not appear to have mood swings. Nor does he possess the emotional temperment or the creativity and curiousity that are characteristic of the bipolar mind. In fact, he's quite the opposite- he presents narcissitic traits and his seemingly complete lack of empathy suggests he's what's commonly referred to as a sociopath.

[indigobusiness]

16. Midol

But only part of each month.

[camero]

17. Risperdol

But it's not working at controlling his psychotic behavior

[Diogenes2]

18. Dilantin...

...like Nixon.

[NNN0LHI]

43. That was my guess too. I have taken if for epilepsy also n/t

[The Zanti Regent]

19. Wanna buy a vowel?

it might be...


C _ C _ _ N _

[Media_Lies_Daily]

20. Methadone?

[Paulie]

22. Disulfiram?

He takes a swig from his hip flask, then falls down? :)

[ShaneGR]

27. Zoloft

Anti-depressant. Once in the morning. Once before he goes to bed.

[doni_georgia]

32. You know they use seizure meds to trreat bipolar

Anyone ever thought Dubya might be bipolar? Would explain his wildness years ago. Drugs like Tegretol, Depakote, etc. can cause seizures in certain individuals. Many alcoholics are bipolar - they start drinking as a means of self medicating. Many people with bipolar also hear voices (God talking to him, perhaps), and have delusions of grandeur when in a manic state. It all makes perfect sense to me.

[kentuck]

33. Phenobarbitol used to be used for epileptic seizures

I don't know if they still use that??

[NNN0LHI]

44. I take both Tegretol and Phenobarbital 4 times a day for seizures n/t

[Mandate My Ass]

34. Risperdal

a potent anti-psychotic med with the following side effects:

Abdominal pain
Vomiting
Constipation
Diarrhea
Dry mouth
Sore throat
Abnormal walk
Agitation
Aggression
Anxiety
Chest pain
Coughing
Involuntary movements
Nasal inflammation
Decreased activity
Decreased sexual desires
Lack of coordination
Impotence
Dizziness
Dry skin
Difficulty urinating
Heavy menstruation
Tremor
Weight gain
Lethargic feelings
Joint pain
Difficulty ejaculating

[Spazito]

36. I believe, more and more, that he suffers from seizures...

I don't believe the bike story any more than I believed the pretzel story. The man consistently has bruising, etc, and, after reading that he takes medication twice a day, it seems very clear that he has a medical condition that severely affects his physical and mental condition, scary stuff.

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

38. Damitol

for people who just don't care.

[Straight Shooter]

42. Fuggitol

the extra-strength version of Damitol

[Malva Zebrina]

40. Antabuse

probably does not take on weekends, that is why he always disappears on weekends.

[Eye and Monkey]

56. Abuse, not antabuse. Twice daily, extra dose on Sundays.

[frank frankly]

41. crack and whiskey

he doesn't have the patience to even snort anymore. he's gotta have it.

[thebigidea]

45. that drug that the one-armed man takes to stop seeing BOB

[Ivan Sputnik]

54. "that drug that the one-armed man takes to stop seeing BOB"

is Haloperidol, used to treat the symptoms of psychotic conditions, including hallucinations, delusions, and confusion.

The owls are not what they seem.

[Bozita]

46. cocaine and testosterone make the user want to attack Iraq

just a wee bit on the agressive side

[noonwitch]

50. Has he been visiting Rush?

It's probably something like diazide or some other blood pressure medication. He's at the age when people start taking that stuff.

[Lou_C]

51. Quaalude's & Tuinals?

:shrug:

[Stephanie]

52. If the POTUS has a serious health problem we have a right to know

We can't make an informed decision in the election if the GOP nominee refuses to disclose his serious health issues. Isn't that unlawful? There must be some rules WRT disclosure?

Especially if he is prone to seizures that make him fall on his face and speak in foreign languages (apparently this is in the Woodward book - does anyone have the quote?) - then this is SERIOUS and he must be truthful about it.

[DoYouEverWonder]

60. Something is not right about these marks

If he 'fell' flat on his face while bike riding, wouldn't there be at least some bruising and swelling? Maybe even a chipped tooth?

From looking at these pics, W may have taken a fall but it wasn't under speed on a bicycle. Or possibly it is some kind of skin condition. Some of these marks started to appear on his face a day or two before the accident. All I know is that doesn't look like road rash.

[Dogmudgeon]

55. Bush doesn't NEED meds to be a bad pResident

He might be on something, but I think he is the way he is all by himself.

After all, he's a self-made man!

--bkl

[linazelle]

61. What proof do you have of him taking meds 2X a day?

[Stephanie]

62. I think this is a really important question

I had no idea he was on medication - why hasn't that been reported? Also, I had never heard that story where he speaks in tongues in the middle of a meeting - from the Woodward book. That story has not been reported, even after Woodward's book came out. At least, I have not heard it.