Chinese Whispers

[Guest JamesBarnes]

Chinese Whispers

There is a popular parlour game where each player  passes a whispered message down the line to see how it is hilariously corrupted by the time it reaches the last person; called ‘Chinese Whispers’ in the UK and ‘Telephone’ in the US.  When I attended school, my headmaster, a sterling chap, used this as a warning to discourage cheap gossip and rumour mongering. He cited a possibly apocryphal example, during the First World War when a front line Major sent a message to HQ: ‘Send reinforcements, we’re going to advance.’ By the time it was delivered to the General, it had been transformed into: ‘Send three and fourpence, we’re going to a dance.’

 

Primo Levi, the Italian Jewish chemist and writer said, ‘Anyone who has obeyed nature by transmitting a piece of gossip, experiences the explosive relief that accompanies the satisfying of a primary need,' but George Harrison put it better when he said that, ‘gossip is the Devil’s radio.’ As a writer, I am frequently given gossip but as an Englishman there is something inherent in my respect for privacy. The struggle to be personally open, truthful in what I write, especially when it comes to my own experience and use my own voice has been fought and mostly, won but every now and then I am dealt a lesson that knocks me back.

 

Years ago, I consulted a Thai pharmacist who prescribed a course of treatment for a malady. I was foolish. I should have gone to a doctor. I should have at least checked out the medication on the internet. I did neither.  Like I said, I was foolish and became addicted to these pills and although unwell, maintained them along with my practise as a bon vivant. When the crisis eventually and inevitably peaked, I learnt that the way out required a complete lifestyle overhaul and a gradual tapering of the offending medication to zero over eighteen months. Ever the idiot, I decided to do this in just six months.

 

When I was ‘clean’, the withdrawal was horrendous. Insomnia, hallucinations, seizures and stomach cramps which lasted two years were a testament to the checks and balances of the western medical system that I had forsaken. I also suffered some severe liver damage which kept me off the booze for two years. The hepatic reparation is incomplete but my doctor tells me that I am now allowed to drink a little. Most days, I do not drink at all. Occasionally, I go out and drink too much and with a lowered tolerance I get great value for money and a loosened tongue which recently had me admitting my medical condition.

 

It does not matter who decided to pass on this intelligence. In fact I was unaware that it had been passed on at all until I was invited out to dinner by a friend last week. Eventually he plucked up the courage to ask me about my liver cancer. Thank goodness I was able to put an end to his worry and hopefully, now, the worries of all the others who have heard this rumour that has apparently being doing the rounds. I do have a self-induced liver problem. I am not dying of liver cancer. I have a sufficiently thick skin to endure the ill effects of Chinese Whispers but some dear friends have been genuinely upset, so next time you get tuned in to the Devil’s radio, please think twice before you start broadcasting yourself.

 

[Rogie]

Good to know you don't have liver cancer James.

 

There are two aspects to your post, the 'Chinese whispers' and the dangers of self-medication (for that is what it was as although many pharmacists are extremely proficient, sadly some are hardly more than quacks). Running with the ball on the drug front, it is always a really good idea to check out all the possible problems that might occur, either short-term or long term side effects.

 

Paracetamol (aka acetaminophen) is a good case in point. I think it falls into something of a loophole as most people have taken it short-term (for example to treat fever, pain, headache) at some stage in their lives, so they feel 'familiar' with it so the temptation to self-medicate can override the usual caution. Whereas when you are prescribed (by your doctor or competant pharmacist) a drug you've never used before, indeed quite possibly never even heard of, you will almost certainly read through the information sheet supplied, noting the correct dose as well as the list of side-effects, etc.

 

Taking slightly too much paracetamol day after day can be fatal, experts have warned.

 

A dangerous dose might just be a few pills too many taken regularly over days, weeks or months, they said.

 

Researchers at Edinburgh University saw 161 cases of "staggered overdose" at its hospital over a 16-year period.

 

People taking tablets for chronic pain might not realise they were taking too many or recognise symptoms of overdose and liver injury, they said.

 

The researchers told the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology that this life-threatening condition could be easily missed by doctors and patients.

 

Doctors may not initially spot the problem because blood tests will not show the staggeringly high levels of paracetamol seen with a conventional overdose, where someone may have swallowed several packets of the drug.

 

Patients who have taken a staggered overdose tend to fare worse than those who have taken a large overdose, the study suggests. Dr Kenneth Simpson and colleagues looked at the medical records of 663 patients who had been referred with paracetamol-induced liver injury to the Scottish Liver Transplantation Unit at the university hospital. The 161 who had taken a staggered overdose were more likely to develop liver and brain problems and need kidney dialysis or help with their breathing. They were also more likely to die of their complications.

 

Dr Simpson said: "They haven't taken the sort of single-moment, one-off massive overdoses taken by people who try to commit suicide, but over time the damage builds up, and the effect can be fatal."

 

Professor Roger Knaggs of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society said patients should heed the warning.

 

If people experience pain and paracetamol doesn't help, rather than thinking a 'top up' dose may work, they should consult their pharmacist for alternative pain control or referral to someone who can help with the cause of the pain.

 

"The message is clear: if you take more paracetamol than is recommended, you won't improve your pain control but you may seriously damage your health.

 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15837468