I’ve been watching a lot of TV lately. Don’t ask me what, but the recurring commercials on my favorite channels are for vaginal mesh class action suits and those for prescription acne medication, Onexton and prescription irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) medication, Linzess. Pharmaceutical commercials are my favorite, especially the part where they whisper all of the side effects like the fine print of a used car commercial, half of which are the same or even worse than the original problem!

First let’s look at Onexton. Aside from bowel trouble, the most worrisome side effect if I were to even consider taking this medication for acne is swelling of the face! Choose: acne or swollen face? The list goes on to include bloody diarrhea, trouble breathing, and rash, none of which are ever of immediate concern when battling acne. I get it. I was on birth control for four years back in college and I could give a shit about blood clots and death as long as I didn’t get knocked up and then knocked out by my parents.

Now let’s look at Linzess. Many of my clients have taken Linzess with varying results. The truth is, this is a new drug and the counterproductive side effects are as follows: gas, abdominal pain, abdominal distention, severe diarrhea and more that are not currently listed on the website. So while you may take the medication because you suffer from gas, abdominal pain, distention and/or severe diarrhea, Linzess could potentially make it worse. Clients and friends of mine whom I’ve known to take Linzess for the most part, find it successful at first, but then its effects wear off and sometimes get worse.

My point of view on prescription drugs is that they are all experimental. In fact, they were most likely tested extensively on animals and you, my friend, are the human trial. You are taking a huge risk just to mask the root issue, which is almost always healed by addressing emotional health, food consumption, and overall lifestyle. If you receive my weekly newsletters, you and I both know that this bitch ain’t taking Linzess…