The Dark Side of Scopolamine
Uh-oh. I found the Scopolamine patch. It seems that somehow, Friday night, it slipped from behind my ear and made its way all the way to the center of my back. This means that I've had a double dose for at least 12 hours. That's worrisome because the patch has a number of side effects that are problematic, and the last thing I want to do is compound them.
If you've never used a Scopolamine patch and are considering trying one to ward off motion sickness on a cruise or something, I recommend you be careful. You might want to try it out before you are away from home. While the patch really helps me with motion sickness, it gives me a dry mouth and usually blurs my vision. It also causes a "racing mind" effect and interrupts my short-term memory in the most disturbing way. I'll think of something and then forget it a nano-second later; all I know is that I had a thought and it's gone. Creepy. (The chemo drugs do something similar, too, so it's just compounded when I combine them.)
I had a bad experience with the patch over a decade ago, which is why I didn't try it again until now. I can be prone to vertigo due to a mild inner ear disorder and sometimes a virus can set that off. Anyway, it was around Christmas time and I had been sick. The vertigo was triggered, making it difficult for me to walk. I had a lot of holiday things to get done on schedule, so I decided to see if a patch could help me. After three days of wearing it (that's the length of time it's effective) I removed it and replaced it with a new one. Then I went to the mall to shop. Early in my shopping trip I realized that I was hallucinating! My pupils were dilated and I was seeing stuff that I knew wasn't there. So what did I do? I finished up my shopping because I was worried that otherwise I wouldn't get the gifts in time! Turns out that hallucinations are one of the possible side effects, and four days of Scopolamine is way too much for my body.
What I didn't know back then is that this drug has a checkered past. It is used as a component in administering "twilight sleep" (sedation where the patient often does not remember what happened) in medical situations, which predictably means it has also found use as a date rape drug. Earlier in the last century, it was even used in interrogations as a truth serum. But today, we smack a patch behind our ear and go on a cruise.
This is not to say that it isn't useful. I just hope everyone who uses it does so with care. Never use someone else's prescription; make sure that your doctor has evaluated this as safe for you in particular to take.
Well, that turned into a rant, didn't it? I'm going to take the patches off now and deal with the nausea and motion sickness in other ways. I'm feeling pretty queasy and burpy (aren't you glad I share?) so I'm going to find something innocuous like mashed potatoes for dinner. With the nasty taste I have in my mouth, anything else is probably going to be too revolting. Thank goodness mashed potatoes remain reliable!
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