- People probably, like, see my tattoos and piercings
and also, like, my age.
People are like, "Okay, well you're obviously, like,
spiraling a little bit so you probably take meds."
(meds rattling in bottle)
(ping, air swooshes)
- Hmm. - Hmm.
- We all look deceiving.
- [Stephen] What does it mean to look medicated? You know?
- Oh. - I don't know--
- Well because if you look medicated
you can appear healthy because you're medicated.
- Or (indistinct) - Right.
- People probably, like, see my tattoos and piercings
and also, like, my age.
People are like, "Okay, well you're obviously, like,
spiraling a little bit so you probably take meds."
So, I'll be fourth.
- Yeah, I feel like you're middle-ish.
- I guess I'm excited to see what everyone is going to be.
Like, who's gonna be on medication, who's not really.
A lot of people don't really present
like they're on medication.
At least a lot of people that I know, you would never guess
that they were on medication.
- I feel like you'd probably be there,
like, just right before me.
- Oh, like right here? Or - Yes.
in front of you? - No. Yeah, like,
right here. - Okay.
- Can I say, I think I should move up just a little bit.
- Yeah, no, okay. - Maybe like right before you.
- I feel like I could be, like, towards, like, the least.
- Yes. Okay. - All right. All right.
- Let's just say like the least.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
If it's based on appearance
or anything like that, like, maybe, like, here or there.
- Yeah. I think this is the right position.
- Okay. I think we're good. - Sure. You can lock this in.
- Yeah.
- (chuckling) Yeah. - Okay.
(air swooshing)
- My experience with medication was:
my parents were very much against it as a child,
but some things happened
and we were, like, "Okay, he kind of needs it."
- [Fay] Yeah.
- I grew up in a Japanese household, very traditional.
And so, a lot of times, like, you would be told, like, "Oh,
if you take, like, these certain, like, herbal medications
or if you drink certain teas, like, it can, like, cure a lot
of ailments. I come from, like,
a religious background that isn't, like,
a traditional Christian or Shintoism or Buddhism.
The philosophy behind that religion is if you
think something negative it will manifest physically.
And so a lot of times it came down to, like, blaming myself
for being sick even if it wasn't, like, truly my fault.
- I've actually survived a massacre.
Yeah, well I live in Colorado
and there's the theater shooting there.
So, then I was actually a direct victim of it.
I didn't really get exposed to,
like, medication until, like, more recently,
but it was kind of, like, all these underlying issues
that, like, built up since then.
You get, like, really numb when you're, like, surrounded by,
like, people who are, like, always worried about you.
You develop, like, almost, like,
a DID or Dissociative Identity Disorder.
It's just kind of, like, them just throwing stuff
at you and then just being, like, "Oh, maybe this'll work."
- Were any of you guys introduced into medication
off of, like, physical injury or mental?
- Injuries or mental issues.
There's also physical like disability as well, so.
- Yes. - Like, a little bit of each.
So... (participants chuckle)
- I come from an African household,
also with people in the medical field.
But surprising enough,
I wasn't really, like, introduced to it.
Because everything was, like, natural remedies
and just like, "Oh, I don't think it's that serious,
so we'll stay home instead." You know?
- Mm-hmm.
- When I was younger, like, my parents, like, were okay
with me, like, taking stuff for my physical needs.
As I got older,
they were very against medication
for, like, mental health at first and I think still,
honestly, my parents are against medication
for, like, mental health.
- So there's also physical, like, disability as well.
So, it's kind of, - Yes.
like, a chain reaction with some of these things
that, like, one thing caused another thing,
which caused injury. - Mm.
- So that in that injury caused a need
for medication 'cause it caused another thing.
- I only recently got my first, I guess, medication
when I was 15.
It was really hard for me to,
I guess, accept that I needed help.
I'm not someone that really likes help but when
it came to just like doing certain daily tasks
that I needed to do, like, I needed something to,
like, help me, I guess, regulate that.
'Cause I was definitely going down
a path that was not a good one.
(participants talking simultaneously)
- I feel like you might be a little ahead.
- Maybe. Yeah. - Okay.
- I really think you're, like, less.
(participants talking simultaneously)
- I feel like he's good.
- No, I-- - I think he's good.
- I think I should move up.
I really think I should.
- Yeah, you seem confident - I don't--
about being higher. - Yeah, but, I don't think I'm
the top.
- Okay. - You know?
I'm on the top
right now, so. - So you're just being modest?
- Do you think you're the most medicated?
- I feel like, I don't know.
I think it may be between you and me right now.
(air swooshing)
- Okay. For me, I've had Anxiety throughout my whole life.
Elementary school, all of middle school up until,
like, freshman year of high school,
end of it is when I got a diagnosis of ADHD.
- Based off, like, what you said, I would probably
put you, I guess, put you somewhere... Maybe here?
- Yeah. I would probably be on this side.
- Okay. - Maybe.
- I actually was left undiagnosed
for almost like a decade.
It was, like, until this year I was just, like, "Man,
I can't focus on a single thing," you know,
panic attacks and other stuff.
So I actually went to the therapist under victim comp.
Pretty much, they diagnosed me with,
you know, the holy trinity: ADHD, depression/anxiety
and then PTSD, of course.
I came from a culture where it's just,
like, you don't want to bother people.
And that's, like, what my mom always would tell me
is just, like, "Don't bother someone else.
Don't bother someone else."
I think that's another thing that kind of empowered the sort
of numbing - everyone grieving for you
and you don't want them to
and you don't wanna be in that position where,
like, you have to tell them that it's okay
and that you're, like, still there and then just
trying to comfort them rather than them comforting you.
- I think that you should go ahead
and cha cha your way to the front.
- All right. - Cha cha.
- (chuckling) Oh my god.
- I had mental health problems growing up as a child.
I actually had, like, really severe OCD and it went
undiagnosed for a really long time.
I have Major Depressive Order and Anxiety.
So I got diagnosed with that when I was around 20.
But this year I actually got diagnosed
with Gastroparesis. It basically means
that my stomach is either partially or fully paralyzed.
Let's say for example, like, let's say your stomach
is done digesting, like, four hours. Let's say that, right?
My stomach will take eight hours, for example.
And usually it doesn't contract, it just uses acid alone.
And so sometimes, I kinda like joke about this, but, like,
it's not super funny, but sometimes I'm like, "Oh,
if you guys wanna see a magic trick, give me,
like, an hour and I could throw my food back up whole."
- Bleh. - Oh my goodness gracious.
- Yeah. - Wow. Wow.
- I don't wanna say a magic trick, but that's very
interesting. - Yeah, no,
thank you for offering though.
- Yeah. (participants laugh, speak indistinctly)
I'll keep it here.
Well, I do think she's more medicated than I am.
- Okay yeah. So then, - So.
you go get in front of Kevin then, for now.
- I like how we're just putting everyone just in the middle
(chuckling) right after we hear their story.
It's just, like, "Alright." - I'm back.
- I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was six.
I was off medication for a while because when
I was 11 I was diagnosed with Restrictive Cardiomyopathy
which is a disorder in the heart.
And a year later I got a heart transplant.
- I feel like you might be higher then...
Because I was just-- - I agree.
- I am inclined to move up or stay up higher.
- I wanna, I think we should hear your thing first.
- So I have Major Depressive Disorder, and Anxiety, and PTSD
but I've also struggled with addiction and I'm...
I'll be three years sober on November 2nd.
- Yay! - Congrats!
- Congrats! - Oh my goodness!
- The last thing I wanna talk about
is I also have a rare chronic illness.
It's kinda like Narcolepsy.
It's called, like, Idiopathic Hypersomnia.
And I basically feel like I haven't slept
for 24 to 48 hours every single day.
But there's only one medication that's FDA approved for it.
So it's been a struggle but I'm finally able to,
like, hold a job and I'm going to school also.
So, yeah.
- I feel like she should be in front of me but behind her.
- I feel like you should be either above me or next to me.
- Yeah. The only reason why is 'cause I feel,
like, a lot of the stuff that you're dealing
with also includes a lot of more verbal therapy.
- I wanna hear your story
because I don't think I'm the most medicated
but I can't get a read, you know?
- I think the first diagnosis I got was,
like, Anxiety/Depression
but they didn't do any sort of psychiatric testing.
They just kind of looked at me and they were like,
"Man, weird." Vasavegal Syncope, Aerophagia.
I just recently got diagnosed with Autism and ADHD.
That's all I'll say, and that's quite enough I think.
- [Producer] Do you guys want to be medicated?
- I don't want to take medicine.
It's hard to keep up with, you know?
It's like paying a subscription to live.
- As long as they're giving me a better quality of life
and, better as a person, and wanna live, then
I wanna take my meds.
When I first started getting sober, I was in a rehab
and they prescribed me like a whole bunch
of different medications.
But I believe that without those medications
for my addiction that I wouldn't be sober today.
So it, like, really helped save my life.
- I want having to take medications to be,
like, the last resort and I wanna go
through all the possible things that I could do before.
I feel like we're all aware that the more medicine
that doctors, you know, give you,
the more money they're making.
So I dunno, it's like a trust issue type of thing.
But also, like, if I really need it,
like, of course, like, for pain and whatnot.
But again, let's go through all the things that, you know,
I could do, and if those don't work for, like, helping me?
All right then gimme the pills.
- So obviously I don't want to be on medication
'cause it costs money, but I'm not a big fan of medical
but I've never personally had a bad experience
but I know that that's not the case for most people.
- 'Cause no, Dylan, you trust it.
So... - Yeah.
- (chuckling) Hey, like you have the trust.
So be before me. - I trust it
but maybe I don't like, you know,
certain side effects from certain things, you know?
I was unmedicated for 15 to 18 years,
depending on how you look at it.
I feel like I'm probably lower than you.
There's a a high chance.
- I'm okay with this.
- Yes. - Okay.
- Good structure. - I'm good.
- I'm good. - Okay, we're good.
(participants simultaneously) Locked in.
(air swooshing)
- [Producer] In seventh, Mary.
- Okay.
- [Producer] In sixth, Dylan.
- Hey guys.
- [Producer] In fifth, Kevin.
Fourth, Elizabeth.
Third, Joyce.
Second, Stephen.
- Okay. - Wow.
- I knew it.
- [Producer] So now what we're gonna do,
we're gonna go through
how many medications you guys are actually taking.
- Oh perfect. Love that for me.
- This would a be good reference video
I could show the doctors real quick
in appointments when they need to get the list.
That's the most annoying part of it.
- I guess down the line again?
- [Producer] Yeah, we'll start with Mary.
- Okay, well, I take no medications.
I feel like if I've went all those years being unmedicated
and still fine, I'm still here living,
I could do, you know, a couple more decades.
I will definitely continue to keep going
down the holistic path but it's also
I'm open to medications.
- I take one medication. Take Vyvanse for ADHD.
It just helps me with impulse control and all that.
- I'm actually on three medications.
This is, like, the thing that's mainly changing
is the antidepressants.
Of course, you know Adderall for the ADHD.
And when I'm too wired they also put me on Trazodone.
So it's pretty much just, like, "Here's an upper,
here's a downer and here's, like, something
so you don't feel depressed."
- I take five. I take, this is called Zofran.
I also take this one. This is called Remron.
This is Ativan. I also take a Scopolamine patch
and then my last one, which is my primary medication,
Motilium. This one is actually not legal in the USA.
It's not FDA approved, and the reason for that
is because it causes a high chance of a heart attack
and stroke. So, I get EKGs done just to make sure
that I'm still within safe levels.
- [Producer] Would you be able
to survive without that medication?
- Currently, no, because it's the only known medication
to treat, like, my condition.
Without it, there's a good chance I'll have to
stay hospitalized for fluids and liquids.
I could not not sustain myself.
I basically was diagnosed recently with Gastroparesis.
You can even identify it as like a really mild form of,
like, organ failure.
My stomach either is fully paralyzed or partially paralyzed.
And so, the way I digest, I rely on the acid
in my stomach and I can't rely on the mechanics of it.
- I take seven. I don't have that many meds guys.
So I also take Zofran. I take this as needed.
I also take something called Armodafinil.
I take Clonidine at night.
I also take Bupropion or Wellbutrin for my depression.
Something called Synthroid.
And last one is just Aciclovir for a virus that I have
and I take this every single day.
- So I take eight medications.
First is one of the main ones, Tacrolimus,
better known as Prograf.
Another immunosuppressor is Sirolimus.
And then a lot of medications are just
to quell side effects of these two.
First is Diltiazem. Atorvastatin, also known as Lipitor.
I forgot exactly what this one does.
Bayer Aspirin. Lisinopril.
I also take Adderall.
Last one, I promise.
This is Vitamin D3.
That's everything.
(cheers, applause, whistle sounds)
Yeah! - This one is a Xulane patch.
This is a birth control.
This is the fifth birth control I've been on.
This is Topamax. This is both for chronic migraines,
and also, I got a higher dosage
because I developed motor ticks.
Midodrine is the one medication I am on for fainting
for my blood pressure.
Here we got Gabapentin. I just got prescribed this one
for, like, panic attacks and stuff
and also for chronic pain.
But Juniper got prescribed the same thing.
Cymbalta. This is Imatrex for emergency
for really bad migraines.
This is a nasal spray for allergies.
This is a inhaler. And then this is Singulair.
And then Aerophagia, like an acid reducer.
- Wow we could be, like, an ad for Big Pharma right now.
(mellow tune plays)
I don't know, I feel like sometimes I have to,
like, justify my problems to be like, "No,
it actually is something that is a problem."
I had an employer when I first got diagnosed
and he was actually, like, really rude about it
and he told, like, everybody like,
"Oh, she's probably just pregnant."
People won't always, like, look at you
and think, like, "You are definitely somebody
who is medicated," you know?
- I just wish people could see that, like,
just 'cause you can't see an illness,
just 'cause it's invisible doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
- [Producer] Do you have any final thoughts you'd like to
impart on someone who might be watching this?
- I mean, I really just think it just speaks to, like,
you can't tell anything
about someone just by looking at them.
Except for the fact that everybody was like,
"You are the most medicated," as soon as I walked in,
and they were correct.
So, I guess, for me, maybe they can
(chuckling) but for everybody else you can't tell.