Saturday, February 12, 2005

Light blogging

A few months ago, my friend K asked me why I don't blog more than I do. I certainly read more than my share of mainstream and offbeat news stories, and have formed many opinions about them.

I guess there are certain streams of consciousness that I just don't want to follow to their logical conclusions. There are certain truths that I just don't want to ponder for too long. The side effects of lariam (mefloquine) constitute one such Pandora's Box.

I've had a front row seat to the bug-eyed paranoia that mefloquine can unleash. The mission for which my husband dutifully swallowed his anti-malarial medication was a very short one - a non-combattant evacuation mission to Liberia when it fell into chaos in 1996. If he had been on mefloquine for a longer period of time, if there were significant stressors in our lives at that time .. I don't want to complete that thought. I believe that mefloquine can have the equivalent effect of cutting the brake lines on a car that is speeding out of control. And I do believe that the powers that be have known and understood this for a long time.



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