Side Effects
Our bizarre contemporary take on self-preservation and health-consciousness.
Side Effects belongs to the following groups:
! Creative Writing & Poetry !, ***♂♥♥QUORN♥♥♀, All Out Emotion, All Things Poetic, Artistic, Philosophical, Biker Art, Boredom Competitions on the 24/7, Dark artists, dark art, Everyday Life, Masterpieces: Literary Workshop, Old farts of redbubble, Practising the Dark Arts, Self as Other, Short stories - Spherical Scriptings, THE DARK CELL, The Word Tree, Up & Coming Writers and WMG“Ask your doctor if Flounce (megamicrosuckadickadoffilus) is right for you.”
We’ve all seen the shameless, blatant pitches on tv. The trend among pharmaceutical companies is to hawk their wares to a public so afflicted with a plethora of myriad anomalous and nondescript maladies to cull interest in their product by preying on our collective fears and malaise at taking our own physical well-being in hand and depending on the almighty pill, suppository, balm, ointment, drop, spray, gargle, injection, elixir, sublingual strip, etc.,etc..
Just as an example:
The average teenager is, at some point going to have skin problems that may cause them the occasional moment of embarrassment that, by the way, we all eventually learn to deal with. But the drug companies are right there to promise them hollow dreams of transformation into J.Lo and Justin Timberlake at a small price; the risk of…
RARELY OCCURRING SIDE EFFECTS including…
Dry mouth, dry skin, dry eyes, dry sense of humor, itchy skin, itchy eyes, itchy anus, lowered blood pressure, elevated blood pressure, depression (if thoughts of suicide persist, call your doctor immediately), torpor, lethargy, sweating, nosebleed, headache, shaking, nervousness, anxiety, hives, dizziness upon standing due to a sudden drop in blood pressure, seborrhea, psoriasis, gout, chafing, shingles, dandruff, runny nose, persistent cough, deafness, blindness, blurred vision, numbness, tingling, increased urination, decreased urination, increased chance of stroke, heart attack, heart palpitations, fainting, blood clot, diarrhea, constipation, incontinence, water retention, hemorrhoids, flatulence, decrease in semen, genital hypersensitivity, cancer, pneumonia, tinnitis, nausea, vomiting, pancreatitis, liver disease or hypersensitivity to heat, cold or pain, painful urination, painful bowel movement, painful erection and/or ejaculation and/or orgasm.
Women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant should not take or handle Flounce (megamicrosuckadickadoffilus) due to an increased risk of birth defects.
If you experience priapism, an erection lasting more than four hours, call your doctor immediately. (Hey if I have a hard-on that lasts that long, I’m calling a press conference.)
Do not take Flounce (megamicrosuckadickadofillus) while driving or operating machinery or until you know how Flounce (megamicrosuckadickadoffilus) effects you.
The list goes on and on. But my favorite, because it is the most bizarre and unsettling of all the symptoms is hands down, unequivocally, without a doubt…OILY ANAL DISCHARGE!!!
Holy shit, people! What ailment could suficiantly inspire such dread as to risk a side effect that would have us walking down the street happy as a clam one minute, and suddenly and without warning, the seat of our pants looks as if we sat in a plate of fried bacon?
But I guess all this is a small price to pay to keep us from the indignity of showing up at the prom with an embarrassing blemish.
theyellowfury
The drug companies are nearly as bad for the world as defence contractors. From delaying research on potentially life saving medicine in favour or more lucrative “cures” to sending out truckloads of product that hasn’t been properly tested yet and causes sickness and even death in the field, the pharmaceutical companies have a lot to answer for. And I don’t even live in the US, where drugstores are as big as any supermarket we have here.
George Yesthal replied
Hyppocrates would be livid, I’m sure. He would require increased dosages of Abilify for his uncontroled anger, which would be diagnosed as bi-polarism. Ambian would be rquired to aid sleep and of course, Xanax for the psychological equilibrium necessary to cary on. And just for good mesure let’s prescribe 50 mlgrms. of Viagra to get him back in good graces with the missus.
Bob Fox
Thanks for putting me back in good humor!
George Yesthal replied
You’re welcome, Bob. Hope it’s nothing serious. Ironically, humor is usually the most effective balm for what ails.
deliriousgirl
HAAAAAA!!! That excessive flatulence and oily anal discharge sounds rather nastier than the original symptoms. Yeah, when I get a prescription filled, the horrors of the side effects make me scared to death to take the crap!!!
George Yesthal replied
Yeah, right? However, it occurs to me that if one could time and regulate the instances of oily anal discharge, it could be a valuable sex aid especially within the gay community. I’m going to call Pfizer Pharmaceutical right away.
George Yesthal replied
PS
Hey, Jen. A few entries back, I tried to view what popped up on my watchlist. Upon trying to access it a screen popped up saying “Sorry, the item you are trying to view can not be found. Any idea why?
WanderingAuthor
That was funny. Thanks. Of course, it would be even funnier if it were less true… Your comment on Hippocrates, and what modern doctors would prescribe for him, was the funniest part. I can see them doing just that – and poor old Hippocrates turning purple in the face and just getting slammed with even more prescriptions.
Thanks again. I needed a laugh. (Computer problems, and some of my writing ended up copied to a splog over the weekend…)
George Yesthal replied
Glad you liked it, Wanderer. There’s so much humor surrounding this subject that it was hard to keep it short. I wanted to keep the humor punchy. I’m sure that entire volumes could and have been written with a more serious focus. It is, after all a serious issue, but I tend to see a humorous note in most things. Thanx for reading.
deliriousgirl
ohhhh, I just left them up for a little bit and then took them off cause they’ve been submitted to places for publication. I’m also doing another writing site that just focuses on writing solely. Thanks dear!!!
deliriousgirl
I love the community here, but the focus IS primarily on the selling of art.
George Yesthal replied
Ah, that explains it. Send me a link? Thanx, sweetie.
deliriousgirl
writer’scafe.org Look around and see if you like it there.
WanderingAuthor
Before you join WritersCafe – read the Terms of Service carefully. (If you don’t understand them, run them past a lawyer who understands publishing.) They contain clauses that, in my opinion, should be a “red flag” to any serious writer to avoid posting anything there. (Most notably “perpetual, irrevocable, world-wide, royalty free” is a phrase to take note of. Any time you see that phrase in a contract or TOS, you’re about to get royally screwed. About your only hope would be to claim the terms are so slanted against you, you would have no reason to enter into such an agreement; but the companies who use them have more expensive lawyers than you can afford. In fact, any time you see the words “perpetual, irrevocable, world-wide”, even with “non-exclusive” after them, don’t agree unless you are being paid enough money to make you dizzy. Any agreement with that clause effectively prevents you from ever selling that work in any market.) For all its problems, RedBubble is less exploitative and destructive to writers.
becteri
I love this one because it is so true… I live with my acne, it’s inherited and there’s not much I can do about it. lol Great job on this one!
Julie Miles
Lord, this is so true! Which is why I like watching Cartoon Network. They don’t have political or drug commercials except PSAs. (I can see it now – “Mommy, what’s erectile dysfunction?”)
Anyway, I think prescription drug advertising should be banned and the money saved should go to help poor people who can’t afford meds. Right. Like that will ever happen. It should but it won’t.
George Yesthal replied
I like the way you think.