detox me

HELP!!!!!!!

it's very late, and i'm having a *really* tough time tonight with my meds and their side effects. i should be fast asleep by now but i've been awakened by stabbing stomach pain and i'm really queasy. i suspect it's b/c i just re-started sulfasalazine on my doctor's orders (my ankle joint pain returned with a vengeance after i tried quitting it). plus, i just started some antibiotics. sulfa and sulfonamide drugs are proving to be real bastards to my GI.

i'm on four other (prescription) drugs as well. i'm trapped in a bind--there's really no choice but to take them because it's either these side-effects, or risk joint and organ damage by not taking anything. i'd do anything in the world to be drug free. being on so many potent medications is burdening my body and i wish i could just go on a drug holiday and be detoxified.

yeah, maybe i can suck it up and deal and be a big girl by handling annoying, inconvenient side-effects if that's the only problem. but it frightens me to think that i've continuously been on daily medication for several years. short of a cure being found, it's open-ended. i'm still young. what if these medications cause cancer or do some other equally bad damage that shows up years down the road? i already have to worry about losing eyesight because of the anti-malarials (plaquenil) used as a mainstay in rheumatology. that's the ugly reality of having a chronic illness, and one i've not wanted to talk about much here lately.

i just want to be detoxed.