Free AI web copilot to create summaries, insights and extended knowledge, download it at here

Abstract

inhaler. Because they might not have a mum to say, “That is NOT how you take an inhaler,” whenever someone did the above on screen. I was lucky I did.</p><figure id="433f"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*3f353Z7XS9O5Gw3qeOOUsw.jpeg"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><h1 id="5b15">Anaphylaxis</h1><p id="845b">I have a condition called<a href="https://southwest.devonformularyguidance.nhs.uk/referral-guidance/south-devon-torbay/allergies/spontaneous-urticaria-and-or-angiodema#:~:text=Urticaria%20and%20angioedema%20may%20be,unless%20there%20are%20specific%20questions."> Spontaneous Angioedema,</a> and whenever I tell people, they think I’m making it up. It’s a condition where you can go into anaphylaxis at random.</p><p id="5cb1">My allergist told me that it’s common after you have an operation because the surgery is traumatic to the body.</p><p id="5234">It’s controlled by strong prescription antihistamines and managed with adrenaline when it does flare up. I have figured out that it gets worse when I’m too hot or upset. You are always supposed to have TWO pens with you at all times. That coupled with my asthma and allergies, means I can never go out without a damned handbag, thank you very much.</p><p id="2ce6">My beef with anaphylaxis in movies is that the adrenaline pen either works too fast or not at all. They either inject themselves, and they are immediately back to normal. Or they do it, and it doesn’t work at all. They never use two pens either. Anyone with a long-standing condition would know that it is crucial to have your life-saving medicine with you.</p><p id="0021">But it’s true, sometimes they don’t work. Sometimes you are too far into anaphylaxis for both pens to be effective. And the ambulance needs to be called.</p><p id="03c7">But what doesn’t happen when you’re far enough into anaphylaxis to need a pen is you’re immediately back to normal. Your head is likely pounding from a lack of oxygen. And what you should be doing is lying down with your feet elevated while the pen does its job.</p><p id="a29c">And nobody ever coughs! In the movies, nobody ever coughs when they’re going into anaphylaxis! It’s an important symptom because your body thinks it’s allergic to something, and it’s trying to get rid of it! But coughing isn’t glamorous, so nobody does it.</p><p id="5546">For educational purposes, symptoms of anaphylaxis include:</p><ul><li>Swelling of your throat and tongue</li><li>Difficulty breathing or breathing very fast</li><li>Difficulty swallowing, tightness in your throat or a hoarse voice</li><li>Wheezing, coughing or noisy breathing</li><li>Feeling tired or confused</li><li>Feeling faint, dizzy or fainting</li><li>Skin that feels cold to the touch</li><li>Blue, grey or pale skin, lips or tongue — if you have brown or black skin, this may be easier to see on the palms of your hands or soles of your feet</li></ul><p id="bb43">Always use your pen first. Don’t wait to see if an antihistamine will do the trick. I did that once and wound up in hospital for two days.</p><figure id="ac9b"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/0*evg9e2VCaFJL_1eQ"><figcaption>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@jannerboy62?utm_source=medium&utm_medium=referral">Nick Fewings</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com?utm_source=medium&utm_medium=referral">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure><h1 id="501d">Suicide</h1><p id="78f9" type="7">Again, trigger warning. Please don’t read on if this will upset you.</p><div id="5d04" class="link-block"> <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/feelings-symptoms-behaviours/behaviours/help-for-suicidal-thoughts/">

Options

      <div>
          <div>
            <h2>Help for suicidal thoughts</h2>
            <div><h3>Where to get help if you are having suicidal thoughts, and what to do if you are worried about someone else.</h3></div>
            <div><p>www.nhs.uk</p></div>
          </div>
          <div>
            <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*favrPHKXgNh1A7jr)"></div>
          </div>
        </div>
      </a>
    </div><p id="7491">In the movies, someone takes a bottle of prescription painkillers and snoozes their way peacefully into the afterlife. As someone who has taken three overdoses of prescription painkillers, I can honestly and confidently say no. Yes, you sleep, but it’s more of a loss of consciousness. Then you’re suddenly woken up by the desperate and unstoppable urge to vomit yourself inside out. That’s your body getting rid of the vast amounts of poison you’ve put in it. Your brain may want to die, but your body will fight you as hard as it possibly can.</p><p id="6342">It’s not gentle. It is torture, and when you don’t succeed you’re left with insides that will never function properly again. Insides like mine. The idea that you pop a few pills and drift off to sleep makes that way of dying seem far too appealing to a suicidal person, and I think it’s wrong.</p><figure id="8ba2"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/0*0MPWfVKmqbBNUd8f"><figcaption>Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@freestocks?utm_source=medium&amp;utm_medium=referral">freestocks</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com?utm_source=medium&amp;utm_medium=referral">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure><h1 id="e626">Popping A Fistful of Painkillers!</h1><p id="2dfb">When a character pops a palm full of painkillers in a movie or TV show, it’s meant to indicate that they have an iron constitution. They have been around the block and are made of strong stuff. But taking half a bottle of pain medication doesn’t mean you are made of strong stuff. It means you are made of stupid stuff!</p><p id="6c8d">It is not okay to do that. There are dosage instructions on the packet for a reason. Because that’s the most you’re supposed to take at one time! Taking more at once or more regularly will not leave your stomach and liver enough time to break them down. That means you can cause major and irreversible damage to both. Overdosing doesn’t have to mean 150 pills at a time. A few extra can be fatal, especially if you do it over a couple of weeks.</p><div id="5e68" class="link-block">
      <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-16198157">
        <div>
          <div>
            <h2>'A few extra' paracetamol kills a young mum after op</h2>
            <div><h3>A young mum from south Wales died after taking "a few extra" painkillers after a routine operation.</h3></div>
            <div><p>www.bbc.co.uk</p></div>
          </div>
          <div>
            <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/0*h-U4XMs35qBSRi4e)"></div>
          </div>
        </div>
      </a>
    </div><p id="28a4">It’s irresponsible to show someone taking that many pills at once and suffering no consequences. And they always wash it down with a gulp of liquor, usually straight from the bottle. Even better, who needs a liver anyway? Oh, wait, everyone.</p><p id="e66a">I know the movies aren’t real. I’m not an idiot. And believe it or not, I’m not a killjoy. I love movies and TV shows. I just think that these things are important enough to be portrayed accurately.</p></article></body>

Things The Movies NEED To Get Right

Right now!!!

Trigger warning. Mentions asthma-related fatalities, death, and death by suicide.

Have you ever watched a movie and thought, “Well, that would never happen in real life.” I think I can safely say we all have. One thing that really bugs me is that when characters in movies or TV shows find a dead body, they make no effort to revive them! They feel for a pulse, which is a notoriously inaccurate way to check for signs of life and declare that person dead. No CPR, no ambulance, nothing. I’m not saying they have to save their life. Because if the plot needs them to be dead, that’s how it is. But they could at least try!

And aside from not paying for the drinks you ordered at the bar. Or turning the TV onto the exact channel you need just as the news anchor starts their story about the important event in question. There are some things that, as trivial as they might seem to other people, are important.

Inhalers

As an asthmatic, when I see a person take an inhaler on a TV show or movie, I get irate. Especially if it’s a movie that kids are allowed to see. My mum is asthmatic, so I was taught how to use my inhaler properly. And I was also taught to never be without it. I was responsible for looking after it from a young age. She stressed that if I had an asthma attack while I was out or at school and didn’t have it, I could die. That might sound harsh to say to a kid, but it’s true. According to the WHO, around 455,000 people die from asthma every year. Kids in the movies are always losing or forgetting their inhalers, and their parents are way too understanding.

But my main objection is how someone takes an inhaler during an asthma attack. I know that attacks vary in severity, duration, and symptoms. So each attack will be different. Some will go away quicker than others. Some won’t go away at all.

My gripe is that the asthmatic in question, usually a so-called nerd, will press the inhaler, take a sharp breath in, and immediately say they feel better. Now, inhalers work quickly which is why it’s crucial to have them with you. But they only work quickly if you take them properly!

You’re supposed to empty your lungs, press the inhaler as you breathe in, and hold your breath for ten seconds. Every inhaler is slightly different, but I have had asthma for over 30 years and ten seconds is the absolute minimum time I’ve seen for holding your breath.

Some inhalers tell you to hold it for 30 seconds. I always think whoever invented that has clearly never had an asthma attack. Holding your breath for 10 seconds is enough to make you want to pass out during an attack, but 30? No chance.

I just don’t want some poor little asthmatic kid thinking that’s how you take an inhaler. Because they might not have a mum to say, “That is NOT how you take an inhaler,” whenever someone did the above on screen. I was lucky I did.

Anaphylaxis

I have a condition called Spontaneous Angioedema, and whenever I tell people, they think I’m making it up. It’s a condition where you can go into anaphylaxis at random.

My allergist told me that it’s common after you have an operation because the surgery is traumatic to the body.

It’s controlled by strong prescription antihistamines and managed with adrenaline when it does flare up. I have figured out that it gets worse when I’m too hot or upset. You are always supposed to have TWO pens with you at all times. That coupled with my asthma and allergies, means I can never go out without a damned handbag, thank you very much.

My beef with anaphylaxis in movies is that the adrenaline pen either works too fast or not at all. They either inject themselves, and they are immediately back to normal. Or they do it, and it doesn’t work at all. They never use two pens either. Anyone with a long-standing condition would know that it is crucial to have your life-saving medicine with you.

But it’s true, sometimes they don’t work. Sometimes you are too far into anaphylaxis for both pens to be effective. And the ambulance needs to be called.

But what doesn’t happen when you’re far enough into anaphylaxis to need a pen is you’re immediately back to normal. Your head is likely pounding from a lack of oxygen. And what you should be doing is lying down with your feet elevated while the pen does its job.

And nobody ever coughs! In the movies, nobody ever coughs when they’re going into anaphylaxis! It’s an important symptom because your body thinks it’s allergic to something, and it’s trying to get rid of it! But coughing isn’t glamorous, so nobody does it.

For educational purposes, symptoms of anaphylaxis include:

Swelling of your throat and tongue
Difficulty breathing or breathing very fast
Difficulty swallowing, tightness in your throat or a hoarse voice
Wheezing, coughing or noisy breathing
Feeling tired or confused
Feeling faint, dizzy or fainting
Skin that feels cold to the touch
Blue, grey or pale skin, lips or tongue — if you have brown or black skin, this may be easier to see on the palms of your hands or soles of your feet

Always use your pen first. Don’t wait to see if an antihistamine will do the trick. I did that once and wound up in hospital for two days.

Suicide

Again, trigger warning. Please don’t read on if this will upset you.

Help for suicidal thoughts

Where to get help if you are having suicidal thoughts, and what to do if you are worried about someone else.

www.nhs.uk

In the movies, someone takes a bottle of prescription painkillers and snoozes their way peacefully into the afterlife. As someone who has taken three overdoses of prescription painkillers, I can honestly and confidently say no. Yes, you sleep, but it’s more of a loss of consciousness. Then you’re suddenly woken up by the desperate and unstoppable urge to vomit yourself inside out. That’s your body getting rid of the vast amounts of poison you’ve put in it. Your brain may want to die, but your body will fight you as hard as it possibly can.

It’s not gentle. It is torture, and when you don’t succeed you’re left with insides that will never function properly again. Insides like mine. The idea that you pop a few pills and drift off to sleep makes that way of dying seem far too appealing to a suicidal person, and I think it’s wrong.

Popping A Fistful of Painkillers!

When a character pops a palm full of painkillers in a movie or TV show, it’s meant to indicate that they have an iron constitution. They have been around the block and are made of strong stuff. But taking half a bottle of pain medication doesn’t mean you are made of strong stuff. It means you are made of stupid stuff!

It is not okay to do that. There are dosage instructions on the packet for a reason. Because that’s the most you’re supposed to take at one time! Taking more at once or more regularly will not leave your stomach and liver enough time to break them down. That means you can cause major and irreversible damage to both. Overdosing doesn’t have to mean 150 pills at a time. A few extra can be fatal, especially if you do it over a couple of weeks.

'A few extra' paracetamol kills a young mum after op

A young mum from south Wales died after taking "a few extra" painkillers after a routine operation.

www.bbc.co.uk

It’s irresponsible to show someone taking that many pills at once and suffering no consequences. And they always wash it down with a gulp of liquor, usually straight from the bottle. Even better, who needs a liver anyway? Oh, wait, everyone.

I know the movies aren’t real. I’m not an idiot. And believe it or not, I’m not a killjoy. I love movies and TV shows. I just think that these things are important enough to be portrayed accurately.