Have you ever been a guinea pig for science?

I have.

I read a story into a microphone and then had to wear headphones with music while the science types recorded the reactions of my unborn baby to the sound of my voice vs the sound of strangers voices.

It was kind of neat, they gave me a dvd of my baby on ultrasound to keep.

 

only if you count the "experiments" introductory psychology students have to participate in. which i don't.

not that i necessarily wouldn't. i've just never actually come across an opportunity to do so.

 

I haven't but I'm curious on your results Daisymae.

 

Yes.I am a guinea pig in God's cruel experiment.

 

They didn't tell me anything. I'm just a number...:biggrin:

 

This reminds me that I need to bug my SO to get me hooked up as a medical actor.

He did this a few times one year. Basically you get a list of symptom and you get to be the patient for students doing diagnosing exams. The more invasive, the more money you get.

 

Thats too bad. It would have been interesting to find those reults.

 

So before this scene the professor is looking for a guinae pig, then this happens...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTAv86w4Buw"]Friends, help! A guineapig tricked me! - YouTube!

 

I love Futurama. :2thumbsup:

 

Me TOOO!

 

Guinea pigs are indeed tricksy.

 

Anyone that has taken any of the new batch of meds have been a guinea pig for the big pharma companies. Yeah they do testing before they can sell them but it's incomplete testing and shows nothing about how those drugs work with other drugs... That's what we do.

 

^^^ totally agree.

I am still a lab rat. In my case the benefit has been that the trial drugs have and continue to work.

Thankfully I like cheese and turn a maze into amazed that it has worked for me.

 

I'd like to think this is not true, and that they test the drugs on people for quite some time before actually selling it.

 

They do testing, of course, but those that go through those trials can't be taking any other drugs... Not even aspirin. Also in the drug testing procedure if someone dies they can cover that up and call it a trade secret.


Try a google search for "Cymbalta Traci Johnson"

 

Might I ask what trial drugs you have been using? I'm aware of the cancer situation. In advanced stages it often comes down to how long the chemo drugs continue to be effective.

 

In 2007 (July) my first rounds of Chemo were a CV cocktail (Cisplation and Vespid) done in line with 33 mass radiation treatments on the right lung. I did 4 cycles of chemo over 3 months.

In 2008 (June) I started on Carboplatin and Taxol for 6 rounds. I required two separate blood transfusions during round 4 and 6 in order to boost my cells and allow for the completion of treatment.

In 2009 (April) I started six rounds of Carboplatin and Taxol. At the end of that treatment there were small carrier cells that showed in the same lung and then it was diagnosed as being clinically eligible for trials.

I started taking Erlotinib (Tarceva) in combination with further chemo of Cisplatin and gemcitabine. It has since been determined that it was actually not effective in modification of growth nor of life span and has since been discontinued as a treatment based upon those studies.

I have been on Tarceva since July of 2009 with amazing results. Out of the 25 in the hospital that was approved for this participation in the study only two of us are still alive. Last information I have is that in Canada only 18 of us are still alive after the expected 3 month advantage of life taking this drug.

The one clinical change which is constantly monitored and as of yet not explained in my own case is that for a reason unknown there has been a mutation in my red cells since taking it. They are looking for correlation with this to support the response of my system to the drug. If it were the case that it could be relevant it is possible that they could mutate other peoples red cells and have a positive result in their line of treatment. This mutation in my case appeared within 4 weeks of my starting on the Tarceva and has been consistent with all of the tells of the meds working as in a skin rash, actually it feels and looked more like acne. I had spikes within the first 6 months of using the drug and each time the cells mutated slightly. They no longer do so and I no longer have the skin issue. Tarceva tends to work for those who have rashes as a side effect. I have had no major damage to functions such as liver or any other organ. More damage was done from standard chemo rounds than from the Tarceva. Which is rather an interesting twist.

Rather amazing to me that I am fortunate enough to have had over three years of success on this medication that at best increases survival an average of three months.

I rather like my odds at this point. IF I had been in my situation just a year or so earlier I would not have had access to this drug as it was not approved within that time line.......so I consider myself fortunate to be in the right time frame for something that has helped me.

Hope the infromation helped you and also never discount the will of any person to just simply live (even if only to piss off those who said it could not be done). Medicine alone did not do it all as my will to live and the concessions I made and the reasons I still wish to live also have a huge impact on my health.

 

Thanks for all that information, Heat. You've certainly done well. It's easy to bash the pharmaceutical industry, but to many those treatments mean life.

The platinum therapies have had a major effect of curing or extending the life of ovarian and testicular patients. Platinum is also being used on inflammatory breast cancer, a highly aggressive cancer.

Platinum therapy developed accidentally out of some science experiments not related to cancer where the platinum electrodes that were inserted into cells to measure electrical potentials were noted to have an effect of stunting the growth of cells. It was later realized it could be used to inhibit the growth of cancer cells. The origin of Taxol is a substance that is found in the Pacific Yew tree.

 

Being clinically eligible for trials is critical. Many who are in the late stages of a cancer are not eligible for trials. Being near a medical facility that is involved in trials is another issue.

It's interesting that data show that patients who are involved in clinical trials often do better than those who are not. It's not clear why that is so. It may be the extra attention that the patient gets and a positive emotional effect on the patient. Being a guinea pig is not necessarily negative.