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Sunday, November 17, 2002In December 1962, after Jacqueline Kennedy complained that he seemed "depressed" from taking antihistamines for food allergies, he took a prescribed antianxiety drug, Stelazine, for two days. At other times he took similar medications regularly. The records show that Kennedy variously took codeine, Demerol and methadone for pain; Ritalin, a stimulant; meprobamate and librium for anxiety; barbiturates for sleep; thyroid hormone; and injections of a blood derivative, gamma globulin, presumably to combat infections. In the White House, Kennedy received "seven to eight injections of procaine in his back in the same sitting" before news conferences and other events, Dr. Kelman said. Kennedy did indeed have a serious illness, Addison's disease, and he was on steroids on and off for most of his life, which would weaken his bones and make him prone to the stress fractures in his back that the article mentions. Still, his doctor, Janet G. Travell did come in for quite a bit of criticism of her management of him. It’s never a good sign when someone’s taking sedatives and stimulants at the same time. It’s the Judy Garland syndrome. Give them stimulants to keep them going and sedatives to bring them down. It’s a marvel that he was able to function at all. posted by Sydney on 11/17/2002 11:43:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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