Eaton man Philip Wright, 75, considers himself to be a bit of a medical mystery and over the past 15 years he has certainly left a number of doctors baffled.
In 2000, Mr Wright visited a doctor in Collie because he was always feeling tired. The doctor suggested he could benefit from donating blood.
That, Mr Wright told the Mail, is when the problems started.
In the next 12 months his ferritin level plummeted dangerously low which led to a diagnosis of blood loss through a hiatal hernia.
Mr Wright was prescribed a medication called Losec HP7 and then a second medication Nexium HP7 with little result and side affects including tinnitus.
Over the next 12 years, Mr Wright continued to be diagnosed with conditions including mitral valve leakage, right bundle branch block and hypertension.
Mr Wright was prescribed and tried three different types of medication for his hypertension and again experienced a number of adverse reactions including numbness of his hands, feet and lips, pins and needles, headaches, fainting spells and peripheral neuropathy.
His doctor in Denmark at the time described Mr Wright as a medical enigma.
In January 2014, Mr Wright had cataract surgery in Perth and was prescribed a medication called Brinzolamide. He said this substance caused him to become confused and distressed – forgetting whole weeks at a time.
Mr Wright said while using Brinzolamide, he became a completely different person.
I believe that the drug Brinzolamide rewired my brain and changed my character to the extent that my wife found me very difficult to understand."
- Eaton resident Philip Wright.
“My emotions were in disarray, I would burst into tears when anything sad happened,” he said.
“I lost the ability to taste foods, increased migranes, difficulty telling the difference between reality and fantasy and I became hypersexual.”
Mr Wright said during this time a neurologist in Perth told him he was just getting old. He was also tested by an alzheimer clinic who told him he had no signs of the condition that causes cognitive difficulties.
Mr Wright said since ceasing the use of Brinzolamide, things have begun to return to normal.
“I believe that the drug Brinzolamide rewired my brain and changed my character to the extent that my wife found me very difficult to understand,” he said.
University of Western Australia medicine and pharmacology assistant professor Deena Ashoorian had 25 years of experience in retail pharmacy before becoming an academic.
She spoke to the Mail about medications and their side affects from Scotland where she was attending a pharmacology conference.
“All drugs when taken cause effects, that is after all what they are designed to do,” she said.
“Every person will have an effect to their body and the majority of the time, those effects are wanted – it means the medication is working to treat the problem.
“The unwanted reactions are referred to as side affects and they can range from common to very rare.”
Mrs Ashoorian said when new medications come onto the market it is often after more than 10 years of development and comprehensive clinical trials.
“Side affects listed for a medication are the ones reported during the clinical trial phase,” she said.
“Once a medication is approved for use, clinicians can still report side effects that did not occur during the trials.”
Mrs Ashoorian said without meeting Mr Wright and going into his extensive medical history it would be hard to tell what may be causing his complications but reactions to that many classes of drugs would be very unusual. “In 30 years as a practicing pharmacist I have not come across anyone who has had such a bad effect to so many difference medications,” she said.
“His genetic makeup may be in a way clashing with the different medications.”
Mrs Ashoorian, a former recipient of the Innovator Pharmacist of the Year award from the WA branch of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, said doctors and pharmacists do their best to warn patients and help them negate some of the side affects.
“There are mechanisms to prevent negative effects happening but every person is their own individual and can react differently,” she said.
“At the end of the day people are living longer lives because of medication.”
Mr Wright admits that pharmaceutical medications work for a vast number of people but not for him – causing him to draw the conclusion that he is “genetically not with it”.
This notion has led Mr Wright to make the decision that he will no longer accept prescription medications.
“I’ve discussed my medical conditions with my current GP and have told him special consideration has to be given when prescribing me pharmaceutical medications,” he said.
“I am now only prepared to accept morphine for pain and antibiotics for infection.”
Mr Wright carries a USB flash drive on a chain around his neck which contains a copy of his medical records, a letter signed by his GP noting he has suffered adverse reactions to numerous medications and a letter stating his intentions.
“I’ve made it clear that if I am required to take any drugs for live saving reasons, it must be with the approval of myself or my wife Avril,” he said. “My experience has led me to the conclusion that if I had never sought medical help in the first place I would be better off today.”