Twice if I recall.
I believe the conventional wisdom is that Trump does abstain from alcohol and recreational drugs, but got hooked on diet pills in the early 1980s. He doesn’t view stuff from a doctor as drugs, so it’s his way of being a judgmental teetotaler while staying loaded.
There’s also a picture out there of him sitting at his desk, and a drawer open in the background reveals lots of Sudafed, I believe. I think there was some speculation that he stocked up on the stuff that still has ephedrine in it, since the formula changed.
This is all speculation, of course.
https://www.gawker.com/rumor-doctor-prescribes-donald-trump-cheap-speed-1782901680
And it’s entirely possible to have a colonoscopy with no sedation or anesthesia at all. Not standard, but there are people who just can’t/won’t do the drugs.
We are discussing Donald “Sniff sniff” Trump. I’m not saying some people don’t have them unassisted - I know it’s common in Europe - but I don’t believe Trump would.
Good point. He’s such an abject coward…
I don’t see why not.
He’d have to give up the presidency for a day if he were sedated. I can see him being afraid of doing that. And I’ve had an unmedicated colonoscopy (and have another planned in a couple of months.) It’s less painful than the part of delivery before they offer you drugs, and it’s less painful than having an IUD inserted, for which they don’t offer drugs. I have no idea why the US standard is to sedated everyone. Sure, if you are especially squeamish, or especially sensitive to cramps, it should be an option. But routinely? Every person who gets one needs to skip a day of work and line up a driver? It seems crazy to me.
As for his drug use… I think it’s likely both that he abuses uppers and also that he doesn’t drink. Those are very different drugs, and not everyone likes “any high, so long as it feels different from sober”. I hate to admit similarities to Trump, but I really don’t enjoy getting drunk. I hated being sedated. But I enjoy caffeine and while I’ve never had enough sudofed to feel “high” from it, I’d probably like that, too.
Because men get colonoscopies, too, and their testimony as to its pain level is regarded as more reliable than a woman’s about the pain of delivery or IUD insertion.
No, I’m not joking.
I was suspecting it’s because men think it’s gay to get something shoved up their anus, and so are squicked out by it.
I’ve often read that doctors get squicked out by this. More specifically, I’ve read that a lot of doctors won’t do any kind of rectal exam of gay men because they think those men will enjoy it.
I suppose these same doctors imagine that women just love those hot sexy pelvic exams too.
I thought it was fairly certain that Trump used Ritalin. No?
It’s certainly widely believed.
Yeah, I wasn’t sure how certain it was. Heh.
I thought Ritalin was supposed to improve your focus? The way his brain darts from one thought to another makes me think it isn’t working for him. And if it is, I struggle to imagine him off the stuff.
That’s how it works if you actually have ADHD. If you don’t, it’s more like a kind of speed. That’s what I’ve heard anyway.
And the reason Trump appeared to recover from covid so quickly was that he was given the monoclonal antibodies infusion. They made a huge difference. At the time, essentially no one else was getting that treatment. Also, when he returned to the White House, stood on the balcony and removed his mask, you could see he was struggling mightily for breath. He hadn’t completely recovered when he left Walter Reed.
Every nurse I’ve spoken to who saw that said he was in respiratory distress. He probably should have stayed in the hospital, but that wouldn’t comport with his strong man image.
I’m not going to criticize him too much for that (and I criticize him for everything). If Biden were to get sick right now but still be able to perform his duties I would want him to pull a Dread Pirate Roberts and pretend to be stronger than he is.
What was frustrating, though, was that this was a time when Trump was saying that Covid wasn’t that serious. Much like with his secret colonoscopy, he missed a chance to be a leader by serving as an example of good stewardship. Whether it’s early detection of possible disease, or acknowledging that this virus can put you in a hospital struggling to breathe, Trump could have been a positive role model. In both cases, it undoubtedly would have caused some number of people to take these issues more seriously, and would have indirectly saved some lives.
But fuck them, right? Because Trump can’t stand the idea of appearing less than pristine.
Like a Ken doll.
Let’s remember that the most important moment of that photo op was when Trump defiantly ripped off his mask. How many lives did that cost?
Right, I remember that. Still seems weird that he could be a speed user all these years and still be 100 pounds overweight. Not exactly good advertising for the diet drug market. It’s funny that he fits a lot of the side effects listed.
Is that true? I have a friend with severe emphysema that lives out in the middle of nowhere and he was told by his doctor to contact her immediately if he had a positive test because they could start that treatment quickly because it was on hand.
Like carrps said, it works like speed if you don’t have ADHD, that’s why it’s a popular high school drug. I hadn’t heard anything about Trump and Ritalin until this thread.
Him and his fucking ego. Pisses me right off.
Exactly. Only people with extreme complications were being given monoclonal antibodies at the time. Severe emphysema would have qualified them. A pathetically over-indulged ego should not have.
Now, of course, they are widely available.
Re: Trump and uppers, I’ve commented here before that he appeared to be on amphetamines during his speeches. The jaw clenching and bruxing is obvious, especially during his SOTUs. ISTR a white House speech about Israel where it was also particularly bad. You don’t see that from him under normal circumstances.