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The original was posted on /r/nosleep by /u/shinu97 on 2024-09-29 20:11:50+00:00.

It’s a new “wonder” drug that just entered the market - or at least that’s what the doctor on that online prescription service told me. You know the kind of service I’m talking about. The kind that gets advertised on YouTube ads all the time or pops up in between commercial breaks of your favorite reality tv show. This one came to me the old fashioned way though, slipped through the mail slot in my front door inconspicuously.

Are YOU tired of feeling TIRED? Are YOU one of the millions of people suffering from crippling anxiety? Have trouble getting out of bed? Just plain SAD? Go to CARE4U dot com today to speak to a licensed physician and feel better FASTER!

I’ve gotta admit that I’m not one to usually fall for these kinds of things but I’ve really been going through a rough patch in my mental health journey and was looking for a way to start feeling like myself again. I’ve always been an anxious person, even when having no reason to be and it had gotten to a point where I was exhausted. The Zoloft, Citalopram, Hydroxyzine - nothing my primary care doctor prescribed did anything except make me nauseous. So what the heck? Might as well try whatever I can.

The website looked modern enough and the link to schedule a virtual meeting was easy to find so I put in my email address, picked a time slot and waited to receive an email confirming the appointment. I was told I would be meeting with a physician named Dr. Watkins. Seemed legit enough and I was excited to try something new. When the time came I received an email with a Zoom link and hopped on the call.

A figure sitting behind a wide oak desk wearing a sterile white doctor’s coat greeted me. I couldn’t really make out his face as the lighting in the room he was in was poor and only illuminated the bottom half of his figure. But even in the shadows I could make out a smile populated with small, white teeth.

“Sorry the picture quality is poor, they’re remodeling my office and I’m forced to take meetings in my own house. I’m Dr. Watkins.”

“No problem at all! Nice to meet you and thank you for seeing me.” I said cheerily. I was trying not to come across as awkward but something was eerily unsettling about the environment he was portrayed in.

“So in the form you filled out you mentioned you have been suffering from some severe anxiety and that the normal course of medicines hasn’t been taking any effect. Can you…”

A voice somewhere distant in his surroundings interrupted him and he quickly muted the sound on his end and got up from his desk, bumping his computer and shifting the image to a slightly different angle of the room. It was dirty. Clothes littered the floor and it was obvious that he had just hauled some desk into the corner of his bedroom to take calls. It was kinda odd, and made me begin to question his validity but he quickly returned and apologized for the interruption.

After speaking to him for some time and explaining my situation I began to feel better as he really seemed to know his stuff about other medications and procedures for dealing with depression and anxiety. I chalked the weird surroundings up to him getting booted out of his normal office and quickly having to make do at home.

Eventually he brought up this new “wonder” drug as he described it. He was really excited about it and said it had significantly improved a majority of his clients’ lives. It went by the commercial name of Colereo. I had never heard of it but, again, I was willing to try anything at this point. Dr. Watkins seemed very excited when I agreed to give the drug a try (his wide, tiny tooth filled grin showed even more clear). When I tried to give him my pharmacy he quickly noted that through CARE4U.com he could directly ship the medication to my house. Seemed convenient so I agreed, gave him my address and ended the call, hopeful for something that might work. Before the call ended he mentioned that I should try it for at least a week before I should stop taking it or worry about any initial side effects. He said some stomach pain was normal and I was used to that with the other medicines I had tried.

A few days later a small package arrived at my doorstep and when I opened it I was greeted by a small, orange pill bottle with my name on it and instructions for how to take the medicine.

Take two pills a day w/ food.

Seemed easy enough. I finished my morning coffee, toast with butter and eggs and popped one of the small blue pills in my mouth and swallowed with a big gulp of water. I immediately felt a rumble in my stomach. It was a bit painful but quickly subsided with some passing of gas. I thought I should maybe start going easy on the coffee. Morning flatulence concluded, I went about my day as normal. That night I ate my dinner and took the second pill. More stomach disturbances but nothing too crazy to be concerned about.

Everything was normal until the fourth day of taking the new medication. I had been having stomach rumbles but nothing that couldn’t be attributed to excess coffee or my body getting used to the Colereo. What wasn’t normal was the kick I felt in my stomach after taking my nightly dose. I had been sitting on the sofa watching tv when suddenly my abdomen jerked hard and it felt like a small lump bounced against the inside of my stomach. Almost like…a baby kick? Ugh I hate thinking about it. It was pretty painful too. I remembered what Dr. Watkins said about the initial side effects and did my best to ignore it, going to bed and trying to sleep off the weirdness.

The fifth day was the worst. I was bedridden most of the day, feeling more of those kicks and also constantly feeling full, like I had been eating massive meals even though I hadn’t been able to get down any food. I thought enough was enough and tried to go on CARE4U.com to schedule another meeting with Dr. Watkins to explain the situation and get some answers. The trouble was, the website seemingly didn’t exist anymore. I searched every possible word combination I could think of and after hours of scouring the internet I couldn’t find any trace that CARE4U ever existed. I also tried looking up Dr. Watkins and found a ton of doctors that go by that name but none with that wide, toothy smile I could remember so vividly. I knew I wasn’t losing it either. I was alert and lucid because of the pain I was experiencing. I stopped taking the medication. It was getting late and I decided to try to sleep and go see a real doctor in the morning as something was clearly wrong.

That night I had the most intense nightmare I have ever experienced in my entire life. I dreamt I was floating inside a vast expanse of pitch black. I was weightless in the void, drifting slowly, the sound of my heart echoing like a drum. My stomach was expanding and contracting like a balloon being inflated just to the point of exploding and then shriveling back down to its measly, wrinkled, concave form. That’s when I realized the drum sound wasn’t my heart but the sound of the kick…kick…kick inside my stomach. It grew louder and louder. My stomach expanded further and further. Eventually it burst and some kind of light and energy poured out and I awoke in a deep sweat.

I wasn’t in my bed. I was laying on the floor of my kitchen. I pulled my phone out of my pocket to check the time. That’s when I noticed the empty pill bottle on the ground next to me. My heart sank. I looked at my phone and realized I had slept through the night AND the next day as well. My stomach began hurting again. It was swelling up as well. I slapped myself to make sure I wasn’t having one of those dreams inside of a dream. No good. I was definitely awake. As the swelling got worse I ran to the bathroom. Now it felt like something was clawing at me inside of my stomach. I could feel individual fingernails scraping the inside of me. Little toes. Elbows. I could feel the shape of something desperately trying to get out. I opened my mouth and a moaning sound came out. Not something that was being produced by my own vocal chords.

I puked.

I puked something out.

I puked some thing out.

It looked like some kind of large frog with small, human-like arms and legs. It was black and wet and had little bumps all over it. It looked up at me with human eyes. Not little black dots like frogs have but human eyes with whites, pupils, irises…everything. It jumped out of the toilet, ran down the hall and crashed out through an open window in the living room.

I sat there in amazement and shock. I didn’t know what to do. Do I call someone? Do I run? The strangest part of all though was that I felt better. Like wayyyy better. No more stomach pain and no internal trauma that I could feel. I rushed myself to the E.R. and told the nurses everything that had happened. They checked my vitals and did some scans but everything looked normal. They also did a psych exam on me and that came back normal as well. There were definite signs that I threw up and everyone just assumed I must have had bad food poisoning. I mentioned the drug I was taking and no one had heard of it. The nurse told me to stop taking it and to not trust any online physician again.

When I got back home the window was still broken, confirming any suspicions I might have that I dreamt it.

It took a few months for me to get over the shock. After that though…I haven’t experienced any anxiety or trauma. In fact I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. My job is going great, I a…

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