While sexual orientation and identity have become major talking points in the modern media landscape, there are still quite a few people who don’t quite seem to grasp how sexuality works.
23-year-old Scott Purdy, of Louth, Lincolnshire, recently broke his foot in a go-karting incident and was prescribed the pain-reliever Pregabalin. However, Purdy claims that, after taking the prescribed pain medication, he began to experience homosexual urges and lost his attraction to women.
Purdy claims that he wanted to test whether the medication was responsible for these newfound feelings, and stopped taking the pills. Apparently, the thoughts went away as soon as he stopped taking the painkillers and returned when he resumed his dosage.
Obviously, this is not how medication or sexuality works, but Purdy is sticking to his theory. He even says that he was forced to break up with his girlfriend of six months as a result.
“A couple of weeks after I started taking it I turned around and said I didn’t find her physically attractive anymore. She knew I was taking Pregabalin. I said to her, ‘I don’t really know what’s happening to me and I told her I like men and I just can’t be with you.’ She was relatively understanding, as understanding as you could possibly be.”
Homosexuality is obviously not listed as a side-effect of Pregabalin. However, Scott says he wants to raise awareness about the undocumented (and most likely fabricated) side-effect — even though it seems that he’s fully embraced his “new” lifestyle, and is dating a gentleman he met on Plenty Of Fish.
“If I had known this was a side-effect before I would not have taken them but now I’m happy. I’m not angry because it’s made me who I am.”
Purdy recently appeared on This Morning to discuss his unusual “affliction.” The show’s resident medical specialist, Dr. Ranj, dismissed Purdy’s claims but explained that it’s likely possible that Pregabalin, which is also used for anti-anxiety purposes, calmed Purdy’s nerves enough to allow him to be open with himself about his sexual identity.
“What it probably does, is allow you to express whatever was already there. All it has done is allowed you to be your true self.”
Dr. Ranj’s explanation sounds far more plausible than Purdy’s — I’m not trusting somebody who managed to break their foot while driving a go-kart with any sort of medical query.