Meds Even Doctors Won't Take

[Elessar]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24777955/

What do you think, D and Asso? If someone is on one of these, do you think they should consult their physician to get it changed? I'm pretty sure my sister is on Celebrex and maybe even Advair and Prilosec, too.

For brevity, the list is:

Advair

Avandia

Celebrex

Ketek

Prilosec

Nexium

Visine Original

Pseudoephedrine

[Entilzha]

If I ever found out my doctor had been describing me medications like that he/she would take a nice flying lesson through the office window.

[Alelou]

Pseudoephedrine is the old style of Sudafed. I thought the only problem with that was that you could make crystal meth out of it. Personally, if my nose is totally clogged, I'm a fan, but I only take a half dose because more than that makes me paranoid and sleepless. Maybe that's a clue...

I have a friend who thinks (along with her doctor) that her terrible c. diff intestinal infection was caused by using Nexium and changing the acid balance in her body. You just never know what you're going to do to yourself with stuff.

On the other hand, there are times when you don't know what might happen to you if you don't take stuff. Asthma can kill you pretty damned fast if you don't treat it, and so can plenty of other conditions. I like to err on the side of taking stuff that's been around a LOOOONNNGG time and has had plenty of time to kill other people first. Also I personally think it's a bad sign if it's being advertised like crazy. Chances are something older and cheaper will work just as well or better.

[blacknblue]

I agree with that. Like aspirin. Maybe it does cause problems in a small minority of cases. But I took aspirin as a child, and so did every other kid I grew up with. We gave it to my daughter as a child too. Now, thanks to the doomsdayers, my wife refuses to consider giving it to our son. OK, fine. But instead she gives him things that have not been in general use since the days of the ancient greeks. Sorry, I just don't have as much faith in Motrin. Or even Tylenol.

I know it is a small thing, but it is an example. Like coffee. One week, the anti-oxidents in coffee are good for you so you are suppose to drink it. the Next week, the caffeine will kill you so avoid it like the plague. The next week, it thins the blood and promotes circulation, so drink it. The following week, it interacts with second hand smoke and interferes with sleep cycles, which will kill you.

I lost track. Is coffee safe to drink this week?

[Asso]

Everything's relative.
I don't add anything else.

[Alelou]

Coffee is a neverending conundrum. Now they say if you have the gene that allows you to metabolize it quickly (i.e. have a shot of espresso and then take a nap) it's good for you. But if you don't, it's bad for you. But if you're pregnant, it causes miscarriages. But if you're old it can stave off Alzheimers... Oy. Oy. Oy.

Half the studies out there are crap anyway. They take an association and trumpet it like it's a a cause and effect situation when they really haven't proven that at all. Maybe people who still drink coffee in old age are just more likely to have their wits about them because they're still getting up and making coffee in the morning instead of depending on whatever swill somebody else decides to give them. Maybe stressed-out overworked pregnant women who drink coffee because they're not getting enough sleep are more prone to miscarriages.

[Asso]

NO!
I don't add anything else.

[Alelou]

No coffee? In Italy???????

No vino? In Italy?????

And chocolate? No chocolate either?

Tragedia!

(Clearly I would not make a good Mormon.)

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."
-R. D. Laing

[Alelou]

LOL. Yes, exactly!

[Asso]

No coffee? In Italy???????

No vino? In Italy?????

And chocolate? No chocolate either?

Tragedia!

(Clearly I would not make a good Mormon.)

Well! There are some exceptions!

[JadziaKathryn]

I like to err on the side of taking stuff that's been around a LOOOONNNGG time and has had plenty of time to kill other people first.

Me too. I never get (never have, thanks to my mom) vaccines that just come out because often 10-15 years later they find out that it could increase the risk of such and such a bad thing.

I was doing fine until pseudoephedrine. DayQuil is how I get through colds, and it has phenylephrine which is, according to that article, not any better than pseudoephedrine.

[Distracted]

They're right about Ketek. There are too many other options to take the risk. Visine is problematic, too. The rest of the drugs are fine in appropriately selected patients. I took Celebrex for months for my knee. Pseudoephedrine just flat out works better than phenylephrine (which is what's in OTC cold meds now that everyone's had a cow about pseudoephedrine). All the other meds on the list have their places in the medical armamentarium in certain patients. Advair was being inappropriately used by both patients and doctors as an immediate relief medication. It isn't. It's a preventative, and if a patient has a flare while using it he should see his doctor so he can get on immediate acting meds and temporarily stop the Advair (once he's got something else to use). Prilosec and Nexium should be reserved for chronic symptoms under the care of a doctor. If a person uses them long term they could be masking the symptoms of gastric cancer until it's too late to treat it. Is that the fault of the medicines? Of course not. It's the fault of the idiots who made them OTC and marketed them for common heartburn.

As far as all the heart disease related side effects of drugs like Avandia go, the fact of the matter is that having coronary heart disease increases your risk of side effects from hundreds of different meds, not just the ones on the list. Poorly controlled diabetes increases the risk of death from heart attack, and Avandia controls blood sugar quite well. Heck, having CAD increases the risk of death from just walking across the street. Does that mean someone with heart disease should stop walking across the street?

Fortunately, since my patient population is young and healthy I rarely have to worry about all that.

[Asso]

Well!
Now I'm speaking seriously.
I'm an oncologist
This an very peculiar area, and, besides, you have to think ocean is between us. (In this peculiar area of physic, that isn't only a fact. It's a metaphoric thing.)
So I don't think I may add words better that Dis.

[Ezinma88]

Advair

Avandia

Celebrex

Ketek

Prilosec

Nexium

Visine Original

Pseudoephedrine ???????

---

What's wrong with paracetamol - Ibuprofen at a push???

Seriously though, you all seem far too clued up. Is it because pharmaceutical drugs are regularly advertsised on tv in the US? Or should I be ashamed for living under a rock?

E88