BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?

Subject: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: katlaughing
Date: 26 Mar 03 - 10:01 PM

I am what docs call "high risk" for taking any kind of drug as I seem to be ultra-sensitive. Anyway, this was proven to me once again just recently and I was wondering what others may have experienced in this way.

I had taken a diuretic and by the time I had two days' worth in me, I couldn't sleep for the pain in my muscles and bones. I felt as though I must've been 100 years old with brittle bones, etc. Bruised easily, etc. This was considered the worst of the side effects, in their opinion. IMO, it was neck and neck with the itching!!

Thankfully, I am not taking it anymore!

So...long-term, short-term, once only, several times...what kind of experiences have you had? Did the "cure" make ya feel as though it was going to kill ya? And, if so, did you have any ways of coping with it or, stop taking it?

Thanks!

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Mar 03 - 10:10 PM

i took a sleeping aid/antidepressant called remeron for a few weeks....every day I felt so high...but in a dragged down sort of way....i stopped...much to the consternation of the doc who prescribed it....

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: Troll
Date: 26 Mar 03 - 10:20 PM

I react to most anti-inflamatories adversly. This is rough when you have two kinds of arthritis. I rely on aspirin , chiropractic and acupuncture. I keep my fingers supple by playing every day, no matter how much it hurts.

troll

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: Bobert
Date: 26 Mar 03 - 10:22 PM

There are only two drugs worth considerin'! Cheap beer and home grown. Get ya' thru anything except gun shot wounds. Then ya' gotta go to the hospital....

The ol' hillbilly, Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: Jeri
Date: 26 Mar 03 - 11:03 PM

I was on a tricyclic anti-depressant for prevention of migraines. Don't ask - I spent a few months semi-conscious. I was also on Prozac for migraines. For a year, I was fine (except for gaining 35 pounds) and it helped with the headaches, but they quit working and I quit taking them. Got a new doc who put me back on them at a higher dosage, and within a week, I had just about all the nasty side effects Prozac can cause including panic attacks at 3AM and gastrointestinal stuff you don't want to hear details about. On the other hand, Imitrex doesn't do squat - either good or bad.

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: NicoleC
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 12:49 AM

Me and pharmaceuticals just don't mix. Allergies, vaccine reactions, lots of them don't even work or require very high doses... that sort of thing. So I avoid them all, except for my thyroid medication, which really isn't a drug; it's just dessicated pig thyroid glands packaged up at the pharmacy.

I was chronically sick and the doc always wanted me to be taking some sort of drug, and even though reactions to the drugs were poor it was worse trying to get off them. I was borderline diabetic, high cholesterol, arthritic (starting at age 22) and hypothyroid along with all of THOSE lovely symptoms. When the doc suggested antidepressants to make me feel better about my health, I got mad and decided to do something.

My best strategy for staying away from drugs was putting together a long term health plan and sticking with it. I thought I was eating "healthy" because I spent too much time reading the health claims on the label and not enough time putting the pieces together. "Fat free" cookies with 83g of sugar is NOT healthy for you, no matter what the label says. I got rid of all the processed and packaged food, no sugar and no refined flours. No hydrogenated oils, fried foods or other denatured fats or fabricated "foods" like margerine. Just fresh meats, some dairy (as unprocessed as possible, but I love my cheese), fresh veggies, fruits, legumes and grains.   Avoid pesticides and antibiotics and hormones in foods and meat as much as possible. Lots and lots of filtered water; no fluoride and no chlorine or chloramine.

I felt really miserable and tired for a couple of months as my body got rid of all that junk I'd been eating out of my system and went through horrible headaches and depression while my seratonin levels rebalanced themselves. It was worth it, though! Now I feel great all the time, I'm not as moody or as temperamental, and don't even catch colds. No arthritis, no headaches, no insulin swings, no depression. No yo-yo weight problems. And NO drugs in my house...

...but I do cheat every now and then with chocolate. :)

Only one adverse effect of all this healthy eating stuff -- if I eat junk for more than a day or two I feel bloody awful. I can't handle it any more. And beer? Not in the evening, or I'll get a huge hangover. Oh well.

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: Forum Lurker
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 01:10 AM

I feel sorry for all of you guys. Modern medicine is the only way I can stand being sick. I'm fortunate that my only negative reaction is nosebleeds from Sudafed and other decongestants. Bobert, hops ruin good fermented barley, and antibiotics really help for things like the 'thrax.

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: GUEST, Pull the Plug
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 01:12 AM

I suppose I could go on for quite a bit on effects and side-effects I have experienced. Most were caused by the intensification of the drug's effects caused by the abundant use of alcohol at the same time. Even aspirin has caused my lips and cheeks to swell grotesquely because of that. I've since learned my lesson and avoid drinking alcoholic beverages while taking drugs of any kind. The result, of course, is that I have stopped using drugs altogether! (Just kidding. After all alcohol is a drug.)

There are many people I know who have suffered side-effects without realizing it. For instance, I know a woman who no longer enjoyed sex. She was unaware that one of the drugs she was taking was responsible. As soon as her physician switched her to a different drug all was well. The moral to that is: Pay attention! If you discover physiological or even psychological changes that you can't understand or otherwise explain, consider the possibility that the cause may lie in the drugs you are taking. Even over-the-counter pharmaceuticals can be at fault.

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: Bagpuss
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 06:20 AM

I didnt take too well to an anti inflammatory I was prescribed for a trapped nerve in my back. It made me feel constantly sick. So I stopped taking it and the back problem cleared up itself in a few more days.

I have taken several anti depressants which have given me bad side effects, but in the cases where the drug worked, the side effects were much preferable to the depression. In fact thats often how I guage when I am really starting to recover - when the side-effects really start to bug me enough for me to want to stop taking them!

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: Teribus
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 08:47 AM

A very good friend was diagnosed about five years ago as having secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (thats the form in which the disabling symptoms proceed in a progressively degenerating manner, usually without noticeable improvements in physical function or remission).

Rather than accept the prescription drug regime recommended by the medical profession, she read up on the subject and opted for BEST system screening. That identified the chemical imbalance in her body caused by her diet. At this stage, her walking was impaired to the extent that she needed a stick, fits of uncontrolled tremors in both arms and hands and her eyesight had deteriorated to the point where she could no longer drive and required special lenses to augment loss of peripheral vision.

With the information obtained from the screening she altered her diet, substituting her sources of minerals from natural suppliments. Four months later, the tremors to both hands and arms stopped, her balance control and mobility was improved, eyesight improving slightly.

Six months later, balance control back to normal, eyesight improved dramatically (she was given the all clear to drive again). She was to all intents and purposes symptom free, and remains so to this day.

I recently went with her to a Seminar, where according to one specialist she should by now have been in a wheelchair had she followed the "traditional" medical advice and relied on prescribed medicines.

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: Peg
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 10:17 AM

I rarely take any OTC or prescription medication. Occasionally aspirin for a headache (if peppermint oil or Shiatsu don't work) or ibuprofen for muscle pain.

Anti-biotics overuse is causing virulent strains of disease to evolve. If I do get hit with strep or some such thing I gargle with tea tree or take colloidal silver, the former a powerful anti-microbial, the latter a natural anti-biotic, neither of which interferes with the immune system's healthy function like all other anti-biotics do.

Decongestants are a very bad way of dealing with a cold. A running nose is your body's way of eliminating infection. By drying up the sinuses with a decongestant you are interfering with and possiblky prolonging that process (which explains why peopel use use these products use them a lot). The more you encourage your body to do what it's doing naturally (expectorate, etc.) the faster you will get better and the more likely the bacterial infection will not return.

NicoleC offers excellent anecdotal advice re: giving up the poison in processed foods. Anyone addicted to things like diet soda, packaged candy etc. should look closely at the labels on these products. An ancient adage says "Let food be your medicine." If we all cleaned up our diets we'd be much healthier and have no need for drugs for our little complaints.
Laxatives, antacids, decongestants, painkillers and sleep aids are the top sellers in drugstores. Anti-depression medication seems to be the top presecription drug class. This is very indicative of exactly what sorts of lifestyle changes our society needs to make. (other than folks who have a true chemical imbalance which causes their depression, I think these sorts of medications are way overprescribed and most people would benefit from lifestyle changes and counselling--but modern medicine would rather write out a scrip than actally try to get at the root of a problem).

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: mack/misophist
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 10:29 AM

On the other hand, I'd be blind by now if I didn't take my glaucoma medicine.

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: JennyO
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 11:19 AM

I can't take any strong painkillers - anything like morphine, pethidine or more than the tiniest amount of codeine makes me violently ill. Whenever I go to hospital, which I have had to a couple of times in the last year for a badly broken wrist, I have to wear a band with these allergies listed on it. Paracetamol and aspirin and anti-inflammatories seem to be okay.

Jenny

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: GUEST,amergin
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 11:23 AM

Jenny...before he died last month my Opa was on morhpine...and it made him sicker...if such a thing was possible....

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: Allan C.
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 11:50 AM

Teribus makes mention of the B.E.S.T system screening and I thought it might be worthwhile to include a link.

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 12:02 PM

Boy, for someone who has avoided most remedies, simple and complex like the plague, have I had my fill this year. As many Mudcatters know I've taken immune boosters after a cancer operation last year, and oh lordy, the side-effects are unpleasant. It's like having big time flu ALL the time. I decided to stop taking them a while ago.....If I croak, so be it, but I ain't gonna be MISEABLE all the time!

Can't complain one bit though...before last July, I hadn't been in a hospital for fifty years! Only medications I ever took were Benelyn and Aspirin. Some folks fight wonky health ALLtheir lives.

Great thread kat.

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: Alice
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 12:37 PM

Coumadin saved my life from deep venal thrombosis. I would have been dead at 32 if I didn't have that prescription drug. I am also able to breathe now because of my prescription Nasonex. I am very appreciative of the science and technology of prescription medications and the fact that they are tested, regulated, and that their dosage and production is quality controlled.

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: Mudlark
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 03:24 PM

I am either outright allergic (as in anaphylactic shock) or highly sensitive to just about all drugs, perscription/OTC. As a consequence, over the years I rarely even go to doctors, even tho I have lupus, and concommitent joint degredation to a serious degree, because really all they ever offer are drugs. And they lose interest immediately once they realize I'm adamant about not taking them. Prednisone, for instance, is the first thing prescribed for lupus, a chronic condition, the long term use of which can be far more destructive than the disease. If I had life-threatening kidney problems, of course I'd go for short term prednisone use, but otherwise, I make do with Advil (the only anti-inflam....in fact the only ibuprophen...I can take) and use some essential oils, like birch, that have a mild anti=inflam. effect.

This high sensitivity to drugs used to make me feel sort of frantic, no safety net. But given the incredible list of side effects, often listed as "rare" but which seem very common from all I've read and heard, any more I of it as a blessing in diguise, a lot of trouble and expense saved by avoiding them. Of course, if I get into a life-threatening situation I'm up the creek, but..in the meantime, in between time...I just say no to drugs..

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: katlaughing
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 03:52 PM

That sounds like what I've finally concluded, too, Mudlark! The docs cannot believe how sensitive I am to just about everything. I had to do the short-term prednisone a couple of years ago to save my kidneys, but my gosh what an incredibly toxic substance!

Thankfully I have an osteopath whom I see about once per year and who also agrees with me, that the less I have to do with drugs the better. He is very supportive and suggests alternatives. Even goes to teh same acupuncturist as I!

Thanks to you all for sharing!

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: catspaw49
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 03:53 PM

Well gang, to paraphrase DuPont, I'm "barely living through chemistry." I agree that when non-scrip drugs work, it's a good thing. In some cases however, that ain't gonna' work so the need for scrip for some of us is life saving.

Side effects are indeed a major problem and it behooves anyone to know the who, what, how of the meds that are prescribed. Hospitals use a painkiller nowadays that works like a champ and it has become almost as common as aspirin called "Versed." (ver-SED) Some of you may remeber that a few years ago I damn near died and spent a few days in an induced coma because the Versed has exactly the opposite reaction on me. I become highly agitated to the point of combative and my vitals go nuts. It is likely that this unknown allergy aided in the creation of an aortic dissecting aneurysm.

But for all of that, I still take several meds that frankly keep me alive and kicking. Heart meds are notorious for adverse side effects. Several of them actually list "death" as a side effect. After my by-pass, the asshole cardiologist prescribed a med that I recognized as giving me problems. I can't take large doses of beta-blockers and everytime I took one of these, within 20 minutes I was gasping for breath. This lasted about 4 hours and then got better until after 8 hours I was reasonably normal.....and it was time to take another! The cardiologist said that I needed the beta-blocker and I just had to tough it out. I found a different cardiologist.

I have 7 different prescriptions I take every day and the side effects are minimal, mainly because I have worked with good Docs who and gotten the dosages right. That is always subject to change as newer drugs come out or older ones become less effective. It's tough at times folks, but without this stuff I would have been dead years ago and instead I an live pretty normal life. It ain't cheap, but it's worth it.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: katlaughing
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 05:16 PM

Good to hear that side of things, too, Spaw...and I am damn glad you are able to do so!!

Likewise, mispohist. My Rog is using drops to prevent glaucoma from getting the upper hand.

You're right, Spaw, and you've got the experience to back it up, that a good doc can make all of the difference. :-)

I had gone to docs back East for years for what they said was arthritis, in my 20s and 30's!. It wasn't til I got to Wyoming and the doc there said I think you're allergic to this beta-blocker, let's try another, that sure enough all the pain etc. went away.

The pain from any of the various drugs is what gets me. As long as I still have my valves and they are working, with the O2 supplement, I will continue to take as little as possible. right now I am only taking one heart med. It's a little dicey wiht the BP off and on, but I found that has more to do with what I eat than anything else.

I have to wonder, over the years, what kind of damage some of the drugs they had me on may have caused. I've just recently found out that another problem with prednisone, even short term, is a restriction of the blood flow through the hip joint to the point of deterioration and a need for complete replacement.

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: NicoleC
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 06:07 PM

Yep, the miracles of modern medicine are truly impressive. But American has become a drug culture. Travelling in Germany I saw ONE pharmacy. They didn't sell chewing gum, flip-flips and shampoo. You didn't pick up a bottle of aspirin with your film developing.

You can't turn on the TV without some ad trying to convince you that you have a serious condition because you get a little heartburn after eating hot dogs and chili, hawking a trip to the doctor to "cure" you with a little snake oil. Kid has a discipline problem? It MUST be ADHD, not the chronic malnutrition of milkshakes and McDonalds fries. Headaches from chronic dehydration caused by sodas and caffeine? Don't drink more water, just take a painkiller. When your headache comes back, take another.

We don't even respect the power of medicine anymore because it's so overused, and many of those over the counter drugs cause long term liver and kidney problems when taken habitually. It's sad, really. Can you imagine what our great grandparents' reaction to a simple thing like a medicine to cure diarhea would have been?

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: catspaw49
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 06:17 PM

Well it would have kept the path to the outhouse a lot cleaner and cut down on the laundry...........

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: Peg
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 08:40 PM

well said NicoleC. We are a nation of impatient pill poppers who aren't willing to make any changes in our habits. A few years of taking antacids or laxatives in place of making healthier dietary choices can lead to chronic and debilitating disease down the line--there's simply no reason for it beyond laziness, denial and ignorance.

That said, some drugs are certainly wondrous inventions. My mother, brother and niece are all thankful for the invention of insulin. :)

My mom has also had MS for many years (mostly in remission util about ten years ago). I often wonder if she might have been able to deal with it better if she'd gone the holistic route. But she was never much of a believer in it, nor were her doctors. Different generation.

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: Ely
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 08:58 PM

OTC anti-inflammatories have zero effect on me (if I get a headache, the only thing I can do is take a nap). Of course, caffeine and sugar have no effect on me, either, except that they upset my stomach a bit if I ingest them when I haven't eaten in hours. The only drugs I seem to be sensitive to are some antihistamines, but not all of them, and my allergies aren't that bad any more.

I'm lucky in that I rarely get sick and have never been seriously ill (just the routine flus and bronchitises). I had really bad acne when I was younger and have taken pretty much every antibiotic known to man, and did fine as long as I took them with food. I took Acutane for a long time but the only side effect I ever got was the reduction in night vision, which reversed when I went off it--I didn't have any liver problems and my cholesterol only went up a tiny bit. So, I guess I don't usually suffer side effects, but I'm not sure how well the drugs help me, either (I'm 25 and I'd still like to trade my skin in and start over).

My mother, on the other hand, has 2% kidney function and has been on dialysis for 2 1/2 years. 2% kidney function isn't something you can compensate for conpletely with diet. She's on the list for a transplant and I know we'll all be thanking out lucky stars for prescripion anti-rejection drugs if she gets a new kidney.

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: katlaughing
Date: 27 Mar 03 - 10:14 PM

Yikes, good luck to you and your mom, Ely. My driver's license has a nice red heart on the front to show that I am an organ donor. I would encourage everyone to be sure to consider being an organ donor and letting their families know of thier decision.

Thanks for posting,

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: GUEST,Sooz (at work)
Date: 28 Mar 03 - 08:29 AM

Peg - Insulin was never invented - perhaps thats why its magic!
Nicole - how I agree - Britain isn't far behind and when you add up the number of working days lost to self inficted conditions it doesn't bear thinking about!

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: Allan C.
Date: 28 Mar 03 - 09:00 AM

Just a word here about acetaminophen (aka Tylenol): It is far easier than you might think to overdose on this stuff. Please be careful. I have stood at the bedside of more than a few people (packed in ice to reduce the fevors) who suffered immeasurable discomfort and life-threatening reactions to what many people might think of as minimal overdosings. I repeat, please be careful.

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: Barry Finn
Date: 29 Mar 03 - 12:02 AM

Kat, nice to see you're an organ donor, wish more were. Can't donate any myself though, side effect for the receiver, death within a week or 2. Side effects from all the meds I now take, I get to live & the druggist just the other day thanked me dearly for me putting his 3 kids through college. Meds, what a life saver when in need, weither for ADHD, OCC, Bi-Polar or what ever might really ail ya. Ya gotta love a good doctor & a good druggist, eh? When it comes down to the nitty gritty they're amazing. Barry

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: Rick Fielding
Date: 29 Mar 03 - 09:22 AM

Well, here's a thought that is never far from my mind. Without Canada's universal health coverage, I would be very dead right now....and damn pissed off about it, I might add.(ha ha) We own our house, our car, and a few good quality instruments.

They would ALL be gone, had my treatment over the last year been 'cash on the line'. I wouldn't have allowed that to happen.

Rick

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: katlaughing
Date: 29 Mar 03 - 10:33 AM

It's a sobering thought, Rick. Without health insurance, I know it's one we could face with my heart and it makes me angry when I think of it and Bush's 76 BILLION dollar price tag for the war through Sept. 30th only!

Barry, thanks for the reminder that we have several donor recipients here who are alive because of drugs. Sure glad you are among us.:-)

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: Forum Lurker
Date: 29 Mar 03 - 11:34 AM

Allan C.- Do you know if ibuprophen has a similarly low overdose?

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: NicoleC
Date: 29 Mar 03 - 12:43 PM

It's my understanding that ibuprofen is one of the safest in it's class. Side effects, warnings, etc. here. This is the starter page; click on the tabs at the top to see the pages:

RX List

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: Art Thieme
Date: 29 Mar 03 - 02:55 PM

Sometimes !

Art Thieme

That said, I almost bought it when, after getting a new right knee, a regular old blood thinner to limit the possibility of post-surgery clots caused an ulcer to erupt in my gut. 12 pints of the red stuff later I left the hospital---and have been instructed not to drink nothing stronger than tea.

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: katlaughing
Date: 29 Mar 03 - 05:03 PM

Jaysus, Art! TWELVE PINTS?? That'd put Dracula to shame! Sure glad you pulled through!!

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: catspaw49
Date: 29 Mar 03 - 05:16 PM

Okay, it's a contest.....Remember the bowel resection I had just after the aneurysm? 14 pints before they found the tumor!

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: Jeri
Date: 29 Mar 03 - 06:33 PM

0 pints for me, but some metal and a bunch of drugs over the years.

Ibuprophen is a nonsteroidal anti-inflamatory (NSAID), same class as aspirin, Indocin, Naprosin, etc. (Spellings probably messed up.) NSAIDs are rough on the stomach - can cause bleeding - and some people have some wonky side effects. They all make the blood less able to clot and aspirin can make my ears ring. Acetaminaphin isn't and NSAID. It's an analgesic, but it works by just making you feel the pain and doesn't actually do anything to make the inflamation go away.   

Acetaminaphin is toxic to the liver. When I worked in hospitals, the guys who worked the emergency room used to talk about things they'd seen. People would attempt to comming suicide by eating a bottle of Tylenol. Perhaps it was just a gesture on their part - most people consider it a pretty mild drug. The problem was that those folks would get their stomachs pumped, but by that time, had already absorbed a fatal dose. They'd die days later from liver failure - what Allan C described.

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: katlaughing
Date: 29 Mar 03 - 07:02 PM

So what can one use for pain? That is natural? Someone who is highly sensitive and cannot take NSAIDs?

Spaw, I'd forgotten. I think you can top almost anyone!

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: catspaw49
Date: 29 Mar 03 - 09:56 PM

Also Jeri, there is some side effect of Ibuprofen that is very low incidence but high enough that I know of two people who died from it in Atlanta. One was at Grady when Karen worked there and the other at Paces Ferry Hospital where Karen's best friend Cheryl was an ICU nurse. It's called something like toxic necrotic something or another having to do with the skin. You develop a nasty rash which doesn't sound too horrible unless the person takes more and more and OD's. THEN, the rash gets worse, the skin sloughs off, and the person ends up like a burn victim with no skin at all and dies from the infection. Both of these cases progressed at a logarthymic pace so there was no way to possibly graft quickly enough. Scared the hell out of me to the point I quit taking the stuff!! I'd been using it a lot for back pain (this was before my back surgery.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: Jeri
Date: 29 Mar 03 - 10:59 PM

Cheap beer and home grown?
Biofeedback, meditation - they'll help deal with the pain and therefore help that cycle you can get into where the stress over the pain actually makes the pain work. The few times in my life I've had serious pain, this stress (frustration and inability to concentrate on anything else) has been the major reason the pain seemed unbearable.
Acupuncture (never tried it) and TENS (I think it works on the same principle as acupuncture but involves electronic nerve stimulation instead of needles.) I HAVE used that and it works quite well for certain types of pain. Mine was knees.

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: katlaughing
Date: 30 Mar 03 - 12:08 AM

Thanks, Jeri. we are working through things, slowly, with acupuncture. I don't drink beer and I don't smoke anything!*bg* Biofeedback and meditation are fine and I do the latter a lot, but it's tough to keep it up for chronic pain.

On the other hand, because of this thread, I decided last night that I was giving up aspirin and the antihistamine I had to take with it to keep from itching from the aspirin. Who knows what THAT cocktail was doing to me!? I do know that I made it through the night and have not had as much pain today, as well as less edema!

Thanks!

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: Forum Lurker
Date: 30 Mar 03 - 07:22 PM

catspaw49-I think it's called "toxic necrotic fascitis," but I'd never heard about it being associated with Ibuprofen.

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: NicoleC
Date: 30 Mar 03 - 08:22 PM

Kat,

There are numerous herbs for pain, but they often target different kinds of pain. General analgesics like Feverfew and Garlic tend to intensify the effects of blood thinners like warfarin or even asprin, and aren't safe unless the drug dosage gets reduced. And almost all herbs and many foods have drug interactions, of course.

If your acupuncturist is familiar with your medical history, s/he can probably recommend something appropriate for you for occassional use for acute pain. Then ask your pharmacist to run it through their database for drug interactions and give you a print out of all the matches.

Subject: RE: BS: Prescription Drugs - Cure Ya or Kill Ya?
From: mouldy
Date: 31 Mar 03 - 02:01 AM

My older daughter is just about to complete her 4 years at uni studying pharmacy, here in the UK. She is well-versed in the way people can unwittingly overdose or misuse drugs. She also knows that with the best will in the world, and with the constant new additions to the list, doctors very rarely fully understand the interactions of drugs with each other. Even a change of brand can make a difference, if there's a substance in one, but not in the other. When people are on combination therapies it is often quite difficult to find a balance. She did a week in a local hospital, and went on ward rounds, when it is part of the pharmacist's job to check what, and how much has been prescribed. The are quite in order to change what has been written up on the notes if they disagree. (In the UK they write it in green). The pharmacist (UK) is ultimately responsible for making sure that the right dosage has been given, even in the local pharmacy, and that the right medicine has been given out off the shelf, no matter who dispensed it. Also that the patient knows how to correctly take the drug.
By the way, did you know that aspirin doesn't upset stomach linings by sitting there? It's the response the lining makes to the drug in your body: you could stick one up your bum, or take it in any other way, and you would still get an irritated stomach lining. Her university is working on a way of doing something by attaching a (nitrogen? - she did tell me but I'm no chemist) molecule to the chemical model of aspirin, which will switch off the stomach's response.

Andrea