A pill for this, and a pill for the side effects of that pill.....

[Sophiebun11]

There should be a nice proverb on the side of the bottle instead of all the warnings.

[Bassetmommer NKF Ambassador]

I love how it says in the prescription paperwork that " the doctor has decided that the benefit of the medication outweighs the side effects." Of course they do, they are not taking it.

[Sophiebun11 in reply to Bassetmommer]

That's the 21 Century CYA for MDs.

Sometimes I wonder. I take 12 different meds. I have to just toss them down the gullet and hope for the best 2 or 3 times a day LOL

[userotc]

We avoid them like the plague. Even our dog (at least equally important family member) is not cutrently on any and she's 17 this year!

[Sophiebun11 in reply to userotc]

My kitty is 16 and on no meds either. Only my last kitty who got cancer at 19-1/2 took Tramadol. When the vet prescribed it for him there was a cost of $25 for 10 pills to take 1/4 pill per day. My ins. gives me 360 Tramadol for $1.25. I shared mine with my kitty.

I do think about if I could drop any of my meds. 5 are migraines preventatives, and I tried lowering them and had daily migraine, and the others are for asthma, Sclero, swallowing, and Pred for CKD.

I did drop 2 when I got CKD!!!!

Give your dog a big hug from me and my kitty, Henry. Senior pets are so awesome, we have an even closer bond with them after so many years and knowing we won't have them forever. Treasure every moment.

[userotc in reply to Sophiebun11]

Our super dog Lucy returns hugs to you & Henry! And believe me, we treasure every moment with Lu.Re your meds, maybe you could minimize eg by replacing migraine-preventer with more natural option(s)?. We weaned my mum off a BP drug ~3y ago and her BP's normal.

[Sophiebun11 in reply to userotc]

That's a good thought but there is no natural option for severe daily migraines. I've heard Magnesium, it did nothing. Maybe for people who get one migraine headache a month or something. I literally get 5 or 6 per week, and that is only tolerable due to meds. Otherwise I'd be in a dark room for 10 days vomiting like in the old days before the meds were invented. My dad had cluster headaches so I inherited them from him.

Migraine isn't just a headache it's a neurological disease, the headache is only a symptom. You are a migraineur whether you are having a migraine or not, just as you have epilepsy even if you aren't having a seizure. Many people think migraines are just headaches. There is no cure for asthma or migraines, only control.

ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/All....

[userotc in reply to Sophiebun11]

For migraines, I was thinking along the lines of draxe.com/natural-headache-... but I presume youve tried these?

[Sophiebun11 in reply to userotc]

Thanks so much that's sweet of you. I can't take herbal things like that. It contains Peppermint and all mint family items are in the Latex family. I have a life-threatening Latex allergy and have gone into anaphylactic shock. Herbal remedies aren't as safe as they make out.

I'm better off with my medications, no allergic reaction in 20+ years. One of those caps could literally kill me. There aren't even any warnings for Latex allergy on the bottle I'd bet. DC's shouldn't be "prescribing" treatments that are out of their scope of training.

[horsie63 in reply to Sophiebun11]

I had migraines that lasted a week whenever I had my period. Menopause stopped that but I do get one occasionally still. When my doc put me on statins I began having daily migraines, then they tried something used by epileptics but that only made it worse. The final straw was the MRI of my head while I had a migraine. Stopped the statin and the other and they cleared up. I do get headaches but can deal with those with Tylenol.

[lowraind]

I shudder when I hear some ads for some medications. The side effects sound like they will surely kill you before the illness you are taking them for.

[Sophiebun11 in reply to lowraind]

That's the truth. Plus half the time they don't even say what the med is for but want you to ask your Dr. to prescribe it for you. It's nuts.

When I worked in the Cardiology practice the pharmacy company reps would be lined up at the door sucking up to us to get in to the MDs to peddle their new shiny pills. They'd bring the back office staff coffee, pastry, tickets to ballgames, shows, take us to lunch and butter us up. The Drs. got weekend conferences at resorts in Hawaii, golfing at country clubs etc. Meds are huge business.

[horsie63 in reply to Sophiebun11]

I feel some doctors are really pill reps wearing a lab coat. I now refuse to take anything without checking it out on drugs.com.