Can we discuss drugs?

[Minvaren]

Huh.  And it was the dentists telling me about the genetic link.  Go figure.

Also, your link is 404, but a quick Google search indicates not a lot of respect for Weston A Price.  And personally, without root canals (which he also had issues with), I'd have had full dentures shortly after I graduated college.

[Mosesandstick]

I'm on Nasonex as my sinues like to get a bit stuffy and snotty. I've tried staying away from it but I always go back.

[Furiously]

I like nicotine.

[NowhereMan]

I recently had some sort of allergic rash break out. The man who invented anti-histamines needs his hand shaken since that was the only thing that actually let me get to sleep for more than half an hour.

[K9]

I have bad teeth - combination of genetics and being sick a lot as a kid.

Chances are, your bad teeth are not to blame on genetics.  Would you like me to give you another reason to hate your parents?  http://westonaprice.org/home-mainmenu-1.html.

Weston Price was a dentist who wrote a book called "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration" which illustrates the difference in physical structure of those who were raised on a traditional, unprocessed diet, versus those who were raised on a western diet that is high in sugar and processed food.

tldr if you have a horse face or a fish face or fucked up teeth, you can blame the diet your parents fed you.

Edit: oh yeah I forgot about rat faces too.

That book is a wonderful example of the principle that anecdote is not the singular form of evidence. It's all depressingly unscientific.

[Arnold]

Huh.  And it was the dentists telling me about the genetic link.  Go figure.

Also, your link is 404, but a quick Google search indicates not a lot of respect for Weston A Price.  And personally, without root canals (which he also had issues with), I'd have had full dentures shortly after I graduated college.

My link is not 404.  Perhaps you are using an Apple product, because when I click on the link it takes me directly to the site.

I'm so sorry for your horse face, but don't blame Price.  His book is available for free right here http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html.

[Evildrider]

I would rather have some smokeable herbal "medicine" then any type of prescriptions.   

[Count Nerfedalot]

I'm allergic to every tree, grass and weed in my yard, dust and dust mites, my cat, mold & mildew, etc, etc & etc.  Allegra once a day means I can breathe without wheezing, see without my eyes being puffy red, weepy and itchy, and basically live without trying to scratch my own skin off.  Better living through chemistry!

I'm going to have to look up on Allegra to see if/where it's available in the UK. I suffer pretty much every allergy you've listed (tri-seasonal hayfever is fun!) and take Loratadine between late April and early October to combat the worst of it but the sideeffects can pile up, I haven't slept much in the last week and I've been in a mild state of anxiety for months now. I need an (non-drowsy) alternative and Allegra looks like it might be a winner, if I can get hold of it.

Allegra is far and away the best allergy medicine I've tried so far.  I've been on it for 10+ years now I think, and no noticeable side-effects at all.  I do have to take a break from it for a month every couple of years as I build up tolerance to it, but it really does just take a month for it to be back to full effectiveness, amazingly enough.  Claritin is usually my standby, although it doesn't work nearly as well.  Pseudoephedrine and Benadryl (or are they the same thing?) both cause a weird rollercoaster ride of now-I'm-awake-and-bouncing-off-the-walls to so-sleepy-can't-keep-my-eyes-open-while-walking every 15 minutes or so for the duration of the dose.  Basically I'll only take them if I'm clogged up and about to board a plane (altitude changes with clogged sinuses is MISERABLE) or find myself going into anaphylactic shock - which hasn't happened since I started taking Allegra.

And although I take way too many meds, they are all prescribed by Dr's who know everything else I'm taking; and I never fail to take all my antibiotics; and I've only once come close to using up a whole prescription of pain-killer.  As soon as the pain is manageable, I'm off the meds, usually within a day or two of whatever it was that made me need them this time happened, be it broken bone, 4xWisdom teeth extraction, gall bladder removal, etc.  Except last time when I went almost two weeks on Lortab.  I tried to back off it every day after the first week, but still having drainage tubes under my skin which itself had been peeled off of a quarter of my skull then stretched back and stitched together to cover a half-inch stripe that was missing (used to reconstruct my nose) was just too much misery.    That was part of my purgatory for having had too much fun outside during my year in Australia under the ozone hole when it was at its worst in the early 90's.

Talking about pain though, I'm wondering if people generally become more resistant to pain or more susceptible to it as they experience it over a lifetime?  The doctors around here go through this routine where you are supposed to describe how your pain feels on a scale of 0-10.  Well, having passed out from pain once when I blew out my knee, I figure I haven't since experienced a 10 as I haven't passed out from it since.  But the past couple of trips to the hospital have each forced me to recalibrate my scale because what I was experiencing was worse than what I had previously thought would be a 10.

[ffc]

Drixoral was the best OTC drug for my allergies/runny/stuffy nose.  THE BEST.  I would go from not being able to breathe to being able to track flying birds by scent.   Side effect was drowsiness.  Small price to pay, and taking one before bed would give me a great night of sleep.  Much better than constantly waking up to flip sides in order to switch which nostril would clear.

One day I bought some and in idle conversation I was told how a person was no longer allowed to buy more than 4 boxes at a time.  I should have seen that as a sign of things to come.  Next thing I know Drixoral is hidden away behind the pharmacy counter and I had to fill out a form and have my driver's license scanned to buy a box.  Shortly after that Drixoral was no longer being sold. 

I was offered Claritin instead, which I find lacking.  I miss you Drixoral.

[Ozzu]

Up until a few months ago, I was pretty majorly overweight. So, I became diabetic with high blood pressure and cholesterol. I took:

Janumet for the diabetes
Trilipix for the cholesterol
Aspirin for the high blood pressure

I've since lost over 100 pounds though and don't need any medicine at the moment. 

[apocrypha]

My link is not 404.  Perhaps you are using an Apple product, because when I click on the link it takes me directly to the site.

I'm so sorry for your horse face, but don't blame Price.  His book is available for free right here http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html.

Yeah link works fine. You'd have been better served if it hadn't, that page is full of bullshit. The Weston A. Price foundation website even has a section on Homeopathy with a sub-heading "Articles from great homeopaths such as.." (my emphasis).

There's no place for nutritionists and homeopaths in any intelligent discussion of drugs, medicine or science.

[dusematic]

I've always been rather partial to cocaine.

[Rasix]

As far as allergy meds go, I've settled on 12 hour Claritin D.  The 24 hour stuff drove me up the wall.  I couldn't sleep at all when I was on it.  Allegra was OK; I don't remember why I stopped taking that, but I did.  Zyrtec made me feel really odd and anxious.  There was another pill they put me on with the claritin for a while, but it also made me really anxious for whatever reason (wish I could remember, it primarily an asthma drug).   Nasal sprays I don't care to use regularly, they end up making me feel pilled.  I keep astelin/astepro around for when I have a really bad day.

I also do allergy shots, which I'm unsure I want to continue.  I feel better when I'm on them, but the current shots I'm getting are prone to reactions. My previous shots I was getting didn't really do much of anything.  My hands tend to itch after shots even when they reduced the strength.  A higher dose during allergy season produced bad reactions including a near trip to the ER (I took benedryl and toughed it out, which was pretty much retarded on my part.  I don't recommend making a judgement call on "well, my throat is only a little swollen, I bet it won't get worse").  The couple hours of being uncomfortable every 2 weeks seems to be a fair trade over how bad my allergies can get even when on a ton of meds. 

As for morphine.. morphine was my best friend when I had major back surgery.  They tried to put me on something else at first, but it wasn't doing enough for the pain (4 vertebrae fused and a rib taken out). I have a pretty high pain threshhold as I've broken my leg twice and have had severe back problems (not too bad now) since I was 14-15.  I think it was a synthetic morphine.  Morphine worked well enough though. Largish doses every 3 hours and the last half hour before the dose was pretty sketchy.   

I was on vicodin post surgery.  That was nice. I'd sit on the couch, watch HBO, take a pill, and wake up 3 hours later.  Once I was done with that, I didn't really bother with the Tylenol 3.  That stuff just replaces pain with feeling like shit.  I'll take the pain.

[Sky]

I don't take drugs, illicit or otherwise.

I know a fair amount about illicit drugs, but let's keep this out of politics.

PS: Legalize the weed.

[Nebu]

I've since lost over 100 pounds though and don't need any medicine at the moment. 

That's wonderful news!  Congratulations and keep up the fight!

[Sky]

Yeah, I have a lot of respect when people faced with diabetes get their shit together. My best friend had the exact thing happen, he was put on some medication (probably what you were on) and told to fix his diet and lose weight. He did, and he's now medication-free and healthy. It's very inspiring, when my fiancee's best friend had the exact same thing happen two years ago and she was recently told she will be on insulin for life, because she didn't get her shit together.

[Bunk]

Only unusual meds I've been on were Flexeril (cyclobenzaprine) when I had sciatica. Tiniest little pills I've ever taken, and they right fucked me up. Back issues are hard to notice when you are near comatose for 14 hours.

[K9]

I picked up some melatonin while I was over in the US. It eliminated any jet-lag on the return trip. I'm not sure about making it routine because I feel that when I take it I sleep heavier than usual; although I haven't really tried it for long enough to be clear. I'll probably just reserve it for the occasional sleepless or insomniac nights.

[Ingmar]

I tried melatonin and I didn't really notice any real effect.

[Fraeg]

Given that I am from northern california I just kinda assumed this thread would head in a different direction.

Only prescription thing that made any impression on me was ritalin back in the day, that made me feel awful and very much *not myself*, I switched to Adderal and that was a much much gentler drug.  These days the only things i get crazy with is advil and green tea.  Though now and then when I am visiting people in the Humboldt area... (closest thing to an "oh far out man" emoticon)

[Khaldun]

Actually, as long as Nebu is reading this thread, I would very much like to hear an informed opinion from someone I think is trustworthy about just how trustworthy pharmaceutical advice from contemporary physicians is, in general. I've gotten to the point where I honestly don't feel I can trust my own doctor in several respects, but especially her prescriptions. Not only is she inclined to prescribe what are effectively life-long drug regimens (in my case, the first time I reported acid reflux and asthma, she immediately wanted me on regular medication for the indefinite future, without discussing side effects, necessity for treatment, or any non-pharma strategies for mitigation) but several times when I've been in her office, I've seen pharma reps waiting alongside the patients. This isn't just her, though, I think it's pretty much the entire health system that my employer plan gives me access to. As an academic, I'm also very aware of how seriously aggressive pharma companies have gotten about controlling drug trials, controlling academic publications that address their products, and feeding a lot of medical professionals some major compensation money outside of their salaries & standard research grant funding, especially with psychiatric medicines.

But I don't want to be one of these paranoid idiots running around thinking everything is compromised, or that everyone is in on some monolithic conspiracy. I just am trying to figure out how to make informed decisions in an environment where informed decisions seem to me to be harder and harder to come by.

[Nebu]

Simply stated; general practice physicians will prescribe a regiment that works for the greatest majority of patients based on their limited pharmacological subset.   The best recommendation that I can give you is to a) get a second and third opinion if you can afford it and if you still are unsure about the course of treatment, b) seek the advice of a specialist.  

I'm no clinical authority, but I can tell you that most front line physicians (general practitioners) have VERY limited pharmacology skills.  They often rely on the advice of reps and colleagues for their pharmaceutical knowledge.  I have found very few GP's that can answer my entry level pharmacy questions and often end up telling them what I want prescribed for me.  Fortunately for me I rarely need a prescription.  

With your background, sites like www.rxlist.com or if you can get access www.factsandcomparisons.com are wonderful resources.



Note: I'll do my best to check this thread daily.  My expertise is primarily oncology and infectious disease, but I have taught CNS agents (pain, neuro/psych agents, etc.) as well.

[Ingmar]

There was a pretty interesting interview on Fresh Air last month (http://www.npr.org/templates/rundowns/rundown.php?prgId=13&prgDate=07-13-2010) on a similar topic, although it was talking specifically about psychiatric prescriptions. The interview is with a doctor who went around with the pharma reps to give the medical rundown to the doctors, before he decided he was doing something unethical.

[Miguel]

I'm curious about injected localized pain medications.

My dentist has been in the process of repairing several old amalgam metal tooth filings with composite resin fillings that are tooth colored.  This work has been generally preceded by injections of Lidocain directly under the tooth and in the back of the jaw.

However I'm finding that at least three injections are necessary, and take a very long time to 'take effect'.  The last time I waited for two hours until my lower jaw was numb, and the drill into the nerve was like being tortured.  He ended up directly injecting into the jaw bone which was interesting but seemed to work.

Anyone know of other injectable pain medications (or other dental techniques) that I could recommend he try for next time?  He said I had a very think jaw bone which makes it difficult for the liquid to reach the nerves in the center of the bone.

[Khaldun]

Simply stated; general practice physicians will prescribe a regiment that works for the greatest majority of patients based on their limited pharmacological subset.   The best recommendation that I can give you is to a) get a second and third opinion if you can afford it and if you still are unsure about the course of treatment, b) seek the advice of a specialist.  

I'm no clinical authority, but I can tell you that most front line physicians (general practitioners) have VERY limited pharmacology skills.  They often rely on the advice of reps and colleagues for their pharmaceutical knowledge.  I have found very few GP's that can answer my entry level pharmacy questions and often end up telling them what I want prescribed for me.  Fortunately for me I rarely need a prescription.  

With your background, sites like www.rxlist.com or if you can get access www.factsandcomparisons.com are wonderful resources.



Note: I'll do my best to check this thread daily.  My expertise is primarily oncology and infectious disease, but I have taught CNS agents (pain, neuro/psych agents, etc.) as well.

Thanks. Useful.

[Nebu]

Anyone know of other injectable pain medications (or other dental techniques) that I could recommend he try for next time?  He said I had a very think jaw bone which makes it difficult for the liquid to reach the nerves in the center of the bone.

My only suggestions would be to a) inform your dentist/oral surgeon that this is the case (most will just give additional injections or increased volume per injection) or b) request an additional agent be applied (nitrous or perhaps a dissociative/sedative) if the dentist has the training or approval for their use.

[Trouble]

I started taking Modafinil recently. It has hailed by some as a miracle drug. Its primary effect is to make your brain not feel the feeling of "tired". It does so without feeling like a stimulant...we're not even talking meth here, it's more subtle than caffeine. For a lot of people, it helps with motivation in focus. It does so with a very low incidence of side effects and a lack of physiological addiction. It's becoming more and more the replacement for "study drugs" at colleges and whatnot. In the past Adderral and Ritalin were the big ones, but they're both stimulants that have side effects and make you feel strung out and all the good stuff that comes along with taking relatively strong stimulants. My experience with Modafinil has had me feeling more refreshed, sleeping less hours, and getting more done than I ever thought possible.

Almost makes me laugh when I think of Sci-Fi shows like BSG talking about taking "stims" that make you feel like shit when we've already developed pharmaceuticals that you can take and stay up for 40 hours straight and be at 70% of maximum capacity. Yeah, the drug is being used by militaries around the world in situations where people need to stay awake for long periods of time, or can only afford small amounts of rest.

What kind of doc do I need to see to get some of this stuff? I have serious focus issues and I'm starting back to school in a few weeks - I'm guessing my allergist can't prescribe this stuff.

The FDA has it prescribed for narcolepsy, shift work sleep disorder, and sleep apnea. It's prescribed off label for a lot of shit...anything related to excess fatigue basically. Due to some retarded shenanigans that the manufacturer, Cephalon, is being sued/investigated for its really fucking expensive in the US as there is no generic. You generally can't get insurance companies to foot the bill unless you have one of the three things the FDA expressly approved it for, despite it being a lifesaver for a broad swath of fatigue related issues. It can be purchased from the overseas pharmacies that love to spam the shit out of you with Viagra emails for like $1.50 a pop give or take. There's a few generic manufacturers of it overseas, Sun Pharmaceuticals in India being the most common. They sell it under the brand name Modalert.

[01101010]

Anyone know of other injectable pain medications (or other dental techniques) that I could recommend he try for next time?  He said I had a very think jaw bone which makes it difficult for the liquid to reach the nerves in the center of the bone.

My only suggestions would be to a) inform your dentist/oral surgeon that this is the case (most will just give additional injections or increased volume per injection) or b) request an additional agent be applied (nitrous or perhaps a dissociative/sedative) if the dentist has the training or approval for their use.

I have something very similar. My roots to my teeth are extremely long. From what my oral surgeon was telling me, this means that the nerve also runs deeper which explains my torment as a child when I would get fillings and still complain about it hurting. Dentist never believed me and it was my mother's family dentist so I was stuck. Needless to say, each tooth is getting canal'd now - when I can pay for it. As long as I inform the dentist and he verifies from the xrays that I am not batshit crazy, they usually do a four shot with topicals. Funny thing though, I rarely if ever get soreness or pain afterward, even on an extraction. Advil is really all I need, so I use the vicodin for extracurriculars.

[Sjofn]

Imitrix makes my plane migraines go away.  

I took atenolol for my Pill-induced high blood pressure. It made me sleepy as hell for the first week I was on it. I dropped the Pill and my blood pressure went right back to normal, so that was nice. PROBABLY unrelated, but I got off serotonin for THE SADS after ditching the Pill too. My periods suck ass off the Pill though. It annoying! >:(

I use Zyrtec for allergies at it works pretty well. I also take PROVENTIL (alburterol) for my asthma, though I don't have attacks that often. And let me tell you. I understand why they changed the inhaler to something more enviromentally friendly. I am totally cool with that in theory. But the new inhalers suck. They suck a lot.

[Selby]

But the new inhalers suck. They suck a lot.

Yes they do.  My old stash of pre-ban inhalers finally ran out and I can tell the difference.  I am just so glad I am not dependent on them anymore like I was 20 years ago.  The biggest thing I noticed right away was all of the generic prescriptions got canned because new patents were granted so it's another 5-6 years before the generic $4 inhalers become available on my plan and I'm stuck with name brand for now.

And I hate taking drugs, but when you have problems you have to take them!  And I've done what Nebu said when I went to a brand new doctor earlier this year.  I said "I'm on X, Y, and Z, and they are working just fine.  Please do not put me on the 'let's experiment with drugs A, B, and C instead!' regimen" and he was very understanding, despite not being a subject matter expert on all of them.

[Sjofn]

I only have one good inhaler left and I am totally dreading when that runs out. I need the satisfying "shhhk" sound & inhaler taste to feel confident I actually dosed myself. The new inhalers do this weak-ass little "fff" and half the time I can't even tell if it actually shot the medicine out or not. ><

It didn't occur to me why my refill switched back to a name brand with the new inhaler design. Man, that is stupid.

[Tebonas]

The only drug I take is Ibuprofen, for my Migrainelike headaches.

I hate taking even those, but there isn't always the option to crawl into bed and go to sleep with the pillow over my head.

[apocrypha]

Probably an obvious question Sjofn, but have you tried different types of pill? I think my girlfriend went through 4 different ones over about 2 years before finding one that she tolerated.

[01101010]

Imitrex is horrible. The only good thing about it is the fact it makes me feel worse than the migraine I am having and thus negates that feeling for one worse. I can't even put into words how evil that drug is, gives me the feeling that I have been plugged into a light socket and irradiated all at the same time, for hours. No thanks. Even my backup Relpax doesn't do any better for the headache. Maybe I need to move to Cali...

[Sjofn]

Probably an obvious question Sjofn, but have you tried different types of pill? I think my girlfriend went through 4 different ones over about 2 years before finding one that she tolerated.

I've tried two or three, but just really don't have the patience to keep trying. My periods are evil, but not AS evil as they were when I first went on the Pill (ten years ago  ) and frankly after being on it for so long, I don't mind taking a break from it, even though it's supposedly fine to be on it Forever. When I feel like screwing around with some new kinds, I will most likely go back on it, though!

Imitrex is horrible. The only good thing about it is the fact it makes me feel worse than the migraine I am having and thus negates that feeling for one worse. I can't even put into words how evil that drug is, gives me the feeling that I have been plugged into a light socket and irradiated all at the same time, for hours. No thanks. Even my backup Relpax doesn't do any better for the headache. Maybe I need to move to Cali...

My airplane migraines nearly blind me and make me feel like my entire head is going to explode, and they come on super quick with barely any warning. First time I got one I was sure I was having a brain aneurysm and about to die. That said, now that you've mentioned it, Imitrex does give me this weird "brain on fire" sensation for about an hour. I also feel uncoordinated and a little stupid. Oh, and I lose my sense of taste (wtf?). I forget the name of the other migraine shit I took, but the side effects were pretty much the same (including the loss of sense of taste, what the hellllll), so I haven't bothered to ask if there's something else I should try.