January 25, 2005

• Glucosamine? Echinacea? St. John's Wort? Garlic? Why would they have problems with these? (They won't tell you without a login)
• Come to think of it, Plegmund, why post a link that has no actual information, but offers to sell it?
• I looked up mefloquine (Lariam), but didn't bother filling out a subscription form to find out what psychiatric/convulsive side effects they were warning against. Not that I don't already know what they are, having been driven homicidal/suicidal/insomniac/emotionally brittle after just two doses. Scary, scary shit that is. Especially when you consider how much of the overseas military is taking it for its malaria-prevention properties.
• I've been prescribed some of the drugs and used some of the supplements on this list, including one that's currently in the news. As much as I hate the overpromising that most drug ads do, and as worried as I am about the medical risks I've taken by using drugs that are probably about to go off the market, this web site makes me angry. I am nervous enough about my health without the scaremongering, thanks. Especially since the scaremongering is to get you to subscribe. This is the flip side of drug ads that promise everything. There are no drugs you can take without any risks at all. Sometimes it's a choice between not taking drugs and living with side effects, or which side effects are least difficult to live with. Be an informed consumer and talk to your doctor about the reasons for prescribing a drug, but listen to the doctor too. You pay the doctor for a reason. And if the doctor won't talk to you, it's time to get a new doctor.
• Rocket88 - I don't think there is an issue with garlic itself - the search I ran returned a discussion about a brand of garlic supplement; there could be an issue regarding something else in the pill. Dunno, though, as I am not about to pay for a login id.
• There are no drugs you can take without any risks at all. True, imlass,, and not just drugs, for even water can be toxic if you ingest too much of it in a given period, as diabetics sometimes do.
• Pay for a login? WTF is this posted for? And why is everybody such a huckster in medicine these days? Seriously, go to WebMD and see how quickly you start getting spam for whatever you read articles about. I realize the point of existence is to make money, but sheesh!
• Sometimes it's a choice between not taking drugs and living with side effects, or which side effects are least difficult to live with. This is a great comment, something I find myself saying a lot. Everything has some sort of side effect, but often it's a minimal risk, often not everyone is in the risk group, and often the side effects are worth the improved quality of life. I know a few people who are very sad over the loss of Vioxx/Celebrex, and hope the whole class of drugs doesn't get pulled. Without the drugs they have almost no quality of life; increased risk of heart attack is worth it, because they wouldn't have a life to end via heart attack without the drugs anyway. Informed choice is the key. Now I do want to know if, say, Brand X has been found to contain a toxin, or if Vioxx increases heart attack risks for my risk group, or if anti-depressants make teenageers suicidal. But I don't like the obsession this sort of thing has with any possible side effect from any drug. Too much. Too over the top.
• Just Say No!
• Sorry, folks, I am a moron and somehow overlooked the need for a subscription. Senile decay, I think. The point about echinacea and garlic, it seems, is that there's no evidence they work. St John's wort probably doesn't work either according to the latest research, but in addition (I'm sure they won't mind a small quote...) "St. John
• They seem to be contradicting themselves on the St. John's Wort. On the one hand, they say it doesn't work, which would mean it fails to raise serotonin levels. On the other hand, they link it to serotonin syndrome, which would mean it *does* work, albeit too well. Personally, I find it does work, but it's effects are minor and subtle. (Don't take it in combo with prescribed SSRIs.) I can also add my own anecdotal approval to echinacea (lessens cold symptoms if taken early enough) and glucosamine (worked wonders to help heal a sports-related knee injury)
• YMMV
• No worries, Plegmund, happens to the best of us. ;)
• Ultram: My mother gave this to my wife once for a severe headache and she suffered from the exact problem they warn you about here. Scary, she was very very sick from it.
• This is fearmongering for profit. What are the chances that there is a law firm at the other end, ready to sign you up for the latest class action?
• "You should not use montelukast for the treatment of hay fever symptoms because of its meager effectiveness and exorbitant cost." oh, ok. (not that most people couldn't use a handy dose of skepticism regarding meds)
• from today's new york times, the story of a woman on antidepressants who had the side effect of decreased libido. her doctor writes: I decided to prescribe Wellbutrin, a different class of antidepressant that has shown some ability to counteract sexual dysfunction caused by S.S.R.I.'s. Little did I know. Two weeks later, Susan called from her cellphone to say that the antidote was working. While shopping, she said, she spontaneously had an orgasm that had lasted on and off for nearly two hours. She was more delighted than alarmed, but I was stunned. I have had my share of therapeutic surprises, but this was hard to believe. "I'll have what she's having."
• SideDish: me too! I tried St. John's Wort for a while, but I couldn't keep anything on my stomach. It was awful. However, friends have used it with no problems.
• I'm sorry, but any sie professing to warn you about dangerous medicines that appears to suggest women shouldn't take essentially any oral contraceptives is just fucked.
• If I can offer anyone some advice it is do not take Lariam. I lost a friend to that fucking shit. I dont want to share the details but please believe me and refuse it if offered.
• So, I have knee surgery and the fucking doctor gives me Bextra which I take for two weeks. I start getting migrane headaches so I do some research online and find out it's closely related to vioxx. I quit taking it. Now whenever I exercise I get a nasty headache in the same spot in my head every freaking time. Who wants to be in my will?
• Another note on St. John's Wort - I've heard that it can interfere with birth control pills, causing them to be less effective. I can probably find a source somewhere if anyone's interested.
• Argh -- be glad you didn't take it long-term. They require you to come in for liver tests every 6 months.
• Peachy - wow, I'm sorry. After my own experience, I'm not at all surprised you could take Lariam and end up dead. I don't think my doctor even mentioned side effects when she prescribed it. Had she told me about the going insane part, I would have asked for something else - like Doxycycline, which is what I ended up taking after the Lariam freakfest. Doxy is basically anti-acne meds that also happen to be anti-malarial. I don't know why people end up getting prescribed chloroquinolines instead.
• What, airplane glue isn't on there? The reason not to take it: you want to graduate from high school. (This site would be better if it were just a bunch of prescription drugs dismissed by saying "No matter how many Vioxx you take, you won't get a buzz.")