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Bohemian Polypharmacy

douglas99 said:
Sigh. as you indeed say.

You chose to quote something off that hypercritical idiots postings, so it's as good here as anywhere.

If you object to meds, and think they're over prescribed, don't take them.
Easy.(Even Edward could manage that)
Don't be sanctimonious though, and take them yourself while telling others not to, and trying to say it's wasting your money and joe publics by the evil pharmaceutical companies. Vote with your feet, not other peoples.

Even bigger sigh!!, with two exclamation marks.
Click to expand...
In your frustration and extreme irritation I think you missed my two references to not all drugs being bad! and yes as well as using insulin, I take atenolol, ramipril and aspirin because fourteen years ago I had two heart attacks which needed surgical intervention. I was also given the dreaded simvastatin, which made me very ill, then ezetimibe, equally as bad and I've dropped it.
Sanctimonious? Nah, I'm morally no better or worse than you, lol.
It was never my intention for this thread to become a place for trading insults, simply an interesting and hopefully thought provoking, subject which from other comments I've seen indicate it has achieved it's aim.
 
Well, your question was

"This was posted on a blog I read.
Does it amuse you, entertain you, give you food for thought, cause for concern, or do you think it's scare mongering?"

And, it certainly amused me, as I said in my first post, but possibly not clearly enough then,
 
personally, think its just scaremongering. If your talking something your prescribed, or recommended to take something and it causes side/ill effects should be discussed with gp to change, as in metformin. Some people are ok with, others better with slow release. if you think your are being told to take something you don't want/need please discuss with gps. If at the end you still don't want to then its your choice.

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I disagree.

Not a diabetic medication, but I am prescribed one drug which works to relieve symptoms and another which is designed to prevent symptoms. The preventor does not prevent a **** thing, the reliever works and I only take it if I have symptoms, which is not often. What the preventor does do is raise my BG levels, so I don't take it. I get symptoms no more or less often than I do if I do take the preventor twice a day as prescibed. in fact I know exactly what the trigger is. Discussed with Dr many times, she insists I take it so she prescribes it and I don't take it - this is the only thing we disagree on for the most part.


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I did read the other day that old people are on that many drugs its not sure which ones even work or worse still that some interact with one another, Doctors are doctors not chemists. Apparently all the drugs were removed when they entered residential care and only the ones they found to be necessary were given back. I look at my mothers drug regime - its in one of those boxes where the tablets are dispensed day by day and hour by hour, (it has a fancy name and it escapes me). Anyway she doesn't know what she's taking and doesn't care.
 
I think it should be possible to accept the basic message here without impugning the motives of those GPs who prescribe drugs or even some of the companies that make them (I do think that Phoenix is right to encourage people to read Ben Goldacre more carefully on that aspect, though I also think this is compatible with the basic thrust of the video and Beachbag's post). Priming patients to constantly monitor the impact of new drugs for side effects, to enquire about beginning with low dosage, and to research whether drugs conflict with each other, is simply common sense, I would have thought. I have an excellent GP and high-class consultants whose skills and integrity I fully respect, but I have had recent problems with drug side-effects and it has been down to me to note problems, flag concerns and ask for alterations. I worry a lot about patients who are too tired, ill or excessively deferential to do this.
 
There are guidelines for prescribing for the older patient and this article sums it very nicely. If you are over 65 or have an older relative that you are concerned about then read through this.

!. Prescribe cautiously.
2. Prescribe appropriately.
3. Use appropriate formulation.
4. Avoid symptomatic prescribing.
5. Consider the effect on non-prescribed meds.
6. Anticipate the pharmacological differences between older and younger patients.
7. Side effects of specific drug classes.

There is a rubric at the end for sensible prescribing in older patients.

http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/Prescribing-for-the-Older-Patient.htm

In the future I am sure that drugs will be specifically tailored for the individual and there is a lot of research going on to make this possible.

I heard a talk on the radio from a Cardiologist who did not understand why his patients were complaining of side effects due to blood pressure medication that had been prescribed for them. He decided that although his blood pressure was normal that he would try small doses of the medications to see the effect on him and was horrified as to how ill they made him feel. He also came to the conclusion that he would make sure that his patients were well monitored whilst on the meds as he now knew why people were complaining.

Not everyone wants to rock the boat and complain and they carry on taking the drug or not filling the prescription but it does nobody any favours because the more reports there are of side effects then the more notice will be taken.
 
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No, not a good day ,I am a real human being with all too real human feelings and not into any sort of publicity.
I'll move on though .
I mentioned Ben Goldacre and Cochrane reports because I very much believe in evidence based medicine as does the writer of the parody who says
"The use is solely for the purposes of education - promoting the concepts of evidence-based medicine to healthcare providers and patients"
I think that this particular video, might well be fine to encourage pharmaceutical or medical students to think critically but because of it's language and images and setting (youtube) is more likely to reinforce some vulnerable peoples fear of conventional medicine and into the hands of the purveyors of woo and quackery.

The same author has a video about T2 diabetes 'Tom Hanks and Type 2 Diabetes - an evidence based discussion I would like to have with Mr. Hanks' Now that would also be interesting to hear peoples opinions on.
(warning, it is almost an hour long)
. .
 
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