02-06-2008, 04:50 PM
can happen, as Mr big notes. My lovely wife is on a variety of pain and neurological meds for her spinal problems. She's had two bad drug interactions last year that required ER visits. One that required a four day hospital stay.
And what's annoying is that she is VERY good about communicating all her meds to every healthcare provider she talks to. We've taken the step of checking interactions online every time she gets a new prescription. Then I try to decode the medspeak, and we ask semi-intelligent questions. Even then, we were not able to predict those two interactions until after they happened, because the data on the interactions was hidden deep, deep down inside obscure medical reports only available in for pay online journals (I guessed from abstracts).
Docs are too rushed to do any sort of research, despite what those TV doctors seem to be able to do. Often they just prescribe what pops into their minds first. And pharma goes to great pains to hide possible interactions in order to preserve their profits.
For me, I try really hard to stick with aspirin or nothing.
And what's annoying is that she is VERY good about communicating all her meds to every healthcare provider she talks to. We've taken the step of checking interactions online every time she gets a new prescription. Then I try to decode the medspeak, and we ask semi-intelligent questions. Even then, we were not able to predict those two interactions until after they happened, because the data on the interactions was hidden deep, deep down inside obscure medical reports only available in for pay online journals (I guessed from abstracts).
Docs are too rushed to do any sort of research, despite what those TV doctors seem to be able to do. Often they just prescribe what pops into their minds first. And pharma goes to great pains to hide possible interactions in order to preserve their profits.
For me, I try really hard to stick with aspirin or nothing.