22 per day!

[Guest peepshow]

Someone I know, she takes TWENTY TWO drug tablets each day !

..........Adding to GlaxoSmithKline's  profits

 

Methinks something has gone wrong with medicine practice these days.

 

How often does any doctor check your the diet you are on and check if your vitamin and mineral

levels could be low, instead of stuffing drugs down our throats first ?  Never.

Edited August 19, 2014 by peepshow

[Daz Type-R]

Errr, then I would say the doctor was useless.

Does this friend have a illness which necessitates that many drugs , if so then that's valid and I don't see it as being a problem, if she has no medical condition then that's just wrong.

You don't day if she has a condition or not but then go on to mention diet and mineral levels.

2 different ball parks.

[Perkil8r]

Living with a nurse puts a different slant on things. I've had this conversation with her before and there is a valid reason for high numbers of meds. A lot of medications do more than one thing to the human body. Whilst I can't give exact examples because I often phase out when she is talking medical at me an example might be something like Aspirin. It is a pain killer but also thins the blood, this could be dangerous in some people so a blood thickening drug is then needed to counter act that side effect. As I say that's not a good example, but the principal is sound. A drug that can cure one condition might be the only drug that can help with that issue but it might have side effects that will cause a problem for some patients unless medication is taken to counter act that side effect. Often this cycle continues as that drug then has other effects which need eliminating or correcting. Take those 4 times a day and you are soon up to a lot of tablets. When I had a tooth out I was on 18 tablets a day, paracetamol x 2 4 times a day, Ibroprophen x 2 4 times a day, antibiotics x 1 once a day and hayfever tablet x 1 once a day. That doesn't make a doctor useless.

[tuckstar]

Problem is that some drugs need more drugs to counteract the side affects. Vicious circle.

[Guest peepshow]

She has two problems.

But with any condition that starts checks should be made on diet/vitamin/minerals  before drugs are taken.

Many drugs deplete the bodies minerals anyway.

[Daz Type-R]

I was referring to a useless doctor who chucks pills at people who do not have a medical condition, like I eluded to in my post, if they need that many, then that's fine. I can't see a doctor though giving somebody 22 pils a day without checking all the facts. I would say if they are on 22 pills a day they probably need them which is valid. As it is valid, it sort of makes the original post invalid and pointless, I.e, she is on 22 pills for a reason so what has vitamin and mineral levels got to do with it in this context?

[philjay]

No, no I must resist joining in with this thread.  Oh what the heck.....

 

I am now only just recovering from 15 years of misdiagnosis and pill / potion pushing from a GP who couldn't even be bothered to spend 5 minutes looking into my history and subsequently wasted NHS, Private Health  resources and time plus my money and my firms money never mind the pain, anxiety, discomfort, cost etc that this caused over the years. 

 

I am now on a total of 0 pills and potions. I know of many similar instances.

 

GPs are supposed to be coordinator of a patients treatment, providing an overview of the case and treatment. This isn't just my opinion but a Prof of Immunology and 3 other consultants Ive seen recently. 10 minutes a consultation max if your lucky just means that they will throw pills at the problem because they do not have the time to look into the case or history properly, hence the 1/2 hour queues at pharmacies for a prescription

 

Hey you got away lightly there with only a short rant   :D  

[stash]

Sounds more like " She swallowed a bird to catch a fly etc" - All i know (which isn't a lot/plus experience) is that the only person in a hospital who knows about reactions to multiply pill taking is called "Pharmacologist" - trouble is not all doctors look at the bigger picture and certainly don't always refer the "cocktails" to a Pharmacologist.  If in doubt ask for the "cocktail" to be analyzed by a Pharmacologist.

The multiply names given to drugs does not help as many are the same/similar but may give different reactions.

 

Example to save money some don't put the day of the week on tablet packets - so its "have I taken my pill today".

[Sheila]

sorry I would not second guess a doctor, they have trained many years and know what is required and when.

Investigations into diet etc would be picked up by them on blood tests if the symptoms suggested.  They

are not in the habit of wasting money these days as it comes out of their own practice budget  not the NHS one.

Things move on quickly in the medical profession

 

If the friend thinks they are wrong then ask the doctor the reasons for prescribing them is the easiest way to find out