PLEASE DON’T
Hey you! Yeah, you know who you are. Your wife wants you to stop. So do I. You’re going to hurt yourself. I know you’re bright. I know you’ve mastered the internet.
Let me share a secret with you. Your internet searches don’t trump my 40 years practicing medicine and my M.D. degree. It also doesn’t trump the pharmacist’s training and knowledge.
Adjusting your medications by yourself and adding in handfuls of nutraceuticals is downright dangerous, bordering on suicidal. Let me give you some examples.
Patient number one came into the ER at our local hospital bleeding severely from multiple sites. He was on coumadin for a cardiac problem and the ER doc followed protocol administering Vitamin K to reverse the effects of the coumadin. It should have been a slam dunk, but it wasn’t. Patient number one spent a week in the ICU. Unbeknown to his doc (me), he had started himself on multiple herbals for an assortment of complaints.
While his internet searches promised him enhanced health, vitality and a never-ending erection, he failed to appreciate the interactions between his miracle herbs and coumadin.
Patient number two has an assortment of medical problems and medications, some prescribed and some self-prescribed. So far, he’s been lucky. Yes, lucky! He has yet to have any serious side effects, but 40 years of experience has taught me that just because you’ve never experienced a problem doesn’t mean you won’t. Actually, the longer you screw around with your meds, the more likely you are to have a problem. Like Patient number three.
Patient number three stopped taking a critical medication because Dr Google told him his medication was a poison. Patient number three will never recover from his fooling with his meds. So as not to break HIPAA, I will not share any details but, trust me, fooling with his meds ruined his life.
SO, PLEASE DON’T SELF MEDICATE, CHANGE YOUR MEDICATIONS OR ADD NEUTRECEUTICALS WITHOUT YOUR DOCTORS PERMISSION AND/OR KNOWLEDGE. THE LIFE YOU SAVE WILL BE YOUR OWN.
Go to Zdogg Pharmacist for an excellent description of your local pharmacists’ job and why you should include them on your team.
