I always tell you to talk to your doctor before taking any medications or supplements or latching on to a diagnosis. As well-intentioned as these pronouncements are, I sometimes feel like I’m doing the same CYA that drug companies do in ads. Really it’s that…
Taking meds exactly as prescribed may have a placebo effect of its own. An analysis of 21 clinical trials shows that whether participants took the active drug or a placebo, those who took the drugs as prescribed had 44% fewer deaths than those who didn’t…
Before I was diagnosed with migraine and CDH, OTC painkillers were my constant companion. It was in the pockets of my jeans, buried in the bottom of my backpack and in little plastic bags strewn about my car. I’d find pills nestled in the carpet…
DrugBank is an all-in-one resource for patients and healthcare providers alike to look up detailed chemical, pharmaceutical, medical and molecular biological information on nearly 4,100 drugs. I looked up a couple common headache drugs and am impressed with the results: Topamax, Vicodin (which brings up…
Punishing Pain, an op-ed piece The New York Times published yesterday, describes one man’s struggle to get adequate pain relief. It’s a fight that ultimately landed him in jail. You’ll have to register to read the article, but it’s worth it. “When I visited Richard…