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Take medicine or not?

benlee

benlee

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Mar 4, 2007
1,246
1
I'm not big on medicine. cold medicine never seems to help and I'm more about just eating right and drinking tea when I'm sick. Some people say taking medicine will actually make you sick longer you just won't feel it as much. As we all know medicine doesn't make you better it just makes you "feel" better. However, I don't like taking a medicine that has ingredients for symptoms I don't even have.

Just wondering what everyone's take on the subject is....I'm trying to get rid of this cold.
 
I never used to take anything, not even aspirin for a headache. Now I have to take stuff daily. If it makes you feel better then take it. If you can survive without it, don't take it.
 
Dump that cold medicine in the trash. The only thing that can make you better is your own immune system, so if you want to get better take things that will boost your immune system. Lots and lots of vitamin C is a good place to start.
 
I'm the same, If I don't need it, I try not to take it. If it's unbearable I'll reach for the cold medicine. I don't think I've taken aspirin my whole life until this past year, got some bad headaches. I guess as we get older more medicines.
 
It depends on what medicines. Robitussin and Guaffacin make me feel even worse. If I have a cold or alergies, I go with Sudafed and Dristan Nasal Spray. Then perhaps throw some ibuprofen on top if I am having nasal pressure. Those "all in one" cold remedies are horrible. They have all 4 medicines (except Dristan) listed above in different doses depending on the brand.

I think I am smart enough to control the doses of the single chemicals I put into my body. I don't need a concoction mixed up in a bucket, thank you.

For me I take 20mg of sudafed, 400mg of ibuprofen, and two shots of Dristan up each nostril. Dristan kicks in almost instantly, and the other two come along in about 20 minutes.

And drink water or fruit juice, lots of it!
 
If you decide to take medicine, definitely follow the doctor's orders. It makes a big difference. Sometimes, you feel better so you quite taking the medicine too early. Instead, regardless of how you feel, some medicines need to be taken until the prescription runs out.

Personally, I follow prescriptions once a decision was made to take something.
 
:mad:
Stampyhead said:
Dump that cold medicine in the trash. The only thing that can make you better is your own immune system, so if you want to get better take things that will boost your immune system. Lots and lots of vitamin C is a good place to start.
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Completely disagree. If you can't breathe there is nothing wrong with a decongestant as long as it isn't Afrin, that stuff is the DEVIL! :mad:

If it makes you feel better, you should take it. Be reasonable though and always follow doctors orders....
 
I have no problem with taking medicine, especially if you're suffering though a nasty cold.

Just don't do like you see in the commercials: person is suffering though a cold, takes meds, and next thing you know, they're running around though the snow with the kids or doing some other busy activity. Um hello...you're still sick! The medicine is just covering up the symptoms! I'd love to go back to those people when their meds wear off and they completely crash.
 
NightFlight said:
:mad:

Completely disagree. If you can't breathe there is nothing wrong with a decongestant as long as it isn't Afrin, that stuff is the DEVIL! :mad:

If it makes you feel better, you should take it. Be reasonable though and always follow doctors orders....
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Sure, take it if it really makes you feel better. Just as long as you realize that it isn't actually making you better...
 
benlee said:
As we all know medicine doesn't make you better it just makes you "feel" better.

Just wondering what everyone's take on the subject is....I'm trying to get rid of this cold.
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For a cold you might be right, but come on 'we all know medicine doesn't make you better'?? You're joking, right? How about penicillin, is that some big smokescreen?

My take is, take the medicine that's appropriate for the situation, as directed.
 
benlee said:
Just wondering what everyone's take on the subject is....I'm trying to get rid of this cold.
Click to expand...

Take some time to read the label on what you're taking. If you have a virus (cold, flu etc.), generally speaking medicine is for symptom relief only - your body's immune system does the actual work of fighting the virus. In that case the best thing you can do is keep yourself well hydrated and rest. The medicine just makes you more comfortable so you can rest. Decongestants can also help prevent ear and sinus infections.

But many other medicines actually do treat illness directly, such as antibiotics.
 
Only medicine i touch is a 'A Long Cold One' usually a cold carling,!
But as Lord Blackadder Said, Read the Label!
On Carling it says 4.1% , so it's ok ;)

But as with any Medicine, seek Advice and follow the instructions, failure to do so, makes you a stupid fuc*er who may die.......soon!!!! ;)
 
I wouldn't recommend taking anything, its just a cold.

Doctors over prescribe too much and people over medicate too much. Most of that medicine doesn't even do that much.

For a cold the only thing worth taking is Musinex but even that takes a few days to kick in and it only makes you feel slightly better.

If your condition worsens or is lasting a long time I would say then just go to a doctor to see if you have something more serious like pneumonia or the flu. Pneumonia is a likely cause if you were sick got better, and then got sick again.
 
I think there are some medications that are absolutely necessary, if only to improve someone's quality of life. Still others are effective in keeping people alive. Over the counter medicines are a whole other species, though. I'm pretty skeptical on the efficacy of some of them, and agree that people as a whole tend to over-medicate when it comes to OTC meds.

Whenever I start feeling cold symptoms, I go for a long run and it always clears it up for me quickly. Not sure why, but it works so I'm happy. :)
 
digitalnicotine said:
...and agree that people as a whole tend to over-medicate when it comes to OTC meds.
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I'm with you there.

Motrin is a good example. The horse pills (800mg) are only issued through prescription. However, you can take over the counter 4x200mg to receive roughly the same effect. Many folks know this.

The problem, is that when you receive a prescription for 800mg pills, the doctor takes into account your medical history and gives a prescription tailored for your situation. When folks take multiples of 200mg without a prescription, they may say to themselves, I need to take 2x800mg every 8 hours and hence take the 8x200mg every 8 hours when in fact they should be only taking 1x800mg or 4x200mg per every 8 hours.

leekohler said:
Don't take it. Take vitamins and drink tea, but leave the medication on the shelf.
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Completely agree when possible.
 
I dont like taking medicine as I believe they do you more harm than good. But my gf forces me to take medicine so I have to take it. I usually try to drink 10 gallons of water and take vitamin.
 
medicine treats the symptom, not the cause .... the only thing that can cure you is your own body, but that being said, if you're truly healthy your body well it will cure its self (of anything)... I'm on the extreme end of medicine is poison and should be avoided at all costs...
 
Drumjim85 said:
I'm on the extreme end of medicine is poison and should be avoided at all costs...
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According to the doctors I know, they all agree with this. However, in certain cases, the damage from the medicine is outweighed by the benefits.

In the case of a regular cold, rarely do I ever take anything but maybe a tylenol or two. Best to let the body's immune system do it's thing.
 
If you wish to relieve your symptoms, go ahead and take it. I would stay away from drugs not approved by the FDA, however. Keep in mind, cold medicines can only help your symptoms: in no way can they actually treat a cold.


cycocelica said:
I never take medicine, except for the occassional Airborne. Never liked taking medicine, just not my thing.
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That's not medicine.
 
I'm on so much medication i can probably start my own pharmacy. I'm always on something, if it's not one ailment it's another. Thank goodness for health insurance!
 
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