Letters to the Editor
-
But how much can you really take
This article highlights a major problem with both prescription and over the counter drugs: Most people have no idea how drugs affect their body, so whenever we stray from the doctor's advice we are just guessing what is safe.
Of course the safest thing is to take drugs only as directed. But you often get the sense that you could take more of something without a problem. When I have a cold, I take pseudoephedrine every 8 hours instead of every 12 -- it helps, and I haven't suffered any negative effects (that I know of). So I assume that the official dose is low because it's over the counter, or because they are playing it safe to minimize risk. But I can't ask my doctor "How much DayQuil can I really take?" He will just say, use only as directed. But I'm terribly sick, so I decide to take more, and the results seem to confirm that taking the next dose early is perfectly safe and more effective.
This is a pretty typical American experience with drugs. It's easy to imagine that after years of taking "too much" over the counter drugs without an apparent problem, people would apply the same logic to prescription drugs where the effects are more dangerous.
Some people are going to figure out that combining prescription drugs, or taking an extra pill, is okay -- or at least, it seems okay, though there might be bad effects that we can't see. Doctors seem to lose credibility when we feel like we can take more than they prescribe. And even though we have no idea what we are really doing to our bodies, we decide to risk it because we feel so sick / sleepless / whatever.
I'm not sure what the solution is -- If someone would tell me exactly how much cold medicine I can really take safely, and what I'm risking when I take three pills instead of two, I would listen with great interest. But no doctor is ever going to tell me that, so I'll just keep on guessing. Or, maybe the maximum dose really is the maximum safe dose and while I feel fine, I've been hurting my body in some imperceptible way. I really don't have a clue.