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Would you take drugs that were not prescribed to you?
I've done this twice. Once on vacation I had left my blood pressure medication at home, but a friend who was traveling with us had the same drug, in the same dosage, from the same pharmacy, so I took some. The other time I had been suffering a week from an ear infection with no possibility for treatment, and a friend gave me some amoxicillan (which I had taken in the past), and it knocked it right out. Was I wrong? What would you do?
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October 15, 2009 03:55 PM
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Yes, for sure! The caveat: only for fairly simple problems. Do your research first!
I've recently moved to Guatemala, and the way that things work here has really changed my opinion on this question. It's a combination of two things:
1. Pretty much everything here is over-the-counter.
2. The health care system is unreliable, with really hit-or-miss doctors, nurses, etc.
So I have ended up consulting with the internet and with friends who are NPs or the like. There is plenty of information available on what drugs are good for what types of problems, and you can find out the possible side-effects, correct dosages, etc fairly easily. Don't trust just one source, read a lot!
Basically, what I've realized is that drugs don't have to be this murky scary blackness that we don't know anything about, and that we can trust our own informed judgement, sometimes more than we can trust the judgement of a doctor or nurse practitioner who we barely know. For me, this only applies up to a certain point, and if I have to deal with more serious medical problems in the future I will certainly be consulting with experts.
I've recently moved to Guatemala, and the way that things work here has really changed my opinion on this question. It's a combination of two things:
1. Pretty much everything here is over-the-counter.
2. The health care system is unreliable, with really hit-or-miss doctors, nurses, etc.
So I have ended up consulting with the internet and with friends who are NPs or the like. There is plenty of information available on what drugs are good for what types of problems, and you can find out the possible side-effects, correct dosages, etc fairly easily. Don't trust just one source, read a lot!
Basically, what I've realized is that drugs don't have to be this murky scary blackness that we don't know anything about, and that we can trust our own informed judgement, sometimes more than we can trust the judgement of a doctor or nurse practitioner who we barely know. For me, this only applies up to a certain point, and if I have to deal with more serious medical problems in the future I will certainly be consulting with experts.
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October 15, 2009 11:57 AM
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Yes! The concept of which drugs require prescription varies widley from country to country (doctors get paid per visit). If I ran out of pain killer x and was at my friends I would use his
Prescription for sure! Other cases no. I wouldn't take cancer fighting drugs without a prescription.
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Prescription for sure! Other cases no. I wouldn't take cancer fighting drugs without a prescription.
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October 15, 2009 01:48 PM
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If it is a drug you have taken before then it should be okay. I wouldn't take another type of blood pressure medicine, anit-depressant, cholesterol lowering medicine or thyroid medicine even if it was the same dosage though, that could be really dangerous.
I wouldn't even want to take an unfamiliar antibiotic. You could have a reaction to it or the dosage could be wrong for you in particular.
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I wouldn't even want to take an unfamiliar antibiotic. You could have a reaction to it or the dosage could be wrong for you in particular.
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October 15, 2009 02:31 PM
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Well, technically NEVER as it caries greater risk.
But if you have proper knowledge about drugs or there is emergency as you mentioned in question it is Okay.
But after taking such drug, you should consult with your Doctor as soon as possible. Though it was the drug for blood pressure, dosage and drug type varies by person to person. You should not forget to carry such vital drugs as like for blood pressure, diabetics, etc. So my suggestion is to contact a doctor immediately.
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But if you have proper knowledge about drugs or there is emergency as you mentioned in question it is Okay.
But after taking such drug, you should consult with your Doctor as soon as possible. Though it was the drug for blood pressure, dosage and drug type varies by person to person. You should not forget to carry such vital drugs as like for blood pressure, diabetics, etc. So my suggestion is to contact a doctor immediately.
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October 16, 2009 03:35 AM
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If it were the same exact medication that I was already given by my doctor and a friend had the same stuff I would take it. You just need to be carefull that its not something that has not been subscibed. If its a larger dose your body may not be able to handle it like someone elses body.
To have to go to the doctor pay the co pay and then go to the pharmacy and pay another amount for the meds can add up. You might want to try an over the counter medicine that might help just as much as a subscription wich will save you the co pay.
In my opinion I would be very careful when taking other medications that are not subscribed to you. First of all its illegal but even worse it may harm you.
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To have to go to the doctor pay the co pay and then go to the pharmacy and pay another amount for the meds can add up. You might want to try an over the counter medicine that might help just as much as a subscription wich will save you the co pay.
In my opinion I would be very careful when taking other medications that are not subscribed to you. First of all its illegal but even worse it may harm you.
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October 17, 2009 03:28 AM
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Yes I would, under the following circumstances:
1) I can't see a doctor as soon as my illness urges me.
2) Someone who I trust have a medicine for the same illness.
3) I've taken it before.
But the main problem for me would be the dosage, because if a doctor doesn't prescribed it to me, I have no way to decide the correct amount, so I will try to figure out it, if possible, calling a doctor or contacting him/her some way, so:
4) It exist some way for me to figure out the correct dosage.
Once, I had a throat infection and my sister (she is odontologist) "prescribed" me some medicine and I don't got better, so two days after I went to a doctor (in a worst condition) and he told me the medicine was right, but the dosage was somewhat low, then he gave me the same medicine at a highest dosage and I got better in two days!
The medicine you took for your blood-pressure problem was the same you were taking so that's the same case as if you wouldn't forgot the drug at home, in the second case, I think you were lucky :)
(sorry about my poor english)
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1) I can't see a doctor as soon as my illness urges me.
2) Someone who I trust have a medicine for the same illness.
3) I've taken it before.
But the main problem for me would be the dosage, because if a doctor doesn't prescribed it to me, I have no way to decide the correct amount, so I will try to figure out it, if possible, calling a doctor or contacting him/her some way, so:
4) It exist some way for me to figure out the correct dosage.
Once, I had a throat infection and my sister (she is odontologist) "prescribed" me some medicine and I don't got better, so two days after I went to a doctor (in a worst condition) and he told me the medicine was right, but the dosage was somewhat low, then he gave me the same medicine at a highest dosage and I got better in two days!
The medicine you took for your blood-pressure problem was the same you were taking so that's the same case as if you wouldn't forgot the drug at home, in the second case, I think you were lucky :)
(sorry about my poor english)
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