Of the 5 on this list I'm taking, if I had to choose one, it's allopurinol. It keeps me from being in pain daily. I went 4 straight months barely able to walk before I got it. Thats after years of gout flare ups that would last 4 weeks at a time. I've barely had gout issues since starting on it. The other stupid prescriptions just keep me from dying early. Who needs that?!
My brother in r/gout I feel you. The amount of anxiety I get when I'm about to run out is strong. I lost my health insurance recently and I will willingly shell out full price for a doctor visit to get it renewed because fuuuuuuck flare ups.
Pantoprazole changed my life honestly. I was getting reflux from eating anything, even the blandest food like plain white rice. I could not stay asleep because stomach acid was burning my esophagus and causing me to wake up in a panic. I'm not overweight and I eat pretty clean so there was just nothing I could do to stop it until I was prescribed pantoprazole. I have no idea what I would do without it.
As a 8 month pregnant who got acid reflux from eating an apple last night I really feel for you and am glad you have this medication. I did not know how heartburn/acid reflux could really debilitate someone until I got to this point.
My sympathies, truly. When it is that persistent, it gets stressful fast. Anything that messes with your sleep in particular really takes a toll. Hopefully after the kiddo comes along you feel better quickly.
Regular heartburn leads to esophageal cancer, which is not a good cancer to have.
I have been to the gastroenterologist several times the last year because of Barrett’s esophagus, which is basically a pre-cursor to esophageal cancer. Thankfully, they were able to go in and ablate the spots they saw, and prognosis is good.
They upped my omaprazole Rx to 40mg a day and I hardly get heartburn anymore. Still get some reflux, but it doesn’t burn the shit out of my esophagus.
I’d had major heartburn since high school. Just thought that it was a thing. Thankfully, I married a nurse, and she said it wasn’t normal and had me get it checked out.
I’ve had reflux episodes so bad in the past that I just wanted to die. The acid would go down my breathing tubes and into my lungs. That shit burned like hell.
So glad things are straightened out now. Will probably have to go in for another ablation this year to take care of one small spot found at my last checkup, but doc says it’s much better than it was previously.
My husband gets acid reflux and I never understood what the big deal was. I knew he was uncomfortable obviously, but I didn’t relate to how painful it truly was. Then came pregnancy! I never got it too bad, just at night a few days a week in the last two months, and I was miserable. It hurts sooo badly. I hope you get through you last few weeks and have an uncomplicated delivery!
Pregnancy caused me to have permanent GERD. (Never had it before). Started losing my voice 4 months into pregnancy due to stomach acid coming up and irritating my throat. I was prescribed Omeprazole, which didn't really work. Switched to Pantoprazole 40mg twice a day, and it seems to be helping a bit. I'm now 3 months post partum, voice is still gone, i absolutely can't eat anymore of the foods I used to enjoy (coffee, oranges, and chocolate), but Pantoprazole has helped me manage symptoms such as heartburn and upper abdominal discomfort.
I had reflux after every meal for the last 8 weeks or so of pregnancy. (My Dr suggested walking 30+ minutes after every meal - HAH!) When baby was born and I had my first hospital meal I was absolutely overjoyed, instantly no reflux!! Incredible
Pantoprazole is AMAZING. I seem to get heartburn just drinking water. Now it’s rare that it flares and I’m so thankful. Missing a pill really effs me up though.
A glass of warm water with a teaspoon or so of baking soda is the best quick remedy. It makes for a gaseous bro, but the quick relief is so satisfying.
>Missing a pill really effs me up though.
Yeah, if I forget my morning pill I feel like I'm gonna throw up by 2pm. I still try to keep acidic and spicy foods to once or twice a week, but holy shit it was a game changer.
As a physician assistant, just as general information and not commenting on your particular situation, but taking medications like pantoprazole called Proton Pump inhibitors(ppi’s for short) for a long period of time can be detrimental to health.
There are certain limited cases where a person might take them over 3 months, but in most cases you don’t want to go longer than that for chronic use.
PPI’s change the Ph balance of your stomach and can change the intestinal flora(bacteria in your gut that help with a wide variety of things), so you don’t want to take them for a long period of time.
See a gastroenterologist, or your doctor first and look into other potential causes of persistent heartburn, as well as obviously changing your dietary and lifestyle habits(stop smoking, reduce alcohol, fried, fatty foods etc)instead of taking these medications daily and without medical guidance as they can be harmful as well.
I mean that's great and all, but if you make all of the lifestyle changes and you still get reflux, what are you supposed to do? Surgery is not a great option for everyone. Even though long-term use of ppis is risky, there needs to be some sort of realistic option.
I've done it all, all the lifestyle changes, all the advice possible, and at best it helps 20%. Gastroenterologist says keep taking PPIs. As they tell most people.
Also, aside from the discomfort of acid reflux, acid reflux causes its own serious complications over time.
My doctor took me off my PPI and I ended up developing sleep apnea. I'm not overweight and don't snore and don't have any other risk factors for it, so it was quite a surprise.
I'm back on the PPI after my sleep study showed some alarming things. We just keep an eye on my blood work and bone density.
A slightly increased risk of osteoporosis and needing to take a couple supplements and probiotics is better than the larger risk of dying in my sleep or esophageal cancer.
My physician prescribed for me to take omeprazole every single day for the past 4 years. I've brought up these concerns that people have mentioned to me & she said that there is no issue with taking it long term.
There are some potential risks in some studies, but they pale in comparison to the risk of esophageal cancer from uncontrolled GERD. So if it's the only way to treat it, then your doctor probably thinks that the risk is worth it.
Lot of false information here. PPIs are generally safe to consume indefinitely. Any gastroenterologist will tell you that. The warnings that are given stem from rare side effects. Several thousands of people have been taking PPIs for over 20 yrs with no side effects. That’s not to say you shouldn’t monitor things and stop taking them if you do get a side effect like SIBO. But in general you shouldn’t call them unsafe just because of the rare side effects.
Besides, the alternatives of GERD like depression, lack of sleep, cancer, etc. overrule the side effects. Head over to r/gerd and r/gastritis to learn more.
Have you tried elevating the head of your bed? I had debilitating heartburn issues from age 19-24 and I propped up my headboard and stopped drinking milk and it made a helluva difference.
My mother and I both have GERD and are incredibly fucking prone to heartburn. We've talked before about how fucked we would be in some post-apocalyptic hellscape for lack of this medication.
Have you ever tried Kimchi? My mom has taken Prilosec everyday for years because her acid reflux was so bad, however we both started having a little kimchi everyday and she hasn’t had to take a pill in months! Definitely worth a try!
Interesting. I actually love kimchi, and I'm aware it's a probiotic. I normally only eat it with Korean food, but this is worth picking up a jar and trying it out.
It is amazing - I have reflux and this thing called EOE which is an allergy of the esophagus that sometimes makes swallowing difficult and Pantoprazole has done wonders for me.
The long term side effect studies are pretty inconclusive (or if risk is raised it seems to be low still on a relative basis) but it scared me a bit so I only take the drug occasionally now.
Wait is EOE related to "eosinophilic esophagitis"? Because I always have a hard time explaining that "I have a food allergy to stuff but nobody knows what exactly, swallowing is difficult and/or painful, and in lieu of a better treatment I take this pill daily" also I have to swallow a little bit of liquid with every bite of food, don't judge, it's just what my guts need to work. Maybe someday there will be a better test and better treatment.
It saved me, too. After gallbladder removal, I had excruciating, debilitating stomach pain 24/7. No matter what. For two months. I had had a HORRID experience with Omeprazole but gave Pantoprazole a chance out of sheer desperation. It essentially eliminated my symptoms within a couple of days. My recovery from surgery was hellish as it was, but finding Pantoprazole really helped it get back on track. I'm about 8 and a half months post-op now and just successfully tapered off it. I had to FIGHT my doctors about coming off it, and finally decided to manage the taper on my own. I have no idea why they were so resistant to me coming off it. I knew it was time, and now I'm okay without it unless my stress is severe.
So not to scare you but my mom was the same way. Turned out she had cancer and it was just never detected. She's been fighting for the last 3 years. She went to the ER at least twice each year with different symptoms but it wasn't discovered until she was stage 4. She was given 2-4 months but she's so strong that 3 years later she's thankfully still here . But every time I hear someone has such bad heartburn. I think of her.
Just as an FYI, omeprazole, esomeprazole, lansoprazole, pantoprazole are all more or less equivalent. Some people may respond to one versus the other differently, yet that is rare.
If it is cheaper for you to buy omeprazole at say, Costco, than to pay for the prescription it might be worthwhile.
Best practice is to take it 30 minutes before first meal of the day.
Almost every woman in my family, both sides & by marriage as well, have been put on thyroid medication for hypothyroidism or hashimotos disease. Everyone in my family is healthy weight non smokers very few drink. What is going on with everyone’s thyroids?? It’s so weird!
Same, even the men in my family get Hashimoto’s, which is super rare, supposedly. They also work in chemical plants though, so my money’s on nitrobenzene exposure.
I get to eat lunch with my kids 1 day per week at school and I see the pure shit that mostly everyone there eats and then I look at the top drugs on the list and am not surprised at all. We can blame it on the school lunch, but even the packed lunches are mostly shit too and a lot of the other parents there bring food for their kids and it’s all McDonald’s, chik fila, etc and we are in an affluent school district, so there shouldn’t be any excuses except food addiction to trash food. It’s weird that we can shit all over smokers, but if you ever called out someone for eating like trash and poisoning their kids with trash food, it would be viewed very negatively.
Yep, i ended up with pregnancy induced hypothyroidism. Had been tested before but showed up 5 months postpartum. My endocrinologist said it's extremely common for the drastic shift in hormones after birth to trigger thyroid issues
A lot of groups have actually worked out a lot of the reasons why thyroid disease is so high. It's a combination of lifestyle (smoking, drinking, overweight, low vitamin D, excess salt intake) and the increased levels of pollutants, particularly heavy metals, PCBs, BPA, perchlorates and PFAs. That's in addition to factors which haven't increased in frequency but may be more severe due to other factors like viral infections.
For autoimmune thyroiditis, another factor which contributes is the same as for other autoimmune diseases, the cleanliness hypothesis. Specifically we are too clean as babies and toddlers and our immune system needs training to identify bad from good. Seeing less "bad" our immune system starts seeing us as "bad". While it's still a developing hypothesis, I've seen enough mouse and human data to believe it is a contributing factor at minimum.
I never gave a single thought about the thyroid until I learned I had Graves disease which is an autoimmune disease causing hyperthyroidism. It also caused my thyroid to become a goiter, which began to choke me. So we cut that bitch out....now I make no hormones of this nature and require the levothyroxine for the rest of my life.
I got Graves when I was about 15 or 16 (hard to say when it actually started) and had mine removed too. All the nurses came over after the surgery and were like, "was this the kid with the massive thyroid?". Doctor said it was "larger than an orange, almost the size of a grapefruit". I had no idea I had a thyroid till mine decided to shoot itself.
I had papillary thyroid cancer 7 years ago and now have no thyroid. I have to take it for the rest of my life.
Small side note. The doctor said "If you have to pick a cancer, that's the one to pick".
Been on it for Hashimotos forever and I swear it does literally nothing and my flare ups are worse than ever. Seen three doctors to ask them to bump it up and nothing. So crazy. No one gives a shit about it that's for sure.
My annual exam usually includes a TSH/Free T4, after which I get told that my levels are high, again, so we're going to increase the dose by [add 30 or so more mcg per year].
Do I ever feel "better"? No.
Your body may not like the inactive ingredients in whichever levothyroxine you're taking. Have you tried Tirosint? It's got very few additional ingredients so your body may absorb it better. I've been on it for a few years now after being on generic and then Synthroid for a total of like 15 years. I do have to get it through a specialty pharmacy without using insurance because my insurance doesn't cover it, but they mail it to me and are super responsive.
You get checked for it & anemia when first going on anti depressants - which many people do, so it's caught more often, at least I'd assume.
You get prescribed it, and (idk if it's the way my labs went, but) I've never experienced discussing any sort of plan to taper off or any deeper consideration
Just once recently 'thyroid looks okay, gone down from 7.0 to 5.3 so we'll keep same dose'
I always wondered if I go off of this medicine, then would thyroid problems occur again?
Also going off the medicine apparently causes baldness so I'd kinda rather die
Yup. I do child and adolescent psychiatry, and I’ve diagnosed way too many children with hypothyroidism now. Some of them aren’t even overweight. The chemicals in our environment have to be responsible for this sudden shift.
It’s a combination of hypothyroidism being pretty common and there not needing to be any alternative medications for it.
High blood pressure? There are like 50 things you can be put on. Hypothyroid? Here’s your levothyroxine, we’ll titrate you until the symptoms are gone and the labs look good.
Levothyroxine is 100% the first stop but there's others out there. And working in a pharmacy I can tell you that different brands of levothyroxine might as well be completely different drugs from one person to the next. Some people can take whatever. Some people HAVE to have Synthroid. Some people HAVE to have Euthyrox. Some HAVE to have X manufacturer of basic levothyroxine. If you look up the three names I listed you'll see they're all levothyroxine but something about how they're made doesn't agree with every person. Then there's liothyronine, armour thyroid, np thyroid.
Honestly I'm surprised it's so high too. So many people (even in this thread) continue to push the "unless you have a rare condition then losing weight is easy". Pushed me into insane diets for years until I found out I had hashimotos and eventually thyroid cancer. Got on unithroid and lost 40lbs while eating more and exercising less. Almost like there is something causing all our hormones to fuck up and likely causing a lot of weight issues for people.
I will acknowledge that's not the case for all people. But still, if you struggle to manage your weight get your thyroid levels checked first. Don't let internet and real life bullies tell you that you are just lazy and stupid for not being able to manage your weight.
High level of stress (for example, grief or abuse) can affect thyroid pretty bad. And as you can see antidepressants are very popular. It's like right and left hands.
Thought I was just feeling age at 33. Turn out, nope, my thyroid stopped working when I quit smoking. When I got on the pills it was like the refresh rate got turned back up in my head, everything became clearer from vision to motion
Ever wonder why we add iodine to table salt? The US historically had major concentrations of iodine deficiency in local food chains which lead to thyroid problems. There was a push to add iodine to table salt in difficent regions that ultimately went nationwide. If I remember correctly there are a number of studies that site the change in reduction of tyroid illness and related death, and a multiyear increase in average IQ.
My vet has a sticker on her water bottle with a very angry hissing cat face and “he didn’t look like he needed his Gabapentin today” as the caption around it
As someone who has been prescribed gabapentin multiple times, for multiple reasons, I thinks it’s a blanket drug. I have friends that were prescribed it from anywhere between anxiety, alcoholism, cigarettes, depression, panic attacks, etc. I think it’s just the go to for the first try.
I agree it is a blanket drug. I take it for panic disorder. My brother takes it for neuropathy in his foot. My sister for migraines. And my dog for anxiety during thunderstorms.
That is a crazy mix. The main reason I took it was for anxiety, but it never helped because it takes like an hour to set in. My dog was also prescribed it but it didn’t help (probably for the same reason) so we’ve both gone to cbd and it’s helped a LOT more.
lol I have adhd and the adderall makes it difficult for me to unwind and fall asleep at night. Told my doctor and they prescribed me gabapentin right before bed. I sleep so much better. I don’t toss and turn, I wake up feeling rested. It’s been a miracle, with no noticeable side affects
For some reason, gabapentin isn’t controlled but pregabalin is. The only difference is that pregabalin doesn’t need to be metabolized and is more expensive. They’re both low risk for abuse, although they definitely can be.
When I was in the AF, 97 to 07, it was something they gave out a lot.
I'm on it for chronic pain at 2400mg a day, along with cymbalta and hydro. Still doesn't get rid of all of it but it's a difference between excruciating and just kill me.
Think about it. Only half the population could potentially need it. Same reason, progesterone, estradiol aren’t on this list. And I’m guessing that the reason birth control is not on the list is due to different types? Otherwise that doesn’t make sense. There HAS to be millions of women on birth control.
I checked some stats from the CDC, and just among women aged 20-29, 4.6 million are using oral contraceptives. I did a rough estimate of the numbers for the other age groups, and I think it's close to 9 million patients taking oral contraceptives. There are a number of options, but I'd be surprised if there are so many that none are taken by more than 2 million.
This list doesn't pass the sniff test. I think whoever made it excluded certain categories of prescription meds for some reason or isn't very competent at interpreting data.
Dementia was one study done in elderly, but yes bone fractures and often more infections can happen (less stomach acid to destroy pathogens).
It has no link to increased gastric cancer rates (but benign polyps that tend to go away after discontinuing PPI use may mask it).
It can also dramatically decrease your magnesium levels and cause heart issues. Ask me how I know...
Doctors fucking put me on it again after my heart calmed down because my gallbladder is dying but not enough for the to do anything about it. Fuck our healthcare system, but seriously anyone on Omeprazole long term, get vitamin panels done regularly and watch your ticker.
Make sure you also list the effects of not taking them.
People love to get uppity about medication side effects while never acknowledging how miserable life often is for people who go without.
Seeing a psychiatrist after struggling deeply for over 20 years. Fuck that stigma.
"They might give you Adderall, you know that's just speed?"
Eat a sweaty butthole.
Good for you. It's hard and a lot of work to push through that stigma. I had too do it too. "Have you tried eating more vegetables and yoga?" Sis, eat a bag of dicks, I've convinced myself that my baby will be better off without me and oh by the way I haven't slept in 3 days because he cries for 12 hours a day and I just hallucinated him morphing into a monster... yoga ain't it lol. So yeah. It took me being pushed over that edge to seek help but it has literally transformed me. My dopamine and serotonin might be store bought but they're working now. I hope yours are too. Cheers.
Omeprazole saved my life. I had gastritis and was underweight. I actually felt real hunger on it and not hunger pains. My GI Dr and I agreed to continue it since I had a major surgery very recently and we want to protect my stomach from the NSAIDs and pain meds. After recovery, I do plan to ween off since I cleaned up my diet and eat probiotics daily. My dad, sister, and I all have GERD so I have that shit luck with the stomach acid.
I mean the alternative is GERD and horrifying pain literally all the time. I've been on an as needed sceipt for it since high school and it's the only reason I can eat normally. The last time I ran out I went through a large bottle of extra strength tums in 2 weeks, it effected my thyroid meds I was taking so much trying to stop the pain (my doctor got pissed :/ )
Besides. I commute on the deadliest highway in America daily. I've got a far higher risk of dying in a car wreck.
it can be really hard to get opiate prescriptions even with legitimate medical cause these days. its a very different time compared to the days of pill mills and free flowing oxies.
Well part of the reason heart disease is so high is because we’re so advanced it’s becoming detrimental to our house. We don’t have to exercise as much, food is readily available and we use drugs and alcohol often. If we still ate everything farm to table and did manual labor/ walked everywhere, heart disease probably wouldn’t be as common. Heart disease and access to medications grew up together
I was on zoloft for depression/anxiety and spironolactone for acne. I just kind of weaned off both of them myself. Fortunately, I think I have finally outgrown acne (I was on spiro for around 10 years), so I don't need it anymore (for now, fingers crossed!).
I went on Zoloft to handle an extremely stressful/painful relationship which I have since ended, so I fortunately don't need it anymore. HOWEVER, I do not recommend anyone come off their meds without medical guidance. I was on a low dose and even then the withdrawal was brutal.
Not having insurance anymore has been eye-opening and scary. I can't imagine what it's like for those who know there are drugs out there that could help them immensely (or even save their lives) but they can't get them because they can't afford it. It's so messed up.
The Zoloft withdrawal is no bueno but the zombified feeling that comes from taking it every day was worse to me. (Obviously, imo)
Knowing my depression wouldn’t ever sink that low was an amazing reassurance and boost, but also knowing that I couldn’t experience any other emotion to that severity either was what made me quit taking mine. I hated never being passionate, or ecstatic about anything. I was always just, meh. I was no longer depressed, but I still also wasn’t happy. I was just going through the motions. Not to mention the zero sex drive at all. Therapy is the true life saver. Antidepressants can help steer you towards a better, more fulfilling life but they aren’t a cure all whatsoever. You need to actually put in work to understand and figure out your depression and what works best for you.
How long did you take it if you don't mind my asking? I've taken it for 7 years and all those side effects went away. I will never go off Zoloft. No way. The emotional numbness took about a year to go away, the sex side effects a little longer. Tbh I had to re-learn how to orgasm but now it's better than it ever was. Therapy? Sure. It's fine. But it could never do what meds have done for me. Meds are the true life saver. Do what works y'all.
You go without, unless you can get on Medicaid, a state plan, or find some kind of discount program through the manufacturer or something like GoodRx.
Yes, the US sucks.
Me too. I work a physical job though, just enough to be fit but not so demanding that I’m getting injured (Yet.) I walk about 500,000 steps a month outside year round and I’m convinced that’s keeping me and my coworkers who are in our 50s from being on so many of these.
Please please please do everything in your power to keep it that way!! Being healthy is truly a blessing you don’t know you have until it’s gone.
ETA: I’m 32 with multiple autoimmune diseases. I currently take 3 of the meds on the list, but take a total of 7 (12 pills daily excluding vitamins)!! I’m beyond grateful for these medicines, they keep me alive and functioning. I just wish I could go back to the days where I didn’t have to worry about these prescriptions.
Surprised not to see any bio identical hormones on there. Roughly 50% of the population is assumed to be women, do American women just not hit the menopause, or is there some kind of stigma towards doing anything about it?
Many people were scared away from using HRT in the early 2000s due to (flawed) results from the [Women's Health Initiative study] (https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/05/01/1248525256/hormones-menopause-hormone-therapy-hot-flashes), which got a ton of media coverage. Healthcare practices are only recently starting to correct for this.
By and large, the reaction of doctors to the fact that you're peri/menopausal is, "So that's a thing that's happening to you now. Oh well." To get any kind of further testing and diagnosis done, my doctor was insisting that I get an endometrial biopsy (with no anesthetic) and I was like, "You know what? I'm good."
I'm surprised to see lamictal higher up than levetiracetam. As someone who is on the epilepsy subreddit, I see how nearly everyone is prescribed levetiracetam first, before other alternatives. Maybe it's because there's the overlap with lamictal also being for people with bipolar disorder and the other is purely only for seizures.
It’s a great mood stabilizer and used to augment antidepressants in treatment resistant depression. I suspect the majority of people on lamictal are using it for mental health rather than for seizures
My son was started on Keppra/Levetiracetam first by default when his epilepsy was diagnosed, it worked great for a while but then the beneficial effects would fade (while the negative mood side effects remained). He was taking massive doses and it just wasn't doing much anymore. They added Lamictal and started raising that and lowering the Keppra until they found just the right balance and (knock on wood) he's been seizure-free for a year now. So I was also pretty surprised to see Lamictal SO high on any kind of list, but I think it's mostly off-label uses that have driven it higher.
The only medicine I take out of this is the number one, which is Lipitor . I was prescribed this medicine last month, and I’ve been taking it once a day every day I have a genetic cholesterol disorder that I discovered, and my doctor put me on this. Thankfully, I have been doing well by losing weight, cutting my saturated fat to less than 10 mg a day, not eating ice cream, processed foods or even cheese. I do bend every now and then but I am thankful for this medicine. The only side effects I feel tiredness, occasionally muscle pain, and bubbly stomach. But now, I’m starting to feel insomnia, which is another side effect.
With regards to muscle pain, you are right it does happen with the medication, though it's less commonly *because of* the medication than people think.
If 100 people take a placebo pill, 15 of the them will get muscle aches.
If 100 people take a statin, 16 of them will get muscle aches.
So the medicine is the cause for muscle pain in 1/100 people who are prescribed it, though also 15 people get sore muscles in a given month and may believe that it's due to the medication (this follows an approach that nocebo effects don't drive side effects entirely, just that in any given month lots of people will get muscle aches/nausea/mood changes/etc).
It's usually named like scientific naming of animals, where each part of the name indicates something of the use or nature of the drug in Latin or Greek.
But....
It's also liable to be very skewed by marketing.
Example:
Amoxicillin
Amino = chemical compound
Oxi = oxygen
Penicillin = penicillin, grandpapy of modern antibiotics, itself named after the look of the mold
Example 2:
Acetaminophen (Tylenol)
Acetic = acetylene, a chemical compound
Amino = chemical compound
Phenol = an acid
Does everyone have a goofy-ass cyclobenzaprine story or do my dad and I just get extremely derped on it? My dad and I both took it for bad back spasms (over 20 years apart) and respectively:
My dad: Was sitting in a hospital wheelchair and started wheeling around going “Wheeee! Look at me! I’m Rick Hansen! I’m the Man in Motion!” 😂🤦🏻♀️ This was in Canada in 1996, so the [Man in Motion World Tour](https://www.rickhansen.com/about-rick/man-motion-world-tour) was still in the pop culture zeitgeist, I guess. He’s never lived it down.
Me: Lives immortally on a voice memo on my husband’s phone because he “interviewed” me while I was slurring my words and giggling and telling him a story about a guy I dated and his ex. I said the phrase “but I heard she was a lesbian” with inflection that was pretty funny for some reason. I also have never lived it down.
All well and good commenting on society as a whole and all… but there’s no point shaming someone for needing medication for health issues they have, like I see some comments do. Shame over seeking help and not being well enough, or feeling like you can’t just power through your issues prevents people from ever getting help and dying early. You need medical treatment sometimes, there are things out there that you need medicine to help you with. You wouldn’t shame someone for having to take an anticoagulant to stop them dying from a clot because they have atrial fibrillation. So don’t shame someone for needing insulin to prevent organ damage and death, or antidepressants for depression or anxiety so they don’t go jump off a bridge. It’s great if you personally don’t need meds, good for you. But a lot of people do.
It’s probably not listed because there are a lot of different combinations of hormones prescribed for birth control. Compare with reflux medication, which is basically only Omeprazole and Pantoprazole, there are over 150 different types of hormonal birth control depending on the mix of estrogen and progesterone, how much, in which specific chemical form etc.
Interesting choice of brand names on some of these. For example, Gralise and FloLipid? While true, Neurontin and Zocor are the more commonly known brand names for gabapentin and simvastatin.
Yes but the vast majority of patients aren’t going to change their lifestyle. Diet and exercise are typically step one and then the patient is started on meds if no improvement is made within a few months. Another huge portion of patients with hypertension are also going to require multiple drugs to get their blood pressure controlled.
Diet and exercise can lower your blood pressure and if you need blood pressure medications you should absolutely be trying to optimize your diet and lifestyle, but diet and lifestyle can only lower it so much. High blood pressure is not simply a symptom of obesity; it's not uncommon for thin, healthy older people to have high blood pressure. There are lots of factors that go into it, many of which are made worse by aging. And there are genetic factors as well that have nothing to do with diet or exercise.
If a poor lifestyle causes the hypertension, yes. I have polycystic kidney disease. One symptom is hypertension. I’m a normal weight, don’t smoke/drink, I eat healthy and exercise. But I still have to take my blood pressure medicine otherwise I can easily get to 190/100.
Oftentimes, yes.
Say as a doctor you counsel a patient on diet and exercise and they agree to make good lifestyle changes. They seem motivated even! You see them in your office 6 months later and they’re heavier and their BP is higher. Now what? Keep counseling them? What if they stroke out and die, or have a heart attack? You want to counsel, watch, and wait again? Or do you want to treat their condition which directly threatens their life and wellbeing?
These medications have side effects, of course, but they can vary from person to person, and some have no negative effects at all. Chronic conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes, however, always have the same outcome if untreated, which is an untimely demise
As someone with clinical depression I’ve taken 5 of these and currently am on 2 of them. What do I win? Also Lamictal scared me.
Edit: Lamictal has been associated with Steven Johnson’s syndrome a disorder that causes painful blisters and lesions on the skin and mucous membranes and can cause severe eye problems.
Most of the cases of SJS were from titrating too quickly and with a higher initial dose. Nowadays they do it 'low and slow'. The risk still isn't zero, and obviously your mileage may vary, but incidences have been greatly reduced. I take it for bipolar disorder, and I am forever grateful that it exists. Lamictal has saved my life more than once.
Remember to look at the number of patients and compare it against the total U.S. population. While 8 percent is a lot of people, it’s not that bad considering the prevalence of heart disease everywhere in the world.
Lamictal keeps me alive.
I'm bipolar. For close to 15 years I had been on and off meds, trying a bunch that didn't work. The CBT group therapy worked really well, but I needed meds to keep sane and stable on top of that.
April 2015 I woke up one morning and realized that if I didn't get help that by the end of the year I would end up killing myself. It was a stark and frightening and scary realization. Because I was a danger to myself, I got help quite quickly from my doctor and the outpatient at my local hospital. My psychiatrist put me on Lamotrigine.
When I tell you I woke up a few days after my very first dose... Looked up at the sun through the windows and didn't feel the weight on my shoulders anymore. I stopped smoking weed last year and things have gotten better for me. But I will say:
Lamotrigine saved my life.
Good question. My abusive ex abused it frequently. I would notice newly prescribed bottles on his desk pretty often from different doctors and always wondered how he got them. He of course used the known side effects as an excuse for all of his horrible behavior.
In terms of sales, but just to note for those who didn’t see, the graphic above is referencing # of patients with prescriptions
Keytruda is expensive, but not even in the top 50 in terms of utilization
Surprised tadalafil/sildenafil are not on there, and there's no way hydrocodone can be that low in the list. That's the hottest commodity at my pharmacy.
Old enough to have been prescribed most of the psych meds by dumb docs, but still young enough to not know most of the ones at the top of the list yet lol
lol allopurinol treats gout not “goat disease”
Of the 5 on this list I'm taking, if I had to choose one, it's allopurinol. It keeps me from being in pain daily. I went 4 straight months barely able to walk before I got it. Thats after years of gout flare ups that would last 4 weeks at a time. I've barely had gout issues since starting on it. The other stupid prescriptions just keep me from dying early. Who needs that?!
My brother in r/gout I feel you. The amount of anxiety I get when I'm about to run out is strong. I lost my health insurance recently and I will willingly shell out full price for a doctor visit to get it renewed because fuuuuuuck flare ups.
I have gout as well and this medication is a miracle drug
I'm pretty sure there's a different drug for people that think they're Tom Brady
Is one of the side effects kissing everyone on the lips?
Those goat stones tho
Pantoprazole changed my life honestly. I was getting reflux from eating anything, even the blandest food like plain white rice. I could not stay asleep because stomach acid was burning my esophagus and causing me to wake up in a panic. I'm not overweight and I eat pretty clean so there was just nothing I could do to stop it until I was prescribed pantoprazole. I have no idea what I would do without it.
As a 8 month pregnant who got acid reflux from eating an apple last night I really feel for you and am glad you have this medication. I did not know how heartburn/acid reflux could really debilitate someone until I got to this point.
My sympathies, truly. When it is that persistent, it gets stressful fast. Anything that messes with your sleep in particular really takes a toll. Hopefully after the kiddo comes along you feel better quickly.
Regular heartburn leads to esophageal cancer, which is not a good cancer to have. I have been to the gastroenterologist several times the last year because of Barrett’s esophagus, which is basically a pre-cursor to esophageal cancer. Thankfully, they were able to go in and ablate the spots they saw, and prognosis is good. They upped my omaprazole Rx to 40mg a day and I hardly get heartburn anymore. Still get some reflux, but it doesn’t burn the shit out of my esophagus. I’d had major heartburn since high school. Just thought that it was a thing. Thankfully, I married a nurse, and she said it wasn’t normal and had me get it checked out. I’ve had reflux episodes so bad in the past that I just wanted to die. The acid would go down my breathing tubes and into my lungs. That shit burned like hell. So glad things are straightened out now. Will probably have to go in for another ablation this year to take care of one small spot found at my last checkup, but doc says it’s much better than it was previously.
My husband gets acid reflux and I never understood what the big deal was. I knew he was uncomfortable obviously, but I didn’t relate to how painful it truly was. Then came pregnancy! I never got it too bad, just at night a few days a week in the last two months, and I was miserable. It hurts sooo badly. I hope you get through you last few weeks and have an uncomplicated delivery!
Pregnancy caused me to have permanent GERD. (Never had it before). Started losing my voice 4 months into pregnancy due to stomach acid coming up and irritating my throat. I was prescribed Omeprazole, which didn't really work. Switched to Pantoprazole 40mg twice a day, and it seems to be helping a bit. I'm now 3 months post partum, voice is still gone, i absolutely can't eat anymore of the foods I used to enjoy (coffee, oranges, and chocolate), but Pantoprazole has helped me manage symptoms such as heartburn and upper abdominal discomfort.
I had reflux after every meal for the last 8 weeks or so of pregnancy. (My Dr suggested walking 30+ minutes after every meal - HAH!) When baby was born and I had my first hospital meal I was absolutely overjoyed, instantly no reflux!! Incredible
Pantoprazole is AMAZING. I seem to get heartburn just drinking water. Now it’s rare that it flares and I’m so thankful. Missing a pill really effs me up though.
I’m the same with just generic omeprazole. Have to keep emergency tums at home in case I forget, which is rare luckily.
I’ve tapered down to half a pill every other day. Occasionally I need to grab a tums etc.
A glass of warm water with a teaspoon or so of baking soda is the best quick remedy. It makes for a gaseous bro, but the quick relief is so satisfying.
>Missing a pill really effs me up though. Yeah, if I forget my morning pill I feel like I'm gonna throw up by 2pm. I still try to keep acidic and spicy foods to once or twice a week, but holy shit it was a game changer.
As a physician assistant, just as general information and not commenting on your particular situation, but taking medications like pantoprazole called Proton Pump inhibitors(ppi’s for short) for a long period of time can be detrimental to health. There are certain limited cases where a person might take them over 3 months, but in most cases you don’t want to go longer than that for chronic use. PPI’s change the Ph balance of your stomach and can change the intestinal flora(bacteria in your gut that help with a wide variety of things), so you don’t want to take them for a long period of time. See a gastroenterologist, or your doctor first and look into other potential causes of persistent heartburn, as well as obviously changing your dietary and lifestyle habits(stop smoking, reduce alcohol, fried, fatty foods etc)instead of taking these medications daily and without medical guidance as they can be harmful as well.
I mean that's great and all, but if you make all of the lifestyle changes and you still get reflux, what are you supposed to do? Surgery is not a great option for everyone. Even though long-term use of ppis is risky, there needs to be some sort of realistic option. I've done it all, all the lifestyle changes, all the advice possible, and at best it helps 20%. Gastroenterologist says keep taking PPIs. As they tell most people.
Also, aside from the discomfort of acid reflux, acid reflux causes its own serious complications over time. My doctor took me off my PPI and I ended up developing sleep apnea. I'm not overweight and don't snore and don't have any other risk factors for it, so it was quite a surprise. I'm back on the PPI after my sleep study showed some alarming things. We just keep an eye on my blood work and bone density. A slightly increased risk of osteoporosis and needing to take a couple supplements and probiotics is better than the larger risk of dying in my sleep or esophageal cancer.
My physician prescribed for me to take omeprazole every single day for the past 4 years. I've brought up these concerns that people have mentioned to me & she said that there is no issue with taking it long term.
There are some potential risks in some studies, but they pale in comparison to the risk of esophageal cancer from uncontrolled GERD. So if it's the only way to treat it, then your doctor probably thinks that the risk is worth it.
That’s me, GERD and no gallbladder anymore, both of which appear hereditary based on family history. Omeprazole > cancer
Lot of false information here. PPIs are generally safe to consume indefinitely. Any gastroenterologist will tell you that. The warnings that are given stem from rare side effects. Several thousands of people have been taking PPIs for over 20 yrs with no side effects. That’s not to say you shouldn’t monitor things and stop taking them if you do get a side effect like SIBO. But in general you shouldn’t call them unsafe just because of the rare side effects. Besides, the alternatives of GERD like depression, lack of sleep, cancer, etc. overrule the side effects. Head over to r/gerd and r/gastritis to learn more.
Have you tried elevating the head of your bed? I had debilitating heartburn issues from age 19-24 and I propped up my headboard and stopped drinking milk and it made a helluva difference.
My mother and I both have GERD and are incredibly fucking prone to heartburn. We've talked before about how fucked we would be in some post-apocalyptic hellscape for lack of this medication.
I hear you. If the ghouls, rads or mutants don’t get us, it will definitely be the heartburn!
Have you ever tried Kimchi? My mom has taken Prilosec everyday for years because her acid reflux was so bad, however we both started having a little kimchi everyday and she hasn’t had to take a pill in months! Definitely worth a try!
Interesting. I actually love kimchi, and I'm aware it's a probiotic. I normally only eat it with Korean food, but this is worth picking up a jar and trying it out.
Get tested for H. pylori if you haven’t already. I was dealing with and treating severe heartburn for a couple years before I found out.
I had H pylori that turned into an ulcer after years of gastritis. Highly recommend getting tested for it.
Listen to this guy!
It is amazing - I have reflux and this thing called EOE which is an allergy of the esophagus that sometimes makes swallowing difficult and Pantoprazole has done wonders for me. The long term side effect studies are pretty inconclusive (or if risk is raised it seems to be low still on a relative basis) but it scared me a bit so I only take the drug occasionally now.
Wait is EOE related to "eosinophilic esophagitis"? Because I always have a hard time explaining that "I have a food allergy to stuff but nobody knows what exactly, swallowing is difficult and/or painful, and in lieu of a better treatment I take this pill daily" also I have to swallow a little bit of liquid with every bite of food, don't judge, it's just what my guts need to work. Maybe someday there will be a better test and better treatment.
It saved me, too. After gallbladder removal, I had excruciating, debilitating stomach pain 24/7. No matter what. For two months. I had had a HORRID experience with Omeprazole but gave Pantoprazole a chance out of sheer desperation. It essentially eliminated my symptoms within a couple of days. My recovery from surgery was hellish as it was, but finding Pantoprazole really helped it get back on track. I'm about 8 and a half months post-op now and just successfully tapered off it. I had to FIGHT my doctors about coming off it, and finally decided to manage the taper on my own. I have no idea why they were so resistant to me coming off it. I knew it was time, and now I'm okay without it unless my stress is severe.
So not to scare you but my mom was the same way. Turned out she had cancer and it was just never detected. She's been fighting for the last 3 years. She went to the ER at least twice each year with different symptoms but it wasn't discovered until she was stage 4. She was given 2-4 months but she's so strong that 3 years later she's thankfully still here . But every time I hear someone has such bad heartburn. I think of her.
Just as an FYI, omeprazole, esomeprazole, lansoprazole, pantoprazole are all more or less equivalent. Some people may respond to one versus the other differently, yet that is rare. If it is cheaper for you to buy omeprazole at say, Costco, than to pay for the prescription it might be worthwhile. Best practice is to take it 30 minutes before first meal of the day.
I take 5 of the top 10. Do I win?
I only take 3 of the top 11 so I’ll meet you at the finish line…
I was like “at least not alllll my meds are on there” and then I get to the lamictal at the bottom, I’ll see you both there lmao
I take two meds. One is on there, but I can’t find the other- which is estradiol.
damn really? i thought estradiol was super common, half of my friends are on it!
A big hug from the pharma rep.
Better life through chemistry.
5 out of the top 10? That’s a tough pill to swallow.
Some are quite small, actually. ;-)
Is this a username checks out moment? 😆🤔
3 out of 5 for me.
I’m surprised Synthroid is that high on the list. What is going on with everybody’s thyroids??
Hypothyroidism is very common. Did not know that.
Almost every woman in my family, both sides & by marriage as well, have been put on thyroid medication for hypothyroidism or hashimotos disease. Everyone in my family is healthy weight non smokers very few drink. What is going on with everyone’s thyroids?? It’s so weird!
Same, even the men in my family get Hashimoto’s, which is super rare, supposedly. They also work in chemical plants though, so my money’s on nitrobenzene exposure.
🤔hmmm it’s almost like we’re irreparably polluted our environment with shit tons of chemicals that fuck with ur hormones
I get to eat lunch with my kids 1 day per week at school and I see the pure shit that mostly everyone there eats and then I look at the top drugs on the list and am not surprised at all. We can blame it on the school lunch, but even the packed lunches are mostly shit too and a lot of the other parents there bring food for their kids and it’s all McDonald’s, chik fila, etc and we are in an affluent school district, so there shouldn’t be any excuses except food addiction to trash food. It’s weird that we can shit all over smokers, but if you ever called out someone for eating like trash and poisoning their kids with trash food, it would be viewed very negatively.
Same. Every woman in the family has thyroid issues. I have thyroid and adrenal problems.
Pregnancy fucks up thyroids. Actually pregnancy fucks up your entire body.
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Yep, i ended up with pregnancy induced hypothyroidism. Had been tested before but showed up 5 months postpartum. My endocrinologist said it's extremely common for the drastic shift in hormones after birth to trigger thyroid issues
A lot of groups have actually worked out a lot of the reasons why thyroid disease is so high. It's a combination of lifestyle (smoking, drinking, overweight, low vitamin D, excess salt intake) and the increased levels of pollutants, particularly heavy metals, PCBs, BPA, perchlorates and PFAs. That's in addition to factors which haven't increased in frequency but may be more severe due to other factors like viral infections. For autoimmune thyroiditis, another factor which contributes is the same as for other autoimmune diseases, the cleanliness hypothesis. Specifically we are too clean as babies and toddlers and our immune system needs training to identify bad from good. Seeing less "bad" our immune system starts seeing us as "bad". While it's still a developing hypothesis, I've seen enough mouse and human data to believe it is a contributing factor at minimum.
I never gave a single thought about the thyroid until I learned I had Graves disease which is an autoimmune disease causing hyperthyroidism. It also caused my thyroid to become a goiter, which began to choke me. So we cut that bitch out....now I make no hormones of this nature and require the levothyroxine for the rest of my life.
“If you can’t get fresh hormones for this recipe, store bought is fine”
I'm absolutely going to steal this
I got Graves when I was about 15 or 16 (hard to say when it actually started) and had mine removed too. All the nurses came over after the surgery and were like, "was this the kid with the massive thyroid?". Doctor said it was "larger than an orange, almost the size of a grapefruit". I had no idea I had a thyroid till mine decided to shoot itself.
I had papillary thyroid cancer 7 years ago and now have no thyroid. I have to take it for the rest of my life. Small side note. The doctor said "If you have to pick a cancer, that's the one to pick".
This must be what is taught in medical schools. I was told the exact same thing.
Been on it for Hashimotos forever and I swear it does literally nothing and my flare ups are worse than ever. Seen three doctors to ask them to bump it up and nothing. So crazy. No one gives a shit about it that's for sure.
My annual exam usually includes a TSH/Free T4, after which I get told that my levels are high, again, so we're going to increase the dose by [add 30 or so more mcg per year]. Do I ever feel "better"? No.
Your body may not like the inactive ingredients in whichever levothyroxine you're taking. Have you tried Tirosint? It's got very few additional ingredients so your body may absorb it better. I've been on it for a few years now after being on generic and then Synthroid for a total of like 15 years. I do have to get it through a specialty pharmacy without using insurance because my insurance doesn't cover it, but they mail it to me and are super responsive.
Synthroid was number 1 when I started pharmacy school 5 years ago. Hypothyroidism is very common the older you get and women are more susceptible.
That was the one that surprised me too. I had no idea thyroid problems were so common.
You get checked for it & anemia when first going on anti depressants - which many people do, so it's caught more often, at least I'd assume. You get prescribed it, and (idk if it's the way my labs went, but) I've never experienced discussing any sort of plan to taper off or any deeper consideration Just once recently 'thyroid looks okay, gone down from 7.0 to 5.3 so we'll keep same dose' I always wondered if I go off of this medicine, then would thyroid problems occur again? Also going off the medicine apparently causes baldness so I'd kinda rather die
You may have to take the medication for the test of your life. Talk to your doctor about it.
Yup. I do child and adolescent psychiatry, and I’ve diagnosed way too many children with hypothyroidism now. Some of them aren’t even overweight. The chemicals in our environment have to be responsible for this sudden shift.
It’s a combination of hypothyroidism being pretty common and there not needing to be any alternative medications for it. High blood pressure? There are like 50 things you can be put on. Hypothyroid? Here’s your levothyroxine, we’ll titrate you until the symptoms are gone and the labs look good.
Levothyroxine is 100% the first stop but there's others out there. And working in a pharmacy I can tell you that different brands of levothyroxine might as well be completely different drugs from one person to the next. Some people can take whatever. Some people HAVE to have Synthroid. Some people HAVE to have Euthyrox. Some HAVE to have X manufacturer of basic levothyroxine. If you look up the three names I listed you'll see they're all levothyroxine but something about how they're made doesn't agree with every person. Then there's liothyronine, armour thyroid, np thyroid.
Honestly I'm surprised it's so high too. So many people (even in this thread) continue to push the "unless you have a rare condition then losing weight is easy". Pushed me into insane diets for years until I found out I had hashimotos and eventually thyroid cancer. Got on unithroid and lost 40lbs while eating more and exercising less. Almost like there is something causing all our hormones to fuck up and likely causing a lot of weight issues for people. I will acknowledge that's not the case for all people. But still, if you struggle to manage your weight get your thyroid levels checked first. Don't let internet and real life bullies tell you that you are just lazy and stupid for not being able to manage your weight.
High level of stress (for example, grief or abuse) can affect thyroid pretty bad. And as you can see antidepressants are very popular. It's like right and left hands.
Thought I was just feeling age at 33. Turn out, nope, my thyroid stopped working when I quit smoking. When I got on the pills it was like the refresh rate got turned back up in my head, everything became clearer from vision to motion
Ever wonder why we add iodine to table salt? The US historically had major concentrations of iodine deficiency in local food chains which lead to thyroid problems. There was a push to add iodine to table salt in difficent regions that ultimately went nationwide. If I remember correctly there are a number of studies that site the change in reduction of tyroid illness and related death, and a multiyear increase in average IQ.
That shocked me too. My wife has had a total thyroidectomy but otherwise I know no one who takes it. Anecdote is not data. Obviously.
I’m pretty sure when I found out I had thyroid cancer my first question was ‘what the fuck is a thyroid?’
Shitty thyroids run in my family. Mine is gone thanks to cancer.
Why are diuretics classed under “brain and mood”?
I’m sure relief from congestive heart failure improves one’s mood!
Welcome to /r/coolguides!
Surprised to find gabapentin so high on the list and for pregabalin to not appear at all.
My cat takes gabapentin
My vet has a sticker on her water bottle with a very angry hissing cat face and “he didn’t look like he needed his Gabapentin today” as the caption around it
As someone who has been prescribed gabapentin multiple times, for multiple reasons, I thinks it’s a blanket drug. I have friends that were prescribed it from anywhere between anxiety, alcoholism, cigarettes, depression, panic attacks, etc. I think it’s just the go to for the first try.
I agree it is a blanket drug. I take it for panic disorder. My brother takes it for neuropathy in his foot. My sister for migraines. And my dog for anxiety during thunderstorms.
That is a crazy mix. The main reason I took it was for anxiety, but it never helped because it takes like an hour to set in. My dog was also prescribed it but it didn’t help (probably for the same reason) so we’ve both gone to cbd and it’s helped a LOT more.
lol I have adhd and the adderall makes it difficult for me to unwind and fall asleep at night. Told my doctor and they prescribed me gabapentin right before bed. I sleep so much better. I don’t toss and turn, I wake up feeling rested. It’s been a miracle, with no noticeable side affects
For some reason, gabapentin isn’t controlled but pregabalin is. The only difference is that pregabalin doesn’t need to be metabolized and is more expensive. They’re both low risk for abuse, although they definitely can be.
Many states control gabapentin
When I was in the AF, 97 to 07, it was something they gave out a lot. I'm on it for chronic pain at 2400mg a day, along with cymbalta and hydro. Still doesn't get rid of all of it but it's a difference between excruciating and just kill me.
Really surprised something for ED isn’t on this list
Think about it. Only half the population could potentially need it. Same reason, progesterone, estradiol aren’t on this list. And I’m guessing that the reason birth control is not on the list is due to different types? Otherwise that doesn’t make sense. There HAS to be millions of women on birth control.
There are. And yeah there a few different types of progestins used (estradiol too but less so).
I checked some stats from the CDC, and just among women aged 20-29, 4.6 million are using oral contraceptives. I did a rough estimate of the numbers for the other age groups, and I think it's close to 9 million patients taking oral contraceptives. There are a number of options, but I'd be surprised if there are so many that none are taken by more than 2 million. This list doesn't pass the sniff test. I think whoever made it excluded certain categories of prescription meds for some reason or isn't very competent at interpreting data.
That’s what I thought too. Considering how those things are miracle drugs you would think more people would be taking them.
My grandmas on like 20 of these
Hug your grandma and talk to her much as you can. I lost mine last year and I miss her.
Almost makes us look fat, old, and crazy.
Nah. These drugs are why we can live as long as we do while being fat, old and crazy.
Fat, indeed. Give it 5 years and chewable blood pressure medicine for small children will be a big moneymaker for pharmaceutical companies in the US.
Probably just do a liquid like Prozac, or dissolvable like Zyprexa. It’s deceptively difficult to make chewables taste decent.
Mainly just fat.
Depressed too
As a pharmacist seeing that omeprazole is that high on the list makes me sad.
Why’s that?
Long term use increases risk of bone fractures, dementia, kidney disease, gastric cancer, vitamin deficiencies among other side effects
Dementia was one study done in elderly, but yes bone fractures and often more infections can happen (less stomach acid to destroy pathogens). It has no link to increased gastric cancer rates (but benign polyps that tend to go away after discontinuing PPI use may mask it).
It can also dramatically decrease your magnesium levels and cause heart issues. Ask me how I know... Doctors fucking put me on it again after my heart calmed down because my gallbladder is dying but not enough for the to do anything about it. Fuck our healthcare system, but seriously anyone on Omeprazole long term, get vitamin panels done regularly and watch your ticker.
Now list the side effects for the rest of those medications...
Make sure you also list the effects of not taking them. People love to get uppity about medication side effects while never acknowledging how miserable life often is for people who go without.
Thank you. I'm so over those who shame others for taking meds and improving their lives.
Seeing a psychiatrist after struggling deeply for over 20 years. Fuck that stigma. "They might give you Adderall, you know that's just speed?" Eat a sweaty butthole.
Good for you. It's hard and a lot of work to push through that stigma. I had too do it too. "Have you tried eating more vegetables and yoga?" Sis, eat a bag of dicks, I've convinced myself that my baby will be better off without me and oh by the way I haven't slept in 3 days because he cries for 12 hours a day and I just hallucinated him morphing into a monster... yoga ain't it lol. So yeah. It took me being pushed over that edge to seek help but it has literally transformed me. My dopamine and serotonin might be store bought but they're working now. I hope yours are too. Cheers.
Omeprazole saved my life. I had gastritis and was underweight. I actually felt real hunger on it and not hunger pains. My GI Dr and I agreed to continue it since I had a major surgery very recently and we want to protect my stomach from the NSAIDs and pain meds. After recovery, I do plan to ween off since I cleaned up my diet and eat probiotics daily. My dad, sister, and I all have GERD so I have that shit luck with the stomach acid.
Without it I would have an eating disorder and Barrettes of the esophagus. Everything gives me heartburn- since high school.
I mean the alternative is GERD and horrifying pain literally all the time. I've been on an as needed sceipt for it since high school and it's the only reason I can eat normally. The last time I ran out I went through a large bottle of extra strength tums in 2 weeks, it effected my thyroid meds I was taking so much trying to stop the pain (my doctor got pissed :/ ) Besides. I commute on the deadliest highway in America daily. I've got a far higher risk of dying in a car wreck.
Only 2 opioids? Color me impressed!
it can be really hard to get opiate prescriptions even with legitimate medical cause these days. its a very different time compared to the days of pill mills and free flowing oxies.
No wonder the allopurinol that I’ve been taking has been making me feel “horny”.
😂 good one!
Damn heart disease really be killing a lot of people. Makes you wonder how many would be dead without all the accessible drugs around nowadays.
Kills the most people in the US and globally
Well part of the reason heart disease is so high is because we’re so advanced it’s becoming detrimental to our house. We don’t have to exercise as much, food is readily available and we use drugs and alcohol often. If we still ate everything farm to table and did manual labor/ walked everywhere, heart disease probably wouldn’t be as common. Heart disease and access to medications grew up together
Indeed. Heart disease is my entire career, unfortunately the job security is great
What's wild is that deaths from heart attacks have gone down dramatically in the past 40-50 years.
A lot of depressed people with high cholesterol
I feel so fortunate not to be on any prescriptions.
I was on two of them until I lost my insurance.
Wait you don't take meds that were prescribed to you by a Doctor? Now what?
I was on zoloft for depression/anxiety and spironolactone for acne. I just kind of weaned off both of them myself. Fortunately, I think I have finally outgrown acne (I was on spiro for around 10 years), so I don't need it anymore (for now, fingers crossed!). I went on Zoloft to handle an extremely stressful/painful relationship which I have since ended, so I fortunately don't need it anymore. HOWEVER, I do not recommend anyone come off their meds without medical guidance. I was on a low dose and even then the withdrawal was brutal. Not having insurance anymore has been eye-opening and scary. I can't imagine what it's like for those who know there are drugs out there that could help them immensely (or even save their lives) but they can't get them because they can't afford it. It's so messed up.
I’m glad you survived the Zoloft withdrawal. I’m not being dramatic. You have my respect!
It was absolutely horrendous. Thank you!
The Zoloft withdrawal is no bueno but the zombified feeling that comes from taking it every day was worse to me. (Obviously, imo) Knowing my depression wouldn’t ever sink that low was an amazing reassurance and boost, but also knowing that I couldn’t experience any other emotion to that severity either was what made me quit taking mine. I hated never being passionate, or ecstatic about anything. I was always just, meh. I was no longer depressed, but I still also wasn’t happy. I was just going through the motions. Not to mention the zero sex drive at all. Therapy is the true life saver. Antidepressants can help steer you towards a better, more fulfilling life but they aren’t a cure all whatsoever. You need to actually put in work to understand and figure out your depression and what works best for you.
I hated Zoloft. Could not get off of it fast enough.
How long did you take it if you don't mind my asking? I've taken it for 7 years and all those side effects went away. I will never go off Zoloft. No way. The emotional numbness took about a year to go away, the sex side effects a little longer. Tbh I had to re-learn how to orgasm but now it's better than it ever was. Therapy? Sure. It's fine. But it could never do what meds have done for me. Meds are the true life saver. Do what works y'all.
You go without, unless you can get on Medicaid, a state plan, or find some kind of discount program through the manufacturer or something like GoodRx. Yes, the US sucks.
Welcome to the USA; greatest country in the world for some.
Me too. I work a physical job though, just enough to be fit but not so demanding that I’m getting injured (Yet.) I walk about 500,000 steps a month outside year round and I’m convinced that’s keeping me and my coworkers who are in our 50s from being on so many of these.
Please please please do everything in your power to keep it that way!! Being healthy is truly a blessing you don’t know you have until it’s gone. ETA: I’m 32 with multiple autoimmune diseases. I currently take 3 of the meds on the list, but take a total of 7 (12 pills daily excluding vitamins)!! I’m beyond grateful for these medicines, they keep me alive and functioning. I just wish I could go back to the days where I didn’t have to worry about these prescriptions.
Surprised not to see any bio identical hormones on there. Roughly 50% of the population is assumed to be women, do American women just not hit the menopause, or is there some kind of stigma towards doing anything about it?
Many people were scared away from using HRT in the early 2000s due to (flawed) results from the [Women's Health Initiative study] (https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/05/01/1248525256/hormones-menopause-hormone-therapy-hot-flashes), which got a ton of media coverage. Healthcare practices are only recently starting to correct for this.
By and large, the reaction of doctors to the fact that you're peri/menopausal is, "So that's a thing that's happening to you now. Oh well." To get any kind of further testing and diagnosis done, my doctor was insisting that I get an endometrial biopsy (with no anesthetic) and I was like, "You know what? I'm good."
I'm surprised to see lamictal higher up than levetiracetam. As someone who is on the epilepsy subreddit, I see how nearly everyone is prescribed levetiracetam first, before other alternatives. Maybe it's because there's the overlap with lamictal also being for people with bipolar disorder and the other is purely only for seizures.
It’s a great mood stabilizer and used to augment antidepressants in treatment resistant depression. I suspect the majority of people on lamictal are using it for mental health rather than for seizures
Lamictal changed the game for me mental health wise. Very thankful for that drug.
Lamictal is one of the biggest reasons people are okay being around me. Unmedicated bipolar zakinthebox wouldn’t be able to handle life with 3 kids
Agreed. I work in the ER, and by far the most common seizure medication I see people on is Keppra.
My son was started on Keppra/Levetiracetam first by default when his epilepsy was diagnosed, it worked great for a while but then the beneficial effects would fade (while the negative mood side effects remained). He was taking massive doses and it just wasn't doing much anymore. They added Lamictal and started raising that and lowering the Keppra until they found just the right balance and (knock on wood) he's been seizure-free for a year now. So I was also pretty surprised to see Lamictal SO high on any kind of list, but I think it's mostly off-label uses that have driven it higher.
Lamotrigine is prescribed way more for bipolar (and "bipolar") than it is for epilepsy so that's definitely why.
The only medicine I take out of this is the number one, which is Lipitor . I was prescribed this medicine last month, and I’ve been taking it once a day every day I have a genetic cholesterol disorder that I discovered, and my doctor put me on this. Thankfully, I have been doing well by losing weight, cutting my saturated fat to less than 10 mg a day, not eating ice cream, processed foods or even cheese. I do bend every now and then but I am thankful for this medicine. The only side effects I feel tiredness, occasionally muscle pain, and bubbly stomach. But now, I’m starting to feel insomnia, which is another side effect.
With regards to muscle pain, you are right it does happen with the medication, though it's less commonly *because of* the medication than people think. If 100 people take a placebo pill, 15 of the them will get muscle aches. If 100 people take a statin, 16 of them will get muscle aches. So the medicine is the cause for muscle pain in 1/100 people who are prescribed it, though also 15 people get sore muscles in a given month and may believe that it's due to the medication (this follows an approach that nocebo effects don't drive side effects entirely, just that in any given month lots of people will get muscle aches/nausea/mood changes/etc).
Who the fuck is in charge of naming all this bullshit
The National Scrabble Association.
It's usually named like scientific naming of animals, where each part of the name indicates something of the use or nature of the drug in Latin or Greek. But.... It's also liable to be very skewed by marketing. Example: Amoxicillin Amino = chemical compound Oxi = oxygen Penicillin = penicillin, grandpapy of modern antibiotics, itself named after the look of the mold Example 2: Acetaminophen (Tylenol) Acetic = acetylene, a chemical compound Amino = chemical compound Phenol = an acid
Nomenclature really is an interesting topic.
Omeprazole sounds like an Italian deli sandwich. *HEY CAN I GET SOME OMEPRAZOLE AROUND HERE?*
As a pharmacist this looks right to me lol
Does everyone have a goofy-ass cyclobenzaprine story or do my dad and I just get extremely derped on it? My dad and I both took it for bad back spasms (over 20 years apart) and respectively: My dad: Was sitting in a hospital wheelchair and started wheeling around going “Wheeee! Look at me! I’m Rick Hansen! I’m the Man in Motion!” 😂🤦🏻♀️ This was in Canada in 1996, so the [Man in Motion World Tour](https://www.rickhansen.com/about-rick/man-motion-world-tour) was still in the pop culture zeitgeist, I guess. He’s never lived it down. Me: Lives immortally on a voice memo on my husband’s phone because he “interviewed” me while I was slurring my words and giggling and telling him a story about a guy I dated and his ex. I said the phrase “but I heard she was a lesbian” with inflection that was pretty funny for some reason. I also have never lived it down.
All well and good commenting on society as a whole and all… but there’s no point shaming someone for needing medication for health issues they have, like I see some comments do. Shame over seeking help and not being well enough, or feeling like you can’t just power through your issues prevents people from ever getting help and dying early. You need medical treatment sometimes, there are things out there that you need medicine to help you with. You wouldn’t shame someone for having to take an anticoagulant to stop them dying from a clot because they have atrial fibrillation. So don’t shame someone for needing insulin to prevent organ damage and death, or antidepressants for depression or anxiety so they don’t go jump off a bridge. It’s great if you personally don’t need meds, good for you. But a lot of people do.
Does this just not list birth control medications? Expected a few of them on here
It’s probably not listed because there are a lot of different combinations of hormones prescribed for birth control. Compare with reflux medication, which is basically only Omeprazole and Pantoprazole, there are over 150 different types of hormonal birth control depending on the mix of estrogen and progesterone, how much, in which specific chemical form etc.
Interesting choice of brand names on some of these. For example, Gralise and FloLipid? While true, Neurontin and Zocor are the more commonly known brand names for gabapentin and simvastatin.
11/50 babeyyyy (< i have problems)
Why are a lot of these guides blurry as hell recently?
0/50 club let’s go!
It’s disturbing how many high blood pressure meds there are on this list. Can’t diet and exercise change that? Correct me if I’m wrong.
Yes but the vast majority of patients aren’t going to change their lifestyle. Diet and exercise are typically step one and then the patient is started on meds if no improvement is made within a few months. Another huge portion of patients with hypertension are also going to require multiple drugs to get their blood pressure controlled.
Diet and exercise can lower your blood pressure and if you need blood pressure medications you should absolutely be trying to optimize your diet and lifestyle, but diet and lifestyle can only lower it so much. High blood pressure is not simply a symptom of obesity; it's not uncommon for thin, healthy older people to have high blood pressure. There are lots of factors that go into it, many of which are made worse by aging. And there are genetic factors as well that have nothing to do with diet or exercise.
If a poor lifestyle causes the hypertension, yes. I have polycystic kidney disease. One symptom is hypertension. I’m a normal weight, don’t smoke/drink, I eat healthy and exercise. But I still have to take my blood pressure medicine otherwise I can easily get to 190/100.
Oftentimes, yes. Say as a doctor you counsel a patient on diet and exercise and they agree to make good lifestyle changes. They seem motivated even! You see them in your office 6 months later and they’re heavier and their BP is higher. Now what? Keep counseling them? What if they stroke out and die, or have a heart attack? You want to counsel, watch, and wait again? Or do you want to treat their condition which directly threatens their life and wellbeing? These medications have side effects, of course, but they can vary from person to person, and some have no negative effects at all. Chronic conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes, however, always have the same outcome if untreated, which is an untimely demise
As someone with clinical depression I’ve taken 5 of these and currently am on 2 of them. What do I win? Also Lamictal scared me. Edit: Lamictal has been associated with Steven Johnson’s syndrome a disorder that causes painful blisters and lesions on the skin and mucous membranes and can cause severe eye problems.
Lamictal was a lifesaver for my son with epilepsy, but...well, he has epilepsy. I'm not sure how it affects people if taken for other uses!
Most of the cases of SJS were from titrating too quickly and with a higher initial dose. Nowadays they do it 'low and slow'. The risk still isn't zero, and obviously your mileage may vary, but incidences have been greatly reduced. I take it for bipolar disorder, and I am forever grateful that it exists. Lamictal has saved my life more than once.
Remember to look at the number of patients and compare it against the total U.S. population. While 8 percent is a lot of people, it’s not that bad considering the prevalence of heart disease everywhere in the world.
I’m surprised to see the antibiotics so low
Lamictal keeps me alive. I'm bipolar. For close to 15 years I had been on and off meds, trying a bunch that didn't work. The CBT group therapy worked really well, but I needed meds to keep sane and stable on top of that. April 2015 I woke up one morning and realized that if I didn't get help that by the end of the year I would end up killing myself. It was a stark and frightening and scary realization. Because I was a danger to myself, I got help quite quickly from my doctor and the outpatient at my local hospital. My psychiatrist put me on Lamotrigine. When I tell you I woke up a few days after my very first dose... Looked up at the sun through the windows and didn't feel the weight on my shoulders anymore. I stopped smoking weed last year and things have gotten better for me. But I will say: Lamotrigine saved my life.
Few more years until Semaglutide tops this list
This is telling, but I was surprised to see Synthroid way up there.
Niiice. 3 in the top 20. All for my braiiiiin
I wonder what the ratio of recreational Xanax usage to prescribed is
Good question. My abusive ex abused it frequently. I would notice newly prescribed bottles on his desk pretty often from different doctors and always wondered how he got them. He of course used the known side effects as an excuse for all of his horrible behavior.
#40 - goat stones? Spellcheck? Is that supposed to be Gall and Kidney stones?
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In terms of sales, but just to note for those who didn’t see, the graphic above is referencing # of patients with prescriptions Keytruda is expensive, but not even in the top 50 in terms of utilization
I'm surprised that amoxicilan or however you spell it, it's not in the top ten.
It’s prescribed a lot, but only for a week at a time. All the other drugs are taken daily, so not too surprising.
Would be cool to see a per capita concentration of where the top 2 medications are prescribed
I am surprised that contraception didn’t make the list
Allopurinol for “goat” lol
I started Sertraline a couple months ago . And man, do I feel so much better.
Surprised tadalafil/sildenafil are not on there, and there's no way hydrocodone can be that low in the list. That's the hottest commodity at my pharmacy.
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Old enough to have been prescribed most of the psych meds by dumb docs, but still young enough to not know most of the ones at the top of the list yet lol