In part Bernard Joly said:

>Doctors may be wrong, or away on vacation, but medical
>diagnosis and prescription are part of their job.  PD
>patients or caregivers, cannot take in to account such things
>as side effects, interacton between drugs, etc..."

I dissagree with the above. My health is too inportant to leave it to
physicians.
I consider my physicisn as a resource person but I take primary
responsibility for my health. For example I NEVER take a prescription
without checking with PDR first.
I have come to this conclusion because of my experiences which I now believe
are typical.

One example. About 20 yrs ago I was taking theophyilline for asthma by
prescription  from an allergist. When I complained of ineffectiveness, he
said "double the dose" which at that time I did. On the second day I felt
terrible. My heart was racing and I just didn't feel right. I was away from
home in my motor home. I stopped by the side of the road and ran for about a
1/2 hr. My reasoning was that if it was the medication, perhaps running
would increaas my metabolism and work it out of my sysmtem sooner. I was
home in about 2 hrs and I went directly to a lab & had my blood tested for
theophyilline.  It was 130% of the toxic level. PDR says  about 1/2 of the
people go directly into siezure without warning and that "seizure and even
death may be the first sign of toxicity". PDR also gives 9 drugs subject to
drug interactions with theophylline. My wife would have had no idea  what to
do if I had gone into a seizure. The physicisn neither checked for toxicity
nor drug interactions. I find this inexcusable, especially for a drug that
has a narrow raage between therapeutic levels and toxicity levels. This guy
had a huge practice and a large crew of people.

I no longer have asthma after removoing the pets and the carpet. But my main
point is that I learned my lesson. NEVER leave your health in your doctors
hands and NEVER take a prescription without checking with PDR. I have had
many occasions since then to be happy about my resolution.

---Milo
Milo V. Anderson, Ph.D.             Knowledge is free at the library;
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