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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; Box 417 bring your own contianer. Angwin, CA 94508 voice 707 965 2508 ODE TO A METAPHOR fax 707 965 3148 Ilustrations are useful, e-mail [log in to unmask] Or what's a meta-FOR.