Are drugs a placebo?

No issues with medicines here, hayfever currently under control with a combination of spray and tablets, they also put me to sleep which is great at night in this heat. I know they work because if I skip a day it's really bad the next. Pain killers have always worked when needed (not often).
 
Ace Modder said:
  • Headaches - paracethomol - never worked for me
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not all drugs wok on all people, I find paracetamol ineffective.
However, the migraine Tesco own is a miracle drug or any other brand with the same active ingredient.

howler said:
apparently eating local honey is good for hayfever, don't know if it is true just what I've been told
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j said:
You'd need to eat gallons of it.
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Nope just doesn't work, theres been several studies and it does no better than a placebo.
Which also brings ip a very worring point, is how easy it is for the alternative "medicine" lot to get a good foot hold in the mind of the public.
 
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Honey has a lot of medicinal advantages - its really good for you. I don't have sugar in things like my tea anymore I use Honey as the sweetner and its made world of difference to my ailments. I've lost tons of weight now too but its got to the point I'm struggling putting it back on now!

Doctors are now saying that its a proven fact that a cup of hot water with a touch of honey and lemon is far better for you than lemsip. Honey is also really good for stomach issues, and then theres mamukah honey - widely used in hospital dressings etc.

Paracetamol and ibuprofen have no effect on me either (other than giving me constipation lol!) - I know where your coming from Ace. I've generally avoided them most of my life. Defo never ever did anything for headaches that I can state!

Unfortunately I had a major life changing event a couple of years ago and now I'm on 8 pills a day. I can actually feel the effects of these drugs as they are all heart related stuff. Oh and guess what? Yup - chronic constipation as a result.

I'm amazed doctors dont know much these days about the meds the prescribe - I had chronic constipation for nearly 2 years (I literally stopped eating at one point) before they realised it was because of all the meds.

A couple of the meds I'm on are not for what they are primarily supposed to do, but for their side-effects would you believe! (Ramipril for example)
 
Cold/Flu - the usual drugs to reduce the symptoms never work
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aren't they usually just paracetamol, a decongestant and caffeine sold at a ridiculous mark-up

Ibuprofen is good for me but I think the doses in this country tend to be a bit small, you get 800 strength tablets in Switzerland where as over here its usually take 2x 200

maybe GPs over here can prescribe higher strength ones though.

400mg does almost nothing to me so its more like a placebo dose
 
Ibuprofen isn't as good as paracetamol/asprin for me.
It's not a placebo though.

I've discovered a love for Alka-Seltzer xs. It's like super pain relief.

Cafine, asprin and paracetamol.
 
MooMoo444 said:
Maybe you just need something stronger. Nothing shifts my headaches like cocodamols, over the counter from the chemist :)

The codeine must give the paracetamol a boost of nitrous.
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Codeine is an opiate and it works by being broken down into morphine by your liver. It is pretty much the only thing that can effect me that is purchased over the counter. It is sold as co-codamol (paracetamol and codeine) for three reasons:

1. It has been used as a recreational drug before and even though your body can take a lot of codeine before your liver shuts down, your threshold for taking paracetamol is much lower for your liver. Grouping it with paracetamol stops you knocking back 4-8 tablets at once to match the equivalent of stronger codeine only prescriptions.

2. It is chemically addictive as it is an opiate

3. It is more effective this way compared to the effect on the liver. The drugs work in synergy to give you pain relief but since different enzymes break down paracetamol and codeine, you do not stress your liver as much as you would if you took just one drug to the same pain killing effect.


Drugs can effect people differently due to weight, the type of pain you have and how your body responds to the drug when you take it. If you produce too much of the enzyme to break down a drug like codeine, you get a big hit of the drug which gives you intense but short lived pain relief. Make too little of the enzyme and the pain relief is more mild but longer lasting. Make far too little and you may be stressing your liver/kidneys over a too long time and risk damaging it. Take the drug too often and your body may build up a 'tolerance' by learning to react quicker to its ingestion by producing the enzyme quicker and in greater quantity to break it down sooner.
 
You know I find lucozade far more effective at making me feel better than any over the counter flu/cold tablets I've tried over the years.
 
After suffering a bad arm injury a few years ago I can say that paracetamol and ibuprofen definitely do work for me. Also if you ever have kids and they get something like ear ache, fever or a sore throat you'll certainly see that Calpol (which is paracetamol) does work.
 
Ace Modder said:
Anti-biotics do work, they are one of the what I'd call a "specialist" drug, it is effectively topping up soemthing your body needs to fight infection, so that drug is one of the ones I feel is very real and works.

But I feel most of the stuff over the counter is a waste of time for me. Maybe my body doesn't react much to chemicals - all people are different. Same way that if I drank 3-4 cans of red bull 1hour before wanting to sleep it wouldn't affect my ability to fall asleep but for other people they are "wired" and cannot sleep at all.
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maybe you have an anti-placebo effect going on.
i know a few people who are determined that drugs have no effect on them and so they convince themselves that they are having no effect (even though they probably are)
 
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