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Should DayQuil Be Legal?

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Re: Should DayQuil Be Legal?

#141

Post by kelnos »

Melatonic wrote: post #110
kube-system wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A concern with OTC drugs is specifically that they won't be taken at normal doses. People confuse brand names and drug names, and don't realize they are taking more than the reccomended amount. This is especially problematic with combination drugs.

Doesn't OTC specifically mean the ones that can't just be on the shelf ? Where you do not need a prescription but a pharmacist still has to be asked to hand it to you "over the counter" ?

No, OTC means a drug available on the shelf, that people can buy without a prescription.

It's funny, I never thought about it, but you're right, it does sound backwards.

Re: Should DayQuil Be Legal?

#142

Post by kube-system »

Melatonic wrote: post #110
kube-system wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A concern with OTC drugs is specifically that they won't be taken at normal doses. People confuse brand names and drug names, and don't realize they are taking more than the reccomended amount. This is especially problematic with combination drugs.

Doesn't OTC specifically mean the ones that can't just be on the shelf ? Where you do not need a prescription but a pharmacist still has to be asked to hand it to you "over the counter" ?

In the US, OTC means the drugs available on the shelf.

The ones you have to ask a pharmacist for are “BTC”: behind the counter. e.g. pseudoephedrine.

Re: Should DayQuil Be Legal?

#143

Post by MisterTea »

sph wrote: post #23
MisterTea wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But then, overdosing dxm isn't all that healthy and I'd recommend ketamine if you want to experiment like that. Ketamine is neurotoxic itself and can cause permanent brain damage. I can't find the info but there was someone in the tech industry who accidentally overdosed and suffered a two year bout of severe debilitating depression culminating in suicide.

Sorry to say, we shouldn't really base our opinion on drug safety from people who accidentally overdose or are generally reckless with drugs. There's people who drink for the first time and end up in the hospital. If you want to do it the smart way, just consult erowid.org and use a little common sense. https://erowid.org/chemicals/ketamine/ketamine_faq.shtml

The post I replied to stated that a DXM OD is dangerous then mentions ketamine without stating its OD dangers giving it the appearance of a safe alternative.

Re: Should DayQuil Be Legal?

#144

Post by kube-system »

tristor wrote: post #111
kube-system wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A concern with OTC drugs is specifically that they won't be taken at normal doses. People confuse brand names and drug names, and don't realize they are taking more than the reccomended amount. This is especially problematic with combination drugs.

There are people who don't know that Tylenol and acetaminophen are the same thing. That is not a reason for us to make everyone's quality of life and access to healthcare worse because some people are ignorant. The desire to nanny-state things to the lowest common denominator is ruining everything, and it's a major driver for various problems all the way to the housing crisis and the cost of healthcare in the first p…

OTC drugs should be both available and regulated to be sold in such a way to minimize harm to people who use it.

Honestly, combination drugs are out of fucking control. Some people don't know Advil is ibuprofin. Some people think all Advil is ibuprofin. Both are wrong!

It used to be true that doctors could tell people that it was okay to take [X] brand drug with [Y] brand drug but anymore, there are a half dozen formulations of each in varying combinations on the shelf and half of them have some of the same ingredients. Basically every brand has a "fuck it lets just mix everything together, flu" version on the shelf now.

Re: Should DayQuil Be Legal?

#145

Post by ButlerianJihad »

kelnos wrote: post #140
ButlerianJihad wrote: post #67

The real reason that all these drugs are mixed together seemingly willy-nilly is actually to prevent people from overdosing and going wild with a singular drug, or cooking up more potent mixtures from it. Guaifenesin in particular has been mixed with decongestants, for the primary purpose of preventing use as a precursor. If they sold these chemicals as singular treatments then the abuse would go through the roof. Th…

> The "accidental OD" scenario where an innocent patient quadruple-doses is realistic, and anticipated, and the shrewd consumer will avoid this. I think we need to do more around accidental overdoses than suggest that everyone should be a "shrewd consumer".

All you need to do is read the warnings and follow the instructions. It is not difficult. It does require literacy and intelligence, but a caregiver or the patient themselves should not have difficulty with the terminating the drug type and the dosage limits. If they do have difficulty, just see a nurse or a PCP. It's not rocket science!

All these overdoses are happening because people do not read the warnings and they do not follow the instructions; and if they cannot understand the warnings and if they cannot follow the instructions, nor even consult a professional, then perhaps they deserve an overdose?

Re: Should DayQuil Be Legal?

#146

Post by jollyllama »

MichaelDickens wrote: post #118
jollyllama wrote: post #73

They wouldn't be selling the placebos if the real stuff were accessible. That's the real answer. The article mentions this but just accepts the inaccessiblity of the real thing as a given. You used to be able to get Nyquil with real sudafed in it. That was the gold standard. It's not even available behind the counter anymore, presumably because they can make more money from morons buying the placebos. As an aside: >…

> It's not even available behind the counter anymore, presumably because they can make more money from morons buying the placebos. What do you mean "morons"? Say I'm a normal person who doesn't habitually read magazine articles about drug effectiveness. How am I supposed to know that phenylephrine doesn't work? It's in the drug store and they're selling it as a decongestant; I have good reason to believe it will deco…

You don't need to know anything about the new stuff. You used to be able to get Sudafed; it worked. It was moved behind the counter for $REASONS. You've got enough to guess that the new stuff is some kind of inferior substitute and that you're only going to be able to get the real thing during pharmacy hours.

Re: Should DayQuil Be Legal?

#147

Post by freejazz »

the_sleaze_ wrote: post #18
techbro92 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the argument for legalizing drugs that are contraindicated for all medical purposes, are toxic, and have a high addictive potential? How does it benefit me or society if my neighbor is permitted to choose to basically roll the dice on afflicting themselves with a debilitating chronic illness (severe addiction)? If I don’t want to do illegal drugs why would I ant to support this?

I went to a southeast asian country and got a staph infection. I walked down to the pharmacy, asked the pharmastst for a topical and an oral antibiotic. 3 days later i was healed, continued the course the rest of the week and that was it. $12 dollars american. I got another staph infection previously in the united states. Needed to go to a doc in the box who misdiagnosed it. A few days went by and i needed to go to a…

>"What is the argument for legalizing drugs that are contraindicated for all medical purposes, are toxic, and have a high addictive potential?

Re: Should DayQuil Be Legal?

#148

Post by Latty »

petesergeant wrote: post #47

> Why do we even have combination over-the-counter products at all? In America? No idea. In the UK it's because they sell codeine+tylenol OTC, and they want it to poison you if you try and get a codeine buzz from it. Incredibly this is true.

“Incredibly”? The US does exactly the same thing in another case: denatured alcohol.

Re: Should DayQuil Be Legal?

#149

Post by ursuscamp »

shin_lao wrote: post #12

Oral phenylephrine is considered to be ineffective, phenylephrine in a nasal spray is considered effective.

Nasal phenylephrine is a miracle when I am trying to sleep with a stopped up nose. A spray in each nostril and my nose is clearer than even normal within a few minutes.

Re: Should DayQuil Be Legal?

#150

Post by Lich »

nostrademons wrote: post #96

The article kinda glossed over it, but one fact under-appreciated by the general public is just how dangerous acetaminophen overdoses can be . Scientists often talk about the "therapeutic index" or "safety ratio" of a drug. It's the LD50 (dose at which 50% of recipients die) divided by the effective dose. Common hard drugs like heroin or methamphetamine have a safety ratio of about 6-10 [1]. "Soft" drugs like marijua…

I didn’t know this until recently either. I grew up on a family where if there was pain, you just take tylenol to deal with it. We always followed the dosage timing and never had issues. So recently when my wife had some chronic pain I suggested taking tylenol but even after two days the pain would not go away and she went to ER. They did a blood check to see if they could find anything. They didn’t find the cause, just suspected food poisoning, but they found her liver enzymes were near dangerous levels. This was even with timing the dosages absed on instructions. Now I am super careful wtih Tylenol.
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