# For those over 50, how many prescription drugs do you take? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 10, 2020, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-over-50-how-many-prescription-drugs-do-you-take/922674 "2020-10-10T23:52:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-over-50-how-many-prescription-drugs-do-you-take/922674/21 "2020-10-11T01:45:00Z")
I’m 68. I take atenolol something about “heart electrical” and fake Lipitor. And Cialis as needed. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-over-50-how-many-prescription-drugs-do-you-take/922674/22 "2020-10-11T01:47:43Z")
None. The only one I had is now OTC. (Pataday, eye drops. Do not use every day or even every season, but a godsend in allergy season. ) ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-over-50-how-many-prescription-drugs-do-you-take/922674/23 "2020-10-11T01:55:05Z")
I’m a year older than Donald Trump, and I take no prescription drugs. I only take them when actually ill, and I’ve only been ill about 4 times in the last 10 years. (Twice with trigeminal neuralgia. once with a kidney stone, and one with a golden staph infection that I caught in hospital being treated for the kidney stone.) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-over-50-how-many-prescription-drugs-do-you-take/922674/24 "2020-10-11T02:00:39Z")
I’m Heinz years old, and don’t take any prescription meds. I do take a baby aspirin and an antihistamine for allergies (over the counter), both recommended by my doctor. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-over-50-how-many-prescription-drugs-do-you-take/922674/25 "2020-10-11T02:13:18Z")
One. Losartan Potassium for blood pressure. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-over-50-how-many-prescription-drugs-do-you-take/922674/26 "2020-10-11T03:44:50Z")
You’re right. Cancer sucks. At 56, I take anastrozole, an estrogen blocker, to keep any errant breast cancer cells from dividing. 40% of the people who take it have terrible side effects, but 60% do not and I am very grateful to be one of them. I’ve been on paroxetine for over 20 years, and started taking buspirone during menopause. I also have some cyclobenzaprine (antispasmodic) for emergency use, and maybe use it a few times a year, and it’s a (figurative) lifesaver when I do. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-over-50-how-many-prescription-drugs-do-you-take/922674/27 "2020-10-11T03:52:25Z")
1-Metformin. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-over-50-how-many-prescription-drugs-do-you-take/922674/28 "2020-10-11T04:00:19Z")
51, organ transplant last year: Two anti-rejection meds (mycophenolate and tacrolimus) Magnesium Biotin (thanks to anti-rejection meds) Sulfameth/Trimeth If CMV rears it’s ugly head, a short heavy course of Valganciclovar. That stuff is miserable. I’m lucky the hospital dues a steroid flush at time of transplant, so I don’t have to take them. Prior to transplant, I took two different blood pressure meds, but that problem disappeared! ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-over-50-how-many-prescription-drugs-do-you-take/922674/29 "2020-10-11T04:08:50Z")
I’m 59. I take levothyroxine, a thyroid hormone substitute, as I had my thyroid removed 13 years ago. I’ve been on thyroid meds for at least 30 years. StG ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-over-50-how-many-prescription-drugs-do-you-take/922674/30 "2020-10-11T04:38:02Z")
I went to a doctor a few years ago and the nurse asked what medications I was on. I replied “none”. She said “wow, a woman your age?”. I should have asked her when she was graduating high school. (I was around 60 then.) And still none today. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-over-50-how-many-prescription-drugs-do-you-take/922674/31 "2020-10-11T04:38:14Z")
I’m 61. I don’t take any prescription drugs on a regular basis. There’s a handful I take on an “as needed” (aka PRN) basis though: baclofen, zolpidem, clindamycin topical ointment. And I take over-the-counter antihistamines pretty often because of respiratory allergies. Aspirin on occasion. ---
**Author:** ![Periwinkle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Periwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Periwinkle)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-over-50-how-many-prescription-drugs-do-you-take/922674/32 "2020-10-11T04:56:39Z")
Atorvastatin, metaprolol tartrate (beta blocker), Eliquis blood thinner. ---
**Author:** ![Newtosite](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/newtosite/32/8623_2.png) [@Newtosite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Newtosite)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-over-50-how-many-prescription-drugs-do-you-take/922674/33 "2020-10-11T05:18:40Z")
Wow. Such a variation in answers. Thanks to everyone who responded! ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-over-50-how-many-prescription-drugs-do-you-take/922674/34 "2020-10-11T05:21:30Z")
1. I take 2 for insomnia at night, and another for restless legs. Add a blood pressure med. And one because I had cancer surgery a while back. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-over-50-how-many-prescription-drugs-do-you-take/922674/35 "2020-10-11T05:31:53Z")
Turning 62 in a few days, and not on any prescription meds. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-over-50-how-many-prescription-drugs-do-you-take/922674/36 "2020-10-11T06:04:04Z")
So, as a followup question, who here has had a physician recommend they take a prescription drug, but you aren’t following that recommendation for whatever reason? For example, I was first prescribed blood pressure medication when I was in my mid-30s. When it was first prescribed to me, I was pretty hit-or-miss about taking it. A few months later I went into an urgent care clinic for an injury, and they took my blood pressure. To this day I still remember the urgent care physician telling me that I was going to die if I didn’t start taking my blood pressure medication as prescribed. That stuck with me, so I have been religious about taking it ever since. ---
**Author:** ![Newtosite](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/newtosite/32/8623_2.png) [@Newtosite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Newtosite)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-over-50-how-many-prescription-drugs-do-you-take/922674/37 "2020-10-11T06:23:35Z")
Doctors have wanted me to be on a statin for the past twenty years. I refused simply because I didn’t like the idea of taking a drug. I also heard that if you discontinue it, your chance of a heart attack is greater than if you’d never taken the statin in the first place. And I’m not convinced statins are necessary for someone like me, with high LDL but great HDL and a good ratio, normal weight, and no family history of heart disease. ---
**Author:** ![Krispy\_Original](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ec9cab/32.png) [@Krispy\_Original](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krispy_Original)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-over-50-how-many-prescription-drugs-do-you-take/922674/38 "2020-10-11T06:25:21Z")
Just 2 for blood pressure. 60 years of age. ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-over-50-how-many-prescription-drugs-do-you-take/922674/39 "2020-10-11T07:02:32Z")
Zero usually, but right now I decided to go back on Advair for a bit because my lungs often get cranky this time of year, and I had been using my albuterol inhaler a lot more than usual (usually I go months or longer between uses). I do take OTC stuff: daily loratadine for allergies, a squirt of Nasacort at bedtime, and usually take melatonin for sleep. And often a Benadryl at bedtime which helps with both issues. I also really need to get back to my vitamin regimen: calcium, Vitamin D, a multivitamin, and a B complex, all of which have been recommended by my GP, gyno, and/or neuro (the last for concussion recovery). I have gotten out of the habit because I used to take them all right before leaving for work, but well, I haven’t been leaving for work. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2020, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-over-50-how-many-prescription-drugs-do-you-take/922674/40 "2020-10-11T07:17:16Z")
> [@robby](#): > > So, as a followup question, who here has had a physician recommend they take a prescription drug, but you aren’t following that recommendation for whatever reason? I’ve never done so, and doing so strikes me as being rather foolish. I’m not a doctor or any sort of medical professional, and I’m not so arrogant to assume that my opinions would outweigh their training. Now, if I had an obvious adverse reaction to a drug on first taking it, then I’d probably hold off on the next dose until I could talk to the doctor, assuming said adverse reaction didn’t send me straight to the hospital. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-over-50-how-many-prescription-drugs-do-you-take/922674.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-over-50-how-many-prescription-drugs-do-you-take/922674.md?page=3)