# How many pills? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 10, 2024, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pills/997392 "2024-02-10T14:02:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pills/997392/41 "2024-02-11T03:42:02Z")
You hear that rattling sound? That’s me. So many pills. Four in the morning, four in the evening – three BP meds (one is also taken at night), one multivitamin, one anti-histamine, one statin, one anti-depressant and a Fluticasone double snort in each nostril to start the day. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pills/997392/42 "2024-02-11T03:55:42Z")
I take a number of OTC supplements. I have four prescriptions, but one is for 800mg Ibuprofen. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pills/997392/43 "2024-02-11T04:48:21Z")
Blood thinner to prevent a recurrence of DVT/PE, two for BP (ACE inhibitor and a beta blocker), a non-statin cholesterol pill and Vitamin D supplement. Also have a standing scrip for gabapentin due to shoulder pain but I mostly don’t take that one unless I really feel the need for it. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pills/997392/44 "2024-02-11T05:26:37Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Is this what I have to look forward to when I get older: talking about the medications I’m taking? Quite possibly. It’s somewhat better than talking about how sick we’d be if we didn’t take them. Four prescription, two in the morning and two in the evening. One of the morning ones is a doozy; once I get that down, all the rest seem easy. Two non-prescription but doctor-recommended, one of which is to counter the digestive effects of one of the prescription meds. Up until 2019, the number was 0. > [@Sherrerd](#): > > It’s part of the financial structure of the medical system. Big pharma wants everyone on lots of pills, so doctors follow along. There is some of that. But in my case, I can take the pills; or I can have my asymptomatic diabetes almost certainly soon become symptomatic, and my uncurable-but-treatable heart condition make my life harder, and probably shorter, than it does if I take them. I’m really glad Medicaid and Medicare are paying for them, though. I couldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pills/997392/45 "2024-02-11T05:55:47Z")
In a ??? Apocalypse, survival of the fittest and person with the smallest load of medical supplies and pills, salves, creams, bandaids and appliances. Well, I’m dead already. ---
**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:** [February 11, 2024, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pills/997392/46 "2024-02-11T08:50:49Z")
At age 72, I take one Rx (Zoloft), and Vitamin D every so often. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pills/997392/47 "2024-02-11T12:15:20Z")
Gabapentin & Extra Strength Tylenol. 2 of each - 3 times a day. Once in awhile a 4th time is necessary. I have some melatonin gummies, but I don’t take them often. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pills/997392/48 "2024-02-11T14:34:09Z")
Vitamin D takers is there a test for deficiency? How does one know you’re lacking? Is the food you eat not providing enough? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pills/997392/49 "2024-02-11T15:03:17Z")
> [@chela](#): > > Vitamin D takers is there a test for deficiency? There is. It’s a standard blood test a PCP should order on any older person. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pills/997392/50 "2024-02-11T15:18:21Z")
Vitamin D deficiency is a problem the farther north you live. The body can generate Vitamin D from sunlight, but living farther north, with longer nights and shorter days in the winter, the ability to generate Vitamin D naturally is lower. Hence dosing children with cod liver oil in winter in Saskatchewan. 🤢 ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pills/997392/51 "2024-02-11T15:51:17Z")
If someone is low on D, can adding foods rich in D help? Mushrooms spinach salmon sardines sweet potatoes fortified OJ, yogurt, kefir. I think I’m eating well but am somewhat stoic regarding bodily aches and pains over time. I’ll ask at my next appt, I hd bloodwork done six months ago and saw some high levels of cholesterol but the doc wasn’t concerned at the time. Maybe I’m being ignored? lol more testing more pills!!! ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pills/997392/52 "2024-02-11T16:21:41Z")
1 pill daily, which I am in the process of weaning off of. My impression is that doctors often prescribe new meds, without checking to see whether any existing scrips can be discontinued. And many folk have meds prescribed by different doctors. I’m regularly surprised at the large numbers of meds some people take regularly. I wonder if the combined longterm side effects are that much less than the complained of symptoms. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pills/997392/53 "2024-02-11T17:26:39Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > > > Is this what I have to look forward to when I get older: talking about the medications I’m taking? > > Quite possibly. [The Who] 🎵Talkin’ 'bout my medications 🎶 [/The Who] ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pills/997392/54 "2024-02-11T17:29:48Z")
Combining @chela’s & @Dinsdale’s ideas … Using cholesterol here as an example; there are many other bodily parameters that are similar. Every day you have elevated cholesterol you’re incrementally clogging your arteries. You can take a proactive approach and try to reduce the cholesterol with interventions (diet, exercise, OTC meds, prescription meds), _or_ you can essentially ignore the issue and wait for the accumulated damage to manifest as high blood pressure or a stroke or whatever. Or not, because some folks will die of something unrelated sooner rather than later. Or you’ll be one of those people with high cholesterol who lives to be 103 with decent cardio function to the end. And yes, there are some chronic meds with significant side effects for some subset of the populace. The only way to know if you are one is to try it out and see. Some docs, including mine, lean strongly in the direction of proactively managing every health challenge. I personally do to. The goal being to be as healthy as possible as long as possible. But I listed those interventions in that order because both she and I favor that priority. The meds I’m taking are for the stuff I can’t already fix adequately the other way(s) despite mostly diligent and well-directed effort. Will all this matter in the end. Who knows? I may drown tomorrow after falling off the cruise ship while being chased by an angry husband I didn’t know existed. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pills/997392/55 "2024-02-11T18:22:25Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Every day you have elevated cholesterol you’re incrementally clogging your arteries So they tell us. Personally I keep to the red wine regime: seems to work for the mediterraneans… > [@LSLGuy](#): > > I may drown tomorrow after falling off the cruise ship while being chased by an angry husband Testosterone level still OK, then? ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pills/997392/56 "2024-02-11T20:45:37Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Some docs, including mine, lean strongly in the direction of proactively managing every health challenge. I personally do to. The goal being to be as healthy as possible as long as possible. But I listed those interventions in that order because both she and I favor that priority. The meds I’m taking are for the stuff I can’t already fix adequately the other way(s) despite mostly diligent and well-directed effort. Same boat here. My hypertension and high cholesterol are both largely genetic but respond well to meds. My cholesterol is still higher than normal, but according to my doc being on a statin shows significant benefit regardless if cholesterol drops to normal levels or not. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pills/997392/57 "2024-02-11T22:40:24Z")
I was thinking of 2 situations. 1. My MIL, when she was in her 80s. Vascular dementia, heart attack in past, but had recovered well. She was still on a couple of cardiac meds - I believe one was related to her blood pressure because another med might affect her blood pressure. But she was no longer on that other med, and her pressure was rock solid. But the cardiologist didn’t want to discontinue that med, and wanted to keep up w/ regular visits. My wife asked repeatedly, but could get no good explanation of why she still needed to take these meds, or see the card so frequently. 2. I often see charts where people are on a huge number of serious meds. Once you develop diabetes, the medication ramps up dramatically. So you see someone with diabetes, hypertension, chronic pain, depression, anxiety, and PTSD, and they are on multiple meds for each condition. 20 different meds - not including vitamins - is not at all unusual. I’d like to presume that the prescribers are all responsible and that all conditions need to be treated so aggressively, but I often wonder about the contraindications of such medication cocktails. Then it bemuses me when someone says a medication causes a certain side effect - say fatigue. I wonder, how do you know the med is causing the side effect, rather than the underlying condition. I’m not taking the time to write this perfectly - and I don’t even know that I have an underlying thought I wish to convey. And maybe I’m an unreasonable crank. But it seems weird to have people taking all of these meds, while not taking a single dietary or lifestyle modification. Just thought of a 3d - my FIL was diabetic, and treated insulin as a magic bullet. He’d eat/drink whatever he wanted, and just figure the insulin would even things out. He made it into his 90s. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pills/997392/58 "2024-02-11T22:48:20Z")
Am I the only one here who takes hormones (Prempro) afyer menopause? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pills/997392/59 "2024-02-11T23:38:26Z")
None. _Yet._ Yes, I do appreciate how fortunate I am to be able to say that. (I’m discounting the allergy meds which are strictly “as needed” and I’ve done what I can to minimize my use of them) My eye doctor wanted to put me on eye drops because, apparently, my meibomian glands are starting to block up but I balked and reminded her just how frickin’ hard it is to get drops into my eyes for routine dilation (apparently I have a _really_ good blink reflex or something). So we’re going to try warm compresses which can work, apparently. I don’t perceive myself as having dry or irritated eyes. Other than that - my blood pressure, sugar, and cholesterol levels are all apparently just fine which seems to eliminate the more common reasons for prescriptions. I am striving to stay in good health as long as possible. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2024, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pills/997392/60 "2024-02-12T03:39:39Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > Am I the only one here who takes hormones (Prempro) afyer menopause? I had a precancerous growth removed from one breast just as I started going through menopause, so estrogen replacement is out. I do have a cream I’m allowed to use (not a pill, so I didn’t count it). Most of my drugs are for allergies. I’ve tried going off of them during low-pollen times, but my main allergy is to cats, and the symptoms are almost as bad in winter as in spring. Only two of the pills I take daily (for arrhythmia and thyroid replacement) are essential rather than for quality-of-life issues. The vitamin D I take may be essential, come to think of it, because I have vitiligo and my skin lacks the melanin necessary to synthesize it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pills/997392.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-pills/997392.md?page=4)