By: Joe Graedon May 21, 2023 7 Comments
    Are You “Addicted” to Your Prescription Medi…

    Before you read another word, rethink the term addiction! It is loaded with emotional baggage and is a terrible description of drug dependence. It often implies character flaws or vulnerability and fr…

    By: Joe Graedon May 15, 2023 266 Comments
    Getting Off Omeprazole Can Be Challenging!

    Most people assume that over-the-counter heartburn medicines are completely safe. Why else would the FDA allow them to be sold without a prescription? The trouble is that proton pump inhibitors (PPIs)…

    By: Terry Graedon April 10, 2023 14 Comments
    Why Is Pharmacy Pushing to Refill Prescriptions?

    Sometimes the decisions a business makes appear obvious, but at other times you wonder why they make particular choices. We are all familiar with pharmacies as the place to fill a prescription that th…

    By: Terry Graedon March 6, 2023 10 Comments
    How to Beat Nose Spray Dependence One Nostril at…

    Decongestant nose spray is fabulous when your nasal passages are so congested you can't breathe. Just a spritz can open clogged sinuses. However, such nasal sprays have a big downside: nose spray addi…

    By: Dennis Miller, RPh February 16, 2023 11 Comments
    What Pharmacists Don’t Tell You

    This critical perspective is from retired pharmacist, Dennis Miller. There’s a huge amount of important information about drugs that pharmacists rarely discuss with customers. Chances are you feel y…

    By: Joe Graedon February 9, 2023 9 Comments
    Deprescribing: Can You Ever Stop Taking So Many …

    Once a doctor prescribes a medication, there is a good chance you will be on it for months, years or even decades. This is especially true for chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension or high ch…

    By: Joe Graedon January 16, 2023 15 Comments
    Stopping Zolpidem (Ambien) for Insomnia Can Be C…

    Tens of millions of Americans have a hard time getting a good night’s sleep. They are caught in a terrible double bind. On one hand, they know that their health may suffer if they don't get enough s…

    By: Joe Graedon January 2, 2023 31 Comments
    Benzodiazepine Dependence | A Hard Habit to Kick

    When most people hear the words “drug abuse” they think of opioids like oxycodone, hydrocodone, fentanyl or heroin. Other contenders include stimulants like cocaine and methamphetamine (“meth”…

    By: Terry Graedon January 2, 2023 21 Comments
    Can You Get Off a PPI Without Suffering Heartbur…

    Have you ever tried to get off a PPI like esomeprazole (Nexium) or lansoprazole (Prevacid)? If so, you might have experienced rebound heartburn. People who encounter this problem–and many do–may f…

    By: Terry Graedon December 5, 2022 2 Comments
    People in Pain Need Access to Suicide Hotline Nu…

    When a reader calls us on an important omission, we try to correct our error. That happened recently when we wrote about the CDC guidelines for opioid use. We were so focused on access to adequate pai…

    By: Joe Graedon December 5, 2022 27 Comments
    Do Doctors Know How to Help Patients Stop Medica…

    Starting a new prescription is easy. If your doctor tells the pharmacist to write on the label, "take once a day with food," you know exactly what to do. Most people can manage such a simple instructi…

    By: Joe Graedon November 21, 2022 45 Comments
    Are People In Pain Committing Suicide For Lack o…

    The opioid epidemic has been with us for decades. It has resulted in untold misery and death. The pandemic only made matters worse. Overdose deaths spiked, in part because the synthetic opioid fentany…

    By: Joe Graedon November 3, 2022 14 Comments
    What’s Up with Paxlovid COVID Rebound Infectio…

    When Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir + ritonavir) was given emergency use authorization (EUA) on December 22, 2021, by the FDA, there was a lot of excitement. At long last, there was an oral anti-viral medicin…

    By: Terry Graedon October 24, 2022 274 Comments
    Zyrtec Withdrawal Is a Nightmare

    Cetirizine (Zyrtec) is an antihistamine often used to treat allergies, nasal congestion or hives. It is considered a second-generation non-sedating antihistamine. In other words, it doesn't make you d…

    By: Terry Graedon September 15, 2022 13 Comments
    Show 1315: Are We Medicating Normal Emotions?

    This week on our nationally syndicated radio show, we examine the consequences of prescriptions for anxiety or grief. All of us, at some point in our lives, will experience some of these emotions. If …

    By: Terry Graedon September 8, 2022 1950 Comments
    Duloxetine (Cymbalta) Side Effects & Withdr…

    We have received so many complaints about duloxetine (Cymbalta) side effects that we have lost count. Far more disturbing are the number of people who tell us how hard it is to discontinue this drug. …

    By: Joe Graedon September 1, 2022 20 Comments
    Stopping Duloxetine (Cymbalta) Suddenly Flipped …

    Antidepressants like desvenlafaxine (Pristiq), duloxetine (Cymbalta), sertraline (Zoloft) and venlafaxine (Effexor) have become extremely popular. Millions take such drugs regularly. We have even seen…

    By: Joe Graedon June 20, 2022 19 Comments
    Prednisone Withdrawal: Can You Ever Stop Cortico…

    Corticosteroids are powerful double-edged swords. One side of the blade is beneficial. It can save lives. The other side can do incredible harm. Balancing the benefits against the risks of drugs like …

    By: Terry Graedon March 17, 2022 13 Comments
    How to Sleep During Anxious Times

    This is a terrible time to be an insomniac. Headlines about COVID are designed to provoke anxiety. Contentious political clashes and war make the nighttime news distressing. Cold or rainy weather can …

    By: Joe Graedon March 7, 2022 13 Comments
    Prozac Poop Out and Other Drug Drop Offs

    Why do drugs stop working? That is a question that has plagued doctors for decades. When antidepressant medications like fluoxetine no longer control depression, we call it Prozac Poop Out. If a once …

    By: Joe Graedon February 7, 2022 27 Comments
    How Dangerous Is It to Stop Taking Aspirin?

    Aspirin gets very little respect. Perhaps that's because it is well over 100 years old, or because it is inexpensive and available over the counter. Whatever the reason, it's our observation that peop…

    By: Joe Graedon January 3, 2022 255 Comments
    How To Stop Duloxetine (Cymbalta) Without Withdr…

    Based on what we hear from readers of our syndicated newspaper column and visitors to this website, most patients are not warned about how to stop duloxetine (Cymbalta). Perhaps the prescriber assumes…

    By: Joe Graedon October 4, 2021 24 Comments
    Stopping Zyrtec (Cetirizine) Led to Itchy Nightm…

    Over six years ago we heard from a reader who had used the antihistamine cetirizine (Zyrtec) to ease allergy symptoms. In preparation for allergy tests he tried stopping Zyrtec. He noted that: "w…

    By: Terry Graedon July 5, 2021 61 Comments
    Stopping Antihistamine Leads to Unbelievable Itc…

    Every so often, doctors discover something from their own experience as patients that they didn't learn in medical school and haven't heard from their colleagues. Often, the symptoms of withdrawa…

    By: Joe Graedon June 22, 2020 27 Comments
    Zolpidem for Insomnia | COVID-Related Anxiety

    Under the best of conditions, tens of millions of people have trouble getting a decent night’s sleep. These days, though, it’s harder than ever. News about the coronavirus is nonstop. People have …

    By: Joe Graedon March 9, 2020 15 Comments
    Gabapentin Risks for Persistent Shoulder Pain?

    People in pain are suffering…not just from the pain but also from the treatments that are being offered. Opioids have developed such a terrible reputation that most physicians are reluctant to presc…

    By: Joe Graedon September 15, 2019 12 Comments
    Stopping Ultracet (Tramadol + Acetaminophen) Led…

    Almost everyone has heard about the opioid epidemic. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “Every day, more than 130 people in the United States die after overdosing on opioids.” …

    By: Joe Graedon June 17, 2019 5 Comments
    Decongestant Spray Addiction is Hard to Kick

    When your nose is stopped up because of a cold or allergies, you feel awful. Breathing through your mouth when you are trying to sleep can be especially challenging. It’s hardly surprising that peop…

    By: Joe Graedon June 6, 2019 23 Comments
    Why Popular Heartburn Drugs PPIs Are Linked to P…

    Millions of people take proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) to suppress the secretion of stomach acid. At last count, doctors wrote over 100 million prescriptions for drugs like dexlansoprazole (Dexilent), …

    By: Terry Graedon May 23, 2019 6 Comments
    Will CBD Help Opioid Addicts Kick Their Habits?

    Cannabidiol, known as CBD, may help opioid addicts kick their habits. Many people are enthusiastic about this compound derived from Cannabis. It is showing up in all kinds of products, mostly without …

    By: Joe Graedon April 4, 2019 29 Comments
    New Concerns About Gabapentin and Pregabalin (Ly…

    A recent review of the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) reveals some disconcerting data about commonly prescribed drugs for nerve pain (ISMP QuarterWatch Reports (March 27, 2019). This i…

    By: Joe Graedon March 18, 2019 14 Comments
    How To Stop Venlafaxine: Very, VERY Slowly!

    It has taken the medical profession a very long time to acknowledge that many of the most popular drugs in the pharmacy can cause a kind of dependence. By that we mean such drugs can precipitate serio…

    By: Terry Graedon February 14, 2019 12 Comments
    Show 1153: How to Listen to TV Drug Commercials

    If you watch television, you can’t avoid TV drug commercials for maladies from type 2 diabetes to auto-immune diseases like psoriasis or rheumatoid arthritis to refractory cancers. Do you see these …

    By: Terry Graedon February 7, 2019 38 Comments
    What Is the Other Drug Epidemic?

    Much has been written about the epidemic of opioid drug misuse, overdose and death. With more than 130 people dying every day in this country as a result of opioid overdose, we all have a right to be …

    By: Terry Graedon August 19, 2018 19 Comments
    Can You Overcome an Afrin Addiction?

    Have you ever become addicted to your nasal spray? Millions of people do. Decongestant nasal sprays can be used safely for only a few days before they start to produce rebound congestion that can be q…

    By: Joe Graedon June 25, 2018 22 Comments
    Getting Off Venlafaxine Can Be Incredibly Challe…

    Many years ago we heard from a reader who was trying to get off alprazolam (Xanax). It was not commonly recognized that short-acting benzodiazepines (benzos) could pose unbearable withdrawal symptoms …

    By: Joe Graedon May 28, 2018 35 Comments
    The Zyrtec Itch is Unbearable | Where’s th…

    We first heard about the Zyrtec itch over eight years ago. A reader reported horrible itching within three days of stopping Zyrtec (cetirizine is the generic name for this antihistamine). He reported …

    By: Joe Graedon April 23, 2018 28 Comments
    Why Is Antidepressant Withdrawal So Hard?

    It is estimated that one out of every eight Americans takes an antidepressant medication (JAMA Internal Medicine, Feb. 2017). According to the New York Times, roughly 25 million Americans have been ta…

    By: Terry Graedon February 12, 2018 20 Comments
    Stopping Duloxetine Leads to Terrible Withdrawal…

    Before anyone starts taking an antidepressant, the prescriber should give them some guidance on how to quit. As it turns out, getting off a medication like duloxetine can be extremely difficult becaus…

    By: Terry Graedon January 22, 2018 13 Comments
    How Long Will Dizziness Last After Stopping Lexa…

    It is always smart to have an exit strategy. That is just as true when you begin taking a prescription medication as when you take a new job that might or might not be quite suitable. One reader found…