RLS: drug names

[Guest guest]

I am finally catching up on Digests that I received last weekend while I

was out of town. So please excuse this for being " after-the-fact " . I

wanted to add a comment about Tylenol....and other meds which we call by

familiar names.

Sometimes, when they first become familiar to us, they are one thing, but

after a while, the company produces different versions of it, still with

the same name, but for different purposes. The only solution is to READ

THE LABELS!

It's a problem with everything from supplements to teas to prescription

meds. I use Tension Tamer tea. Celestial Seasonings also makes three

different supplements (pills) which are called " Tension Tamer " . Each one

has a different set of ingredients. To their defense, they are " Regular

Tension Tamer, " " Ultimate Tension Tamer " and " Unique Tension Tamer " . You

can see the confusion, here.

Another good example: I once experienced a doctor telling a patient to

take Benadryl. I asked, " Do you want him to take the decongestant, the

antihistamine, or the combination? " The doctor said, " Just take

Benadryl...there's only one. " Well, we ended up buying one of each (3

packages, pink, blue, and white) and taking them back to show the doctor

that, in fact, " Benadryl " can be many things.

I was glad to see Phil point out that not only do medicines by the same

name differ, depending on the version or use of it, but also it can be

different depending on the country in which it is purchased and the

ingredients that are legal in that country. This makes it rather tricky

when we have a cyber group of people from all over the world, making

suggestions about what to take.

Just some thoughts to ponder in the library.

Ooops....wrong email. Sorry.

Jill, 46

Payson, AZ

http://www.netzone.com/~gunzel/rls.html