[I have a hobby-type magnifying glass mounted on a stand with a 12-inch circular florescent bulb, that I got from my Dad.]

The real problem is that doctors don’t have the time to look into these problems. I assume that the Physician’s Desk Reference had the same general information that The Pill Book had, which gave an indication that the drug might be the problem, but it took research to finally understand what was going on.

This medication at the prescribed dosage should be flushed through the system every day, but if you have certain other conditions, it can accumulate. The reason the reaction is delayed is because it may take one to six months for the critical level to be reached, setting off the reaction. Fortunately the level drops quickly after you stop. That is not something that is explained in the standard warnings, and the main reason that the medication wasn’t suspected of being the problem, i.e. most reactions occur quickly, not after months.

You’re right, the PCP should be the person in charge, but many specialists ignore the PCP and don’t communicate what they are doing. The hard reality is that the work of GP isn’t valued by the insurance companies, and they are paid at a lower rate than specialists, despite having greater responsibility for the health of the patient.

Without such a person, an individual patient is vulnerable to all sorts of problems that are largely invisible to a specialist focused closely on only one aspect of health status and care. When medicine became an array of specialists for every patient, something was gained, but something vital was lost at the same time. If I have to have only one element of what is available, give me the “family medicine [wo]man” any day over the array of noncommunicating specialists. I believe the incident you describe may well be a good example of the kind of problem I am talking about.

(Aside regarding those damned inserts in prescription bottles: Step 1 for me is “find my large magnifying glass…)
.-= last blog ..Peace On Earth =-.

The key I needed was on a forum for people with the particular problem that the medication addresses. There were a couple of people who had had the same reaction, which takes one to six months to happen. They are starting to prescribe the medication at extremely low doses to be taken daily, to prevent the problem from recurring, and the therapy is very effective.

I wish I had the time and energy to do it, because it is an obvious tool, that should be available to every doctor and pharmacist. The insurance companies have certainly paid out a lot of unnecessary money for the doctor’s visits and the medication.