Antidepressants to treat grief? Psychiatry panelists with ties to drug industry say yes

[Ms. Toad]

45. You may not be aware of it,

but "simple OTC stuff" is not necessarily harmless and many should be monitored just as closely by doctors. Until relatively recently naproxen sodium (Aleve) was a prescription medication. I have had very serious side effects from it, will not ever take it again, and caution everyone I know who considers taking it. (I was taking it when it required a prescription, and it created extensive ulcers throughout my entire GI system - something which other NSAIDs I have taken regularly for my entire life have never done). Vicodin or Percocet (acetaminophen and hydrocodone) - or other NSAIDs - are, for me, much less dangerous.

Acetaminophen (an OTC drug), by itself, is much more deadly than the narcotic with which it is paired to make it a prescription drug. Taking less than twice the daily dosage of acetaminophen (anything over > 15 extra strength tablets in a single day - less than 2x the maximum daily dosage) can kill you, and even slightly more than the maximum daily dosage can kill you, as well. This woman died from taking 4500 mg/day for 3 weeks to relieve pain from a toothache (one pill a day over the max recommendation of 4000 mg/day).

Pharmaceuticals include OTC medications, which should be treated with just as much healthy respect as those which require a prescription, and all too often we assume that if it is available OTC it is harmless.