by Lawrence Wilson, MD

AVOID THESE DRUGS

A study in the Archives of Internal Medicine, a prestigious journal, lists drugs that an independent panel of doctors believe are very dangerous for seniors. I am reprinting it here, and you can update it by searching “The Beers List” on Google.

The reference is “Updating the Beers criteria for potentially inappropriate medication use in older adults: results of a US consensus panel of experts”. Arch Intern Med. 2003;163:2716-2724.

Most doctors, unfortunately, prescribe one or perhaps several of the drugs below when far safer alternative drugs and other methods could be used instead. Also, if these drugs are so unsafe for seniors, are they really that safe for others?

Before listing them all, I will mention a few classes or groups of popular drugs that, in my opinion, are dangerous and should always be skipped or avoided, and are very rarely, if ever, helpful. These are:

· ALL antidiabetic oral drugs. We find these are not needed and not helpful at all. Blood sugar usually rapidly declines to normal with a nutritional balancing program.

· ALL cholesterol-lowering or statin drugs. These are quite dangerous and never needed, in our experience. Nutritional balancing will always lower a high cholesterol in a completely non-toxic way.

· ALL birth control pills, patches, shots and the hormone-containing IUD. Thes have lethal side effects. For more on this subject, read Contraception on this website.

· Lasix ( a diruetic drug). This and many other diruetics are hard on the kidneys and do not address the causes of hypertension or edema. In contrast, these conditions respond well to nutritional balancing science.

· High-dose niacin (this is not a drug, but many holistic doctors use it at times to lower cholesterol or perhaps in conjunction with sauna therapy.)

· ALL thyroid hormones, both natural and synthetic ones. Although these drugs are not that toxic by themselves, they seem to interfere with mental development in subtle ways. We find they are never needed if a person will follow a nutritional balancing program.

· ALL long-term use of synthetic or bio-identical hormones. While there may be an exception now and then in very old people, these always upset the body’s natural hormone feedback system and we don’t find them necessary at all.

Here is the list:

alprazolam (Xanax)

amiodarone (Cordarone)

amitriptyline (Elavil)

amphetamines

anorexic agents

barbiturates

belladonna alkaloids (Donnatal)

bisacodyl (Dulcolax)

carisoprodol (Soma)

cascara sagrada

chlordiazepoxide (Librium, Mitran)

chlordiazepoxide-amitriptyline (Limbitrol)

chlorpheniramine (Chlor-Trimeton)

chlorpropamide (Diabinese)

chlorzoxazone Paraflex)

cimetidine (Tagamet)

clidinium-chlordiazepoxide (Librax)

clonidine (Catapres)

clorazepate (Tranxene)

cyclandelate (Cyclospasmol)

cyclobenzaprine (Flexeril)

cyproheptadine (Periactin)

dessicated thyroid

dexchlorpheniramine (Polaramine)

diazepam (Valium)

dicyclomine (Bentyl)

digoxin (Lanoxin)

diphenhydramine (Benadryl)

dipyridamole (Persantine)

disopyramide (Norpace, Norpace CR)

doxazosi (Cardura)

doxepin (Sinequan)

ergot mesyloids (Hydergine)

estrogens

ethacrynic acid (Edecrin)

ferrous sulfate (iron)

fluoxetine (Prozac)

flurazepam (Dalmane)

guanadrel (Hylorel)

guanethidine (Ismelin)

halazepam (Paxipam)

hydroxyzine (Vistaril, Atarax)

hyoscyamine (Levsin, Levsinex)

indomethacin (Indocin, Indocin SR)

isoxsuprine (Vasodilan)

ketorolac (Toradol)

lorazepam (Ativan)

meperidine (Demerol)

meprobamate (Miltown, Equanil)

mesoridazine (Serintil)

metaxalone (Skelaxin)

methocarbamol (Robaxin)

methyldopa-hydrochlorothiazide (Aldoril)

methyldopa (Aldomet)

methyltestosterone (Android, Virilon, Testrad)

mineral oil

naproxen (Naprosyn, Avaprox, Aleve)

Neoloid

nifedipine (Procardia, Adalat)

nitrofurantoin (Microdantin)

orphenadrine (Norflex)

oxaprozin (Daypro)

oxazepam (Serax)

oxybutynin (Ditropan)

pentazocine (Talwin)

perphenazine-amitriptyline (Triavil)

piroxicam (Feldene)

promethazine (Phenergan)

propoxyphene (Darvon) and combination products

propantheline (Pro-Banthine)

quazepam (Doral)

reserpine (Serpalan, Serpasil)

temazepam (Restoril)

thioridazine (Mellaril)

ticlopidine (Ticlid)

triazolam (Halcion)

trimethobenzamide (Tigan)

tripelennamine