I thought of this last night. I went to the store to get some sinus medicine (OTC) and thought about taking some of it after taking some other sinus meds. I noticed that it was 12 hour medicine and my other was every 4 I think. I did not have anything about dosing amounts in my FAK.

The different dosage of the medicine can vary because of two things. First one is how much do you take at one time and second how powerful the components are.

New medicine, stomach acid resistant coating allows drug manufacturers to make more powerful medicine without a risk of patient overmedicating yourself. But the main thing is that you should be well informed and understand about stuff in your FAK and know the dosages. In case of emergency you will practice what you learned and not try to experiment. Also very important thing and very helpful is to know how to assist somebody with taking a medication.

Very sensitive issue that came up on this board few months ago was if we should dispense medicine to others in need. Somebody proposed keeping antibiotics in their FAK and "sharing" them. Answer is no, no, no and one more time no. But having stuff you need in you FAK for you or your family it's all right. Just remember 4 Rs: to have right prescription, right date, right dosage and right patient (you or your family member). I know that docs can prescribe you everything you want and they will if you explain situation to them. That's how I got my ciprio and amoxicillin. But that also means that when I get a cold I don't dig into my vials but go to a doc and get my self checked out. Also I came upon people who were even against giving an aspirin to a stranger. Why? Well if somebody is allergic to it or has a low blood pressure and aspiring drops it to the point that somebody just drops on you. But than again would you think twice about giving an aspirin to somebody who has a headache and asked you for one? After all that’s what FAK is for.

I went to see a doc few weeks ago who wanted to give me some pain killers for abdominal pain after I got nailed by a violent patient. I declined any serious prescription stuff but he insisted on giving me Motrin. I told him that I can get Motrin over the counter no need to write prescription on that. He said that the size of the Motrin he wants to give me is 600 mg and one in the store is 200mgs. I told the doc that if something I just take 3 over the counter pills and I be fine.

Medication dosage is set to protect the drug company and you from overmedicating yourself. Question is why 90 pound adult woman has the same dosage as 200 lbs adult man? You can buy almost everything over the counter in the US and if you travel you know you can really get everything (in Mexico or Peru for example). You get Motrin (200 mg) that tells you to take 1 hit every 4 hours and not exceed 4 tablets in 24 hour period. Now my doc was willing to slam me down with 600mg every 4 hours which means that I would exceed manufactures dosage by 8 regular pills. Yet he thought it was within normal standards. Personally I follow directions but since I did some climbing with 103 degree fever and white water kayaking with impacted wisdom tooth I surly can vouch for taking 5 Motrins at once. We are all adults and I would not recommend to anyone playing God but you know the level of pain you can handle. If that means popping an extra pill so be it.

Which bring me to the next point: TRAINING and KNOWLEDGE. Without it you do more harm than good.

Matt

The OTC medication dosages don't take into account any of the particulars of the patient. Exceeding those dosages usually requires a better understanding of the individual patient and the actual need. For example, Motrin (ibuprofin) is hard on the liver and that is one of the main concerns in overdose conditions with this drug. If you are a late stage alcoholic with sever liver damage or a very small person with great sensitivity you would still probably be within tolerances if you take the OTC motrin as suggested on the bottle. OTOH if you qualified as either of those persons and started taking 600 mg's every 4 hrs you would probably have a liver hemorage within a day. By going to the Doc you allow someone who is qualified to diagnose your overal condition to evaluate if there are any contra-indications to you taking a larger dosage or a stronger drug. BTW, you can get similar pain killing effects with other drugs without the liver impact - Aspirin, Morphine, Codiene all provide analgesic effects with different side effects. If you have a compromised liver you probably want to stay away from acetominefin (tylenol) or Ibuprofin (motrin) but you should be fine with aspirin morphine or codiene. OTOH, if your heart / circulatory system is compromised (heart disease, COPD etc...) you should stay away from aspirin but the acetominefin should be fine. And the list goes on. These are the things that training will teach you. These are the things that the Doc is trained to evaluate. This is why for one individual they may recommend trippling the dosage of motrin and for another they may recommend never taking any motrin. Unless you are knowledegeable in all of the effects of the medication (intended effects and side effects) and are trained in diagnosing the tolerance of the individual to all of these effects you should be very hesitant to provide medication to anyone. That said, If you stay with OTC medications within the parameters listed on the bottle and have no medical lisence to protect then you should be as safe from legal repercusions as the drug companies are - just a little less prepared to spend millions defending yourself from legal attack than they are.