Rx/OTC drug effectiveness?

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I got to thinking about how little Rx/OTC drugs work on me. Everything I take I have to take far more than the recommended dose to even have the tiniest effect. Most of my Rx's have been upped very rapidly, and then switched because they didn't work. And I usually drop off of them pretty quickly when I see they don't work (I'm not paying out-of-pocket for stuff that doesn't work).

Whenever I have a headache I usually just suffer it because OTC headache stuff doesn't even begin to touch it. If I can't sleep I'm just doomed to insomnia because the only sleeping pill I've tried that worked (and I've tried a lot of 'em) made me sleep for 12-14 hours.

I've been on quite a few Rx's that doctors say you should never drop off of without a physician's approval, but I've never had any adverse side effects/withdrawal symptoms. When I was drinking heavily and then abruptly stopped I didn't have any withdrawal symptoms from that either. And it took way too much alcohol to have any effect on me as well. (I no longer drink because of that. Too darned expensive!)

Is drug ineffectiveness something anyone else has experienced?

There have been many people here who report having unusual effects from medication but most of it seemed to lean towards needing less then the perscribed dose and having very bad side effects from taking "recommended doses".

Have you tried Melatonin for sleeping ? It really helped me and I have tried other OTC but no RX...because of the "hang over" effect being a concern for me (as well as building up tolerances I have seen in others).

Nope haven't tried melatonin, I've heard of it but haven't gotten around to trying it yet.

It might be that I just develop a tolerance to things so easily that after a couple of doses I have to up the dosage. And I really hesitate to do that on most anything these days because what I *need* (dosage wise) is probably considered OD'ing, which I really don't want to do. Now I just avoid everything unless my head feels like it's going to explode.

Try the Melatonin. It's not very expenssive if you have a CVS or something that sells their own store brand. Sometimes you can even get them two for one. It has helped me and my BF with no sode effects that we have noticed. Doesn't work for every body but cheap enough to try. I had tried other "natural sleep" remedies and none of them worked for me but this is a hormone that we should have naturally and it could be that aspie don't have enough of it ?

Most of drug effectiveness, especially regarding anti-depressants, is a placebo effect. Paxil is especially notorious for being more placebo than drug. Not that it can't have bad side effects, so you should still be careful.

Melatonin, kava, etc... Do NOTHING for me! NO OTC pain reliever, except IBUPROFEN ever helped me and IT has to be 800mg(PERSCRIPTION strength!)! I've been prescribed things that did NOTHING for me, and a "cough suppressant that almost killed me.

I have a cousin, clean, sober and drug-free, who must take about twice to three times the normal dosage to get the same effect most people have.

My wife, and I swear to God this is true, has a funny metabolism. Everything she takes has the OPPOSITE effect on her. And her sister has the same reaction to medicine. Nighttime Nyquil keeps her awake. Stimulants, such as Stackers or Guarana, make her sleepy. My wife's sister even tried Meth amphetamines once and instead of running 30 hours straight, it made her so sleepy that she literally slept 30 straight hours immediately AFTER taking the hit.

Me: I have the intended reaction to everything.