Community ClicksQ: I’ve had a terrible cough, so violent that I’ve wet and sometimes even soiled myself. For several weeks, I’ve been vomiting from coughing so hard. I take lisinopril and amlodipine for high blood pressure. I suspect that one of them is the cause of my horrid cough. Is this possible?
A: The most common and bothersome side effect of popular blood pressure drugs like benazepril, captopril, enalapril, fosinopril, lisinopril and ramipril is an uncontrollable cough. Many readers have reported throwing up because of this side effect.
Patients should always be alerted to this potential adverse reaction. We are sending you our Guide to Blood Pressure Treatment with a discussion of the pros and cons of a range of medications and many nondrug alternatives. For a copy, send $3 in check or money order with a long (No. 10), stamped (64 cents), self-addressed envelope to: Graedons’ People’s Pharmacy, No. B-67, P.O. Box 52027, Durham, NC 27717-2027. It also can be downloaded for $2 from www.peoplespharmacy.com. Although amlodipine is unlikely to cause cough, it can lead to swollen ankles because of fluid retention. Other side effects may include headache, dizziness, nausea and fatigue.
Q: My family has switched almost entirely to using sea salt in cooking. Are we now at greater risk of developing a goiter because we’re not using iodized salt?
A: You are correct that sea salt contains minimal iodine. If you don’t get iodine from other sources, you might develop a goiter — an enlarged thyroid gland that is working overtime to produce thyroid hormone.The recommended dietary allowance of iodine is 150 micrograms per day for an adult. You can get adequate amounts of iodine by eating fish (cod, haddock, perch, shrimp, etc.), dairy products or baked potato. Kelp (seaweed) is highest in iodine, but this is an acquired taste. Many multivitamins contain iodine.
Q: Your advice on getting off acid-suppressing drugs (PPIs) makes it clear you’ve never experienced rebound reflux. I am a nurse, and I take omeprazole, lansoprazole or whatever other PPI I can get. I just laughed at your suggestion that “gradual tapering might be beneficial.” Rebound reflux is unlike any heartburn you’ve ever experienced; it is much worse than reflux before PPIs. Nothing touches it — not antacids, not water, not milk, nothing. It is the most fierce, insistent pain you can imagine. The only thing that stops it is taking another PPI pill. I have tried tapering, but I can never get much past a day before I need more. Tums and Rolaids have absolutely no effect. Someone needs to look into this and try to figure out how those of us who were prescribed Prilosec and other PPIs 15 years ago can stop taking them. It’s the one medication you will never forget to take!
A: Gastroenterologists disagree about the difficulty of stopping an acid-suppressing drug such as esomeprazole (Nexium), lansoprazole (Prevacid), omeprazole (Prilosec) and rabeprazole (Aciphex). A Danish study (Gastroenterology, July 2009) found that people without heartburn experienced distressing reflux after stopping proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). Other specialists, however, are skeptical (Editorial, American Journal of Gastroenterology, July 2010). Suggestions for stopping PPIs with ginger, DGL and probiotics can be found at www.peoplespharmacy.com.
Q: I have been an amputee for 48 years. I’ve been struggling with a pressure sore on my stump for two and a half years. My wound had staph bacteria almost to the bone. I tried all of the modern-day medical treatments my doctors prescribed, to no avail. Finally, my physician recommended treating the wound with sugar, but he never mentioned the mixture of sugar and Betadine. I found the recipe for this combination online. I started using the mixture seven days ago, twice daily, and the wound has practically sealed up with no proud flesh or drainage. I would say that this is a great remedy.
A: We first heard of the sugar cure for wounds back in 1985 from a woman who was trying to heal her grandmother’s bedsores. The earliest mention of sugar for wound healing that we could find in the medical literature was during World War I in the Journal of the American Medical Association (Sept. 4, 1915). This treatment persisted as an old wives’ tale until the mid-1970s, when Richard Knutson, M.D., began using sugar on hard-to-treat wounds (Southern Medical Journal, November 1981). His formula involved mixing 4 pounds of table sugar with 1 pound of Betadine (iodine) antiseptic ointment and 6.5 ounces Betadine solution in a double boiler over low heat. He applied the mixture to a depth of ¼ inch, changing the dressing and cleaning the wound daily. He treated more than 5,000 patients over 15 years. Nurses have pointed out that Betadine might damage delicate cells and slow healing. Any wound that does not heal requires careful medical supervision.
Q: Years ago, I read in one of your books that canned pears help with nausea. They’re my go-to food when my stomach is bothering me.
A: An old country doctor told us that canned pear juice could ease nausea and bellyaches. We have never found any science
to support this remedy, but we have seen it work.
Q: I absolutely get relief from my migraines with ice cream. Starbucks Frappuccinos are just as good or better. Any combination of cold and carbohydrates is great. Add caffeine and protein (the milk in ice cream), and you’ve got a real winner. It can actually cure my migraine sometimes if I catch it early enough.
A: Thank you for the testimonial. It is good to have a reliable remedy to try, since standard medicines for migraine, such as sumatriptan (Imitrex), are pricey. We discuss these medications as well as nondrug treatments for migraines, menstrual headaches and sex headaches in our Guide to Headaches and Migraines. For a copy, send $3 in check or money order with a long (No. 10), stamped (64 cents), self-addressed envelope to: Graedons’ People’s Pharmacy, No. M-98, P.O. Box 52027, Durham, NC 27717-2027. It also can be downloaded for $2 from www.peoplespharmacy.com.
Q: I had a splinter in my heel area and used white Elmer’s glue and a bandage for a few hours, and the splinter came out when I pulled it off.
I didn’t think this would work, but I was pleasantly surprised.
A: Thanks for the tip. Another option is to put a salicylic acid wart plaster over the splinter. After a day or two, the splinter should work its way out or be easily removable (Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, April 1989).
