Hydroxyzine for anxiety

Is hydroxyzine useful for treatment of anxiety?

Hydroxyzine is an antihistamine. It has been around for over 70 years and not much used today. The drug is sometimes prescribed by GPs for anxiety. Unfortunately, there is no evidence that this drug works for anxiety. My advice to you is seek the assistance of a psychiatrist for your anxiety. Most GPs are clueless about treatment of mental health disorders. Any doctor who prescribes hydroxyzine today is an idiot.

Quetiapine for anxiety

Recently I was prescribed quetiapine for my anxiety. Does this medication work?

Anxiety is a difficult disorder to treat. Even though there are medications for treatment, resistance quickly develops. Now there has been an interest in the use of atypical antipsychotics for the treatment of anxiety. Current data show that quetiapine does relieve anxiety. Unfortunately, the drug has numerous side effects and most patients stop taking the medication.

Vitamin C for pneumonia

Does vitamin C help patients who have a pneumonia?

There have been thousands of papers published on vitamin C and its health benefits. As far as pneumonia is concerned, this vitamin only is helpful for pneumonia that develop as outpatient. In recent studies done in hospitalized patients, vitamin C has not been shown to be of any benefit. In general, the treatment of a bacterial pneumonia is antibiotics. Viral pneumonias are treated with supportive therapy. You may take vitamin C if you want for any illness, but whether it helps is another story.

Chronic fatigue syndrome

Is there anything I can do to improve symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome?

CFS is a very difficult to treat and patient dis- satisfaction is very high. No one person responds to the same medications and even medications that work, stop working in the long term. The one treatment I can recommend is exercise. More data indicate that exercise is of great benefit. Not only does it help you lose weight, but exercise also improves self esteem and confidence.

Acupuncture for hot flashes

I am a 49 year old female and have hot flashes. I do not want to take any hormones. Do you think acupuncture can help me?

Acupuncture is one treatment that is still searching for a medical disorder it can treat. The evidence for acupuncture for treatment of many medical disorder is conflicting. For hot flashes and menopausal symptoms, the evidence that acupuncture works is scant. 

Definitely not recommended. More important, you have to go for many sessions with no guarantee that it will work. Each session can cost $75-$150. My advice- give acupuncture a rest- it is a glorified treatment that does very little except make the providers rich.

Minocycline for acne

Recently my doctor prescribed me minocycline for acne. Does this medication work?

First, dump your doctor-he/she probably is too stupid to read the current literature. There is ZERO evidence that minocycline works for acne. It definitely is not a first line medication for acne. In addition, evidence now indicates that you are more likely to develop a lupus like syndrome from this medication.  So my advice to you is dump this bum MD, see a bona fide skin doctor and ask for a retinoid.

Liraglutide for diabetes

 I am a type 2 diabetic and was recently prescribed liraglutide. Is there something cheaper I can take?

Your doctor is scamming you. Please find a new doctor. The glucagon like peptides for type 2 diabetes are relatively new. Many doctors have started to prescribe these medications but there is NO evidence that these drugs are better than metformin. Secondly, these newer medications are prohibitively expensive. Thirdly, they cause weight gain. 

My advice to you is find a new doctor. It appears this doctor is working for the drug manufacturer and is interested in getting commissions for writing this bullcrap prescription. See any doctor and ask for metformin. It is cheap, causes weight loss and is the best drug around for type 2 diabetes. It has been around for 70 years and very safe.