I have written and talked about the dangers of combining different medications with each other, even the possibilities of over the counter drugs.  As an over the road truck driver, there are those times when we fall ill and find ourselves hundreds of miles away from home.  Most often our only resource are the OTC drugs available from the area stores.  

An interaction between two drugs occurs when the effect of a particular drug is altered when taken with another drug or, in some cases, food.  We all know that combining prescription drugs with over the counter drugs can be deadly, but it is important to reiterate that the combination of OTC drugs can be just as harmful.   Each year, 100,000 people die from prescription drug combinations and one million more are hurt by the very drugs prescribed to them by their doctors.    But what about just combining a few over the counter drugs?   The same dangers exist.

For example:  taking Advil and Aspirin together, can lead to deadly consequences.  Furthermore, there are another 864 known drugs that will interact with Advil and 1,199 other drugs that will interact with Aspirin in an adverse way.   When trucking for weeks and months at a time, we have all made the trip to the OTC counter, grabbing whatever looks like would provide us with the relief we are needing.   Realize, that even over the counter drug combinations can lead to detrimental factors.

I wanted to provide professional drivers out on the road with a way to check to see if a certain combination of two medicines would be safe.  With many truckers running with their laptops and smartphones these days, checking from out on the road had to be possible.  Drug Interaction Checker will do just that.   After you click on the “I Agree” button, you will then go to the next page which allows you to type in and/or choose from a large list of drugs and medicines, including OTC drugs.  After placing the two names of the drugs in question, then just click on “Check Interactions.” 

It will then give you the details for any major interactions, medium interactions or if there are no interactions between the drugs, and if they are safe to take together.  When I checked against Advil and Aspirin, I was immediately given notice that this was a Major Drug-Drug interaction danger. 

During your over the road trucking, you find yourself searching the OTC counter for whatever looks to be helpful, be safe.  First, check with the Drug Interaction Checker.   Especially, if you are needing cough syrups.    Remember, they may only be over the counter, but hundreds of combinations exist that can and do lead to severe consequences.

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: drug combinations, drug interaction checker, drugs, health, interaction, interactions, medicines, otc drugs, over the counter, over the road, truck drivers, Truckers, trucking

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