Operating a motor vehicle is a job that demands your undivided attention. But there are so many new drugs on the market today that anyone who drives must be extremely careful of any medication he takes. Drug store counters are crowded with heavily advertised products containing promised relief from colds, flu, arthritic pain, stomach and other common disorders. Many of these drugs, and what they contain, are a mystery to most of us. They’re nothing like the simple household remedies our parents used. In fact, any exact knowledge of them is pretty well restricted to doctors and pharmacists.
Each drug must be tested before it comes on the market for general sale. Usually, what happens is that a new drug or a combination of several drugs is administered to patients in hospitals, with their consent, under carefully controlled conditions. This is done after studying the reactions of the drugs on animals. The patients report their own reactions to the drug being studied. These reactions, along with medical tests on the patient, are reported in detail. From such experience, the rates of tolerance are determined for different people.
Remember the old saying, “One man’s meat is another man’s poison?” Keep that in mind, and remember that one’s tolerance of a drug is a highly individual matter. What one person can take with ease can cause another person a great deal of discomfort, and sometimes even can be fatal. In testing to find out the range of tolerance for a wide variety of people, there is always the possibility that your type of person can be overlooked. You may have inherited tendencies, chemical makeup, or trauma that result in very different reactions to a drug than the typical reaction for the group that was tested.
Generally, it’s true that nearly every drug produces side effects of some kind. Common aspirin tablets cause many people to perspire; penicillin makes some people shed skin like a snake; cortisone can cause convulsive nausea and swelling, aching joints.
Although it’s against the principle of many doctors to tell you what’s in the pills they prescribe, it is important that the doctor should know your medical history and physical condition. Whether he asks or not, make sure you TELL him you are a professional driver -- that you have to make quick decisions and must be constantly alert to avoid accidents. ALWAYS ask if the medicine will make you drowsy or affect your reflexes and quick reaction to traffic hazards.
Not only should you be cautious in the use of prescribed drugs, and follow the physician’s directions exactly, but you must also exercise extreme caution in the use of drugs that don’t require a prescription. Never take a remedy just before driving, or while driving. The antihistamines and the more potent pain killers can make you so sleepy you may lose control of the wheel or react too slowly to avoid a collision. If you MUST try an unknown drug without first asking your doctor, do it while you are off duty, and note carefully how it affects you. Always challenge what it says on the package with your own individual test. And don’t drive until several hours later!