Fact: Caffeine (withdrawal) can cause headaches
Fact: Caffeine is used in medicine to relieve headaches

Question: How can two seemingly opposite statements be true?

Answer: The dosage, or amount, of caffeine used/consumed, may be the reason that both “facts” can be true (although this is debatable among experts).

Caffeine is a common ingredient in many over-the-counter (OTC) headache medications. The reason? Caffeine additives make pain relievers 40% more effective in treating headaches, and helps the body absorb the medication more quickly.

A recent article in the New York Times said that the rate of deaths caused by prescription and other legal drugs (in Florida) was three times the rate of deaths caused by all illicit drugs combined!

Do you think there is a prescription drug abuse epidemic? Is it happening in your community or elsewhere? What can we do about keeping our medicine and other drugs (including alcohol) out of the hands of the mis-users?

Have your or a loved one had a problem with addiction to any prescription or non-prescription drugs? What helped you overcome this?