Does medication work this quickly, or is it a placebo effect?

[aimeeandbeatles]

I found this really odd. On the arthritis pills the doctor gave me, it said Fast-acting. My knee was really bothering me just now so I took two of them (it was pretty bad). Anyways it worked within 30 seconds. Or seemed to, anyway.

Personally, I find this a little silly as I cant see it even getting down my esophagus that fast. Are there any research about whether this is due to something similiar to the placebo effect? (E.G. If you expect something to work, it often does, even if it's a sugar pill. In my case, it is a proper medicine, but I was expecting it to work quickly and it did, although it may not have.)

Just curious and I thought it was too long/discusson-y for the questions thread.

 

[Skwink]

Additionally, if you suspect something of just being a Placebo, does it continue to have a Placebo effect?

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I know. I thought of that after I post. I think I read something about the placebo effect still working when informed, but I forgot where.

 

[wilycoyote]

Does it really matter? If you feel better, isn't that what counts?

I'm entirely unqualified to answer the actual question of this thread.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I guess not but I'm always curious.

 

[Synobun]

The greatest medicine to the body is your mind, but it's also your greatest illness in some cases.

The placebo effect is a good example of both of those. The way I see it, as long as it is positive, don't worry about it, but do try to achieve the effect without taking pills.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Well I'm not entirely sure that the placebo effect can reduce swelling.

 

[Synobun]

Well I'm not entirely sure that the placebo effect can reduce swelling.

What people need to realize is that the mind is more than just a mind. Some ancient spiritual practices are adamant in the opinion that the mind is stronger than the body in a lot of cases, which I have to agree with. A lot of the people who beat cancer only beat it because they had the will to get better. This isn't to say that the medicine doesn't help, but the people who give up are more likely to die from illness than the people who stay strong.

If your mind was convinced that what it was currently absorbing would reduce swelling quickly, it is logical to assume that this would naturally reduce the swelling before the medication took effect.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Yeah i guess the mind can be a powerful thing. That reminds me of the broken-hand story.

 

[GoodGame]

I found this really odd. On the arthritis pills the doctor gave me, it said Fast-acting. My knee was really bothering me just now so I took two of them (it was pretty bad). Anyways it worked within 30 seconds. Or seemed to, anyway.

Personally, I find this a little silly as I cant see it even getting down my esophagus that fast. Are there any research about whether this is due to something similiar to the placebo effect? (E.G. If you expect something to work, it often does, even if it's a sugar pill. In my case, it is a proper medicine, but I was expecting it to work quickly and it did, although it may not have.)

Just curious and I thought it was too long/discusson-y for the questions thread.

Consider that any drug is a chemical and some chemicals work quickly due to their chemistry----quick to be absorbed by an organism, quickly carried to target cells due to physiochemistry, and effective in very small dose----e.g. snake venoms. So it might not automatically be a placebo effect. But the placebo effective is also considered to be a real effect.

 

[MagisterCultuum]

Additionally, if you suspect something of just being a Placebo, does it continue to have a Placebo effect?

I recall one study posted on this forum that strongly implies that the answer is yes. Patients told they are getting a placebo that should make them feel better because of the min body effect do in fact feel better.

 

[Chukchi Husky]

I found this really odd. On the arthritis pills the doctor gave me, it said Fast-acting. My knee was really bothering me just now so I took two of them (it was pretty bad). Anyways it worked within 30 seconds. Or seemed to, anyway.

The packaging of a medicine is known to cause a placebo effect. It's why things like pain relief is coloured a bright red, and anti-depressants are blue.

 

[Hygro]

I have a theory that your body uses energy in an economic way. When it knows relief is coming, it uses energy now to fix things, rather than saving ammo. That's why I think certain things seem to work faster than they should--the body starts doing the work first knowing the drug will support it later.

 

[Tarquelne]

Sometimes feelings - as in emotion - of relief are a factor. You've taken the medicine, so you know physical relief is on the way, so you relax (mentally and perhaps physically) and your attitude improves. Either can lead to actual (short term) physical relief from pain or greater tolerance for pain.

 

[Smellincoffee]

I used to feel nausea subsiding the moment Pepto-Bismol hit my mouth. Definitely something psychosomatic at work.

 

[El_Machinae]

A medication shouldn't change swelling levels within an hour. The biochemistry of swelling isn't modifiable through chemicals like that. Pain relief can be immediate, and is likely the placebo effect. This is actually a good thing, and being a placebo-responder is definitely an advantage in some ways. The handy part is that the medication might be actually helping, and so while you're getting a placebo benefit early on, you are likely getting medicinal benefit later on.

Placebo is a totally awesome phenomenon. We recently had a biotech company present an olfactory protocol for early detection of Parkinson's, and I stymied the presenter by asking about the placebo response to treatment and olfactory sensitivity. It hadn't occurred to them to test something like that, and we're hoping to avoid a lot of future confusion by asking that type of question.

As an aside, if you like the idea of advanced medicine, I can recommend Parkinson's research as a great place to donate money to. It's really cutting edge in all the things that we want.

 

[BvBPL]

El Machinae: were they suggesting that Parkinson patients smelled differently or that they smelled things differently?

 

[Hygro]

good, because I have a bit of a tremor very much like early Parkinson's, and I've had it most of my life. I'd like it to go away.... The euphemism I co opted is that I "vibrate"

 

[El_Machinae]

El Machinae: were they suggesting that Parkinson patients smelled differently or that they smelled things differently?

It appears that the neural degradation that we associate with Parkinson's motor disease first appears in the system that rejuvenate the olfactory system. This degradation eventually manifests as a reduction in the ability to perceive smells, but is likely visible on brainscans even before that (maybe, they're working on increasing their ability to predict eventual loss of the sense of smell). Regardless, a loss of olfaction likely precedes Parkinson's motor disease by at least a few years.

What I like about Parkinson's is how cutting-edge it is. The solutions to it are likely to be very high-science, even if they're not all that complicated to implement.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

There was a tiny bit of swelling and a lot of pain. The pain left near-instantaneously. But it took longer for the swelling to go. Elevating the leg a bit helped too. If the swelling starts getting bad again I'll probably be getting a knee brace.