I knew a man in N.C. who died at 75 never having a water heater in his house. Why? Because his grandmother's heater exploded (when he was a young kid) and he never trusted them again.

The second leading cause of cancer deaths in men is prostate cancer, although it's quite curable when men allow themselves to be diagnosed and treated.

My point is this: decisions about medical treatments are fraught with human issues and technical/medical considerations which make easy and simple decisions--which are also judicious decisions--increasingly difficult.

As the number of meds & treatments have multiplied and become more potent and effective, the more side effects we have to be aware of and learn how to manage--if we want the benefits they offer. It's simply an illusion to expect high levels of both effectiveness and freedom from side effects: it's just not in the cards. (More than one science type has commented that aspirin would never pass the FDA licensing process were is coming out today: too many side effects.)

I have the perspective of age to remember when major surgery was used to treat infections because antibiotics didn't arrive until I was just getting out of grammar school! Perspective is hard to develop and especially so when dealing with a complex area out of our common experience, e.g., medicine. We do have some good sources of information which only became readily to hand with the advent of the WWW. BUT even these resources can be a problem when we don't know the quality of the information or have the skills/experience to interpret what we find.

Over the years of reading messages here I've often been anxious about the readiness of folks to manipulate drug doses, play with combinations of meds, and not reporting problems to their docs--and blow off a med as bad/useless. Even the most conscientious consumer will have some problems; the ignorant and flippant are setting themselves up for trouble.

In the end, we are all confronted with trying to strike a balance between benefit and potential cost (cost being $, side effects, and degree of effectiveness). But I'm not about to give up on modern medicine because half a life time ago the picture was so limited and even grim!
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Cephalalgia. 2009 Jan 19. 
Treatment of cluster headache in pregnancy and lactation.

Jüergens TP, Schaefer C, May A.

Department of Neurology, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.

Jüergens TP, Schaefer C & May A. Treatment of cluster headache in pregnancy and lactation. Cephalalgia 2009. London. ISSN 0333-1024Cluster headache is a rare disorder in women, but has a serious impact on the affected woman's life, especially on family planning. Women with cluster headache who are pregnant need special support, including the expertise of an experienced headache centre, an experienced gynaecologist and possibly a teratology information centre. The patient should be seen through all stages of the pregnancy. A detailed briefing about the risks and safety of various treatment options is mandatory. In general, both the number of medications and the dosage should be kept as low as possible. PREFERRED TREATMENTS INCLUDE OXYGEN, SUBCUTANEOUS OR INTRANASAL SUMATRIPTAN FOR ACUTE PAIN AND VERAPAMIL AND PREDNISONE/PREDNISOLONE AS PREVENTATIVES. IF THERE IS A COMPELLING REASON TO TREAT THE PATIENT WITH ANOTHER PREVENTATIVE, GABAPENTIN IS THE DRUG OF CHOICE. WHILE BREASTFEEDING, OXYGEN, SUMATRIPTAN AND LIDOCAINE FOR ACUTE PAIN AND PREDNISONE/PREDNISOLONE, VERAPAMIL, AND LITHIUM AS PREVENTATIVES ARE THE DRUGS OF CHOICE. As the individual pharmacokinetics differ substantially, adverse drug effects should be considered if unexplained symptoms occur in the newborn.

PMID: 19170693