Q. I’m not one to take pills. I don’t even keep aspirin in my house. But I have medicine in the barn for my horses and use it when I’ve got to have some for myself.
I have a bad back that bothers me off and on, and when it does I take one of the horse’s phenylbutazone tablets. The only medicine I took last year was a half of a phenylbutazone tablet, twice. Do you see anything wrong with taking this horse pill myself?
A. Phenylbutazone, one of the first anti-inflammatory drugs, was initially marketed over 60 years ago. Prescribed under the brand name Butazolidin, it is no longer available for human use. “Bute” has been used to enhance the performance of race horses.
Although phenylbutazone worked well for rheumatoid arthritis, it caused serious side effects in humans, including ulcers, serum sickness, hepatitis and blood disorders. If you need something for your bad back you would be better off taking a safer pain reliever such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB) or naproxen (Aleve).
You can also find a number of non-drug alternatives for pain and inflammation in our Guide to Alternatives Treatments for Arthritis. They include turmeric (the yellow spice in yellow mustard), tart cherries (pie cherries), fish oil, gin-soaked raisins and grape juice and Certo (plant pectin used to thicken jams and jellies).
