QUESTION: I have rheumatoid arthritis and have found that aspirin has been quite satisfactory in permitting me to function day to day. My problem is not joint pain but stomach pain. So my doctor has taken me off the aspirins and said it might be a month or so before I can go back on them. The other non-aspirin substitutes don't help me. Any solution for this? I wake up hurting. - E.L.J.

ANSWER: Your story dramatizes the dilemma often encountered in treating a chronic problem such as rheumatoid arthritis. The aspirin side effect has led many doctors to conclude that the best treatment for rheumatoid arthritis is with long-range use of other non-steroidal anti-inflammation drugs.For a patient like you, the choice can be difficult: to abandon the salubrious effect of your aspirin or continue to suffer one of its chief side effects, the gastrointestinal irritation.

A vacation from the aspirin seems warranted in the presence of ulcer-threatening irritation. You might be able to resume taking aspirin later; a month is considered a minimum vacation.

I presume the enteric-coated aspirins are not your answer here. Have you shopped among the wide variety of non-steroidal anti-inflammation drugs? Often, you can find one among the many that will help.

Beyond this, you must rely more on the non-drug steps toward arthritis control, such as weight loss, joint rest, application of soothing packs - hot or cold - and gentle exercise to the limit of pain.

I am sending on my arthritis report. Others can order it by writing: Dr. Donohue - No. 2, P.O. Box 5539, Riverton, NJ 08077. Enclose a long, self-addressed, stamped (52 cents) envelope and $3.

QUESTION: My 8-year-old has an earache. It started along with a bad cold. The doctor did not see fit to give him antibiotics, although the diagnosis was otitis media, which I understand to be a middle-ear infection. I am not a second-guesser, and this is a very fine up-to-date young doctor. But I am concerned, since most other doctors do use antibiotics, according to parents I speak to. Please let us know the scoop on this. - Mrs. N.H.

ANSWER: By the time you read this, the matter may well be moot, for studies have shown that most cases of otitis media - middle ear inflammation - subside on their own without use of antibiotics or with use of simple pain relievers. To be sure, this view challenges the standard approach, and it will have to stand the test of time and experience.

So your child's doctor has some basis for his decision to withhold the antibiotics. About 90 percent of children with otitis media have colds. Once the cold subsides, the ear problem usually does with it. This was found to be so in a recent study among more than 250 youngsters with the ear problem.

Should your child continue to complain of ear discomfort or a worsening of it, report that right away.

QUESTION: I read recently that one should avoid wheat or rye bread. The writer went on to say that bread is the most common cause of colds and is very fattening. I'd appreciate your view. - K.L.

View Comments

ANSWER: I find nothing wrong with wheat or rye bread. I eat both and feel fine.

Bread does not cause the common cold. It is not fattening unless you load it with fattening foods and spreads.

If you have a clipping of that article, send it on. I'm willing to be taught.

Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him at P.O. Box 5539, Riverton, NJ 08077.

Looking for comments?
Find comments in their new home! Click the buttons at the top or within the article to view them — or use the button below for quick access.