Customer Reviews

The Pill Book (14th Edition): New and Revised 14th Edition

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I use this book so often. I'm older and medications are unavoidable, but I can find out how safe something is or isn't and try to stay off what I don't really need. My doctor is always impressed that I know about what I'm taking.

I was looking for a book that has brief descriptions of most of the prescription drugs used today, because I want to familiarize myself with drug names and purposes before trying to get a job as a pharmacy assistant. I originally went to the bookstore to pick up a copy of the PDR Pocket Guide to Prescription Drugs (9th Edition) after reading glowing reviews on Amazon, but The Pill Book was placed right next it so I was able to examine both (I ended up buying The Pill Book).

What I didn't like about PDR's Pocket Guide was that the drug profiles are arranged in alphabetical order by the predominant American brand name of the drug. This is less helpful to those of us who live outside the US - we may not be familiar with US brand names because we sometimes have different brand names for the same drug. In The Pill Book, drugs are ordered alphabetically by their generic name, which I'm quite sure is universal around the world. For example, the antidepressant Wellbutrin is the in "W" section in the PDR, but in the "B" section in The Pill Book (its generic name is Bupropion). I would rather learn drugs by their generic name, because each drug may have several different brand names, but only one generic name. Both books list each drug's generic and brand names, but the difference is in which name appears in the heading in bold print.

The entries in PDR seem wordier, with each drug profile lengthier than the corresponding profile in the Pill Book. This may be better appreciated by people who wish to know more about the drug they are taking, but I prefer the conciseness of The Pill Book for doing a general study on common prescription drugs.

Although the PDR has more pages (1600 pages) than the Pill Book (1296 pages), it has fewer drug profiles. The Pill Book boasts on its back cover that it contains information on more than 1800 drugs, while the PDR advertises that it has more than 1000. So, The Pill Book is the way to go if you want briefer entries on a greater number of drugs, while those who prefer longer entries that are possibly more complete (but with the trade-off of fewer listed drugs) may opt for PDR's Pocket Guide.

Fonts used: I find The Pill Book's font easier on the eyes. It is similar to Arial, while PDR's font is akin to Arial Narrow (taller, vertically-stretched letters).

Pronunciations: The Pill Book has pronunciations for most generic drug names, but not for any brand names. Based on Amazon's "Look Inside!" feature, I don't believe PDR has pronunciations for any drug names. I think knowing how to pronounce a drug name would aid in remembering what it is used for.

Take a "Look Inside!" of both to see which you'd like best, as they are very similar books, for the most part.

PLEASE buy this book! It is the FIRST place I look for info on meds my physician prescribes or recommends. It allows me to talk to my doctor(s) intelligently about what might happen in MY body, considering MY medical history! I have used the newest editions of this book for years! Also-this large format is well worth the extra cost for some of us!

I bought this book and received it right on time. However, when looking through the book I saw that page 317 had a snippet cut from it. I was looking for an oral corticosteroid pill I was given and it was in the corticosteroid-oral section that I found it. I haven't looked through the rest of the book yet, but I've never found anything like this when I ordered from Amazon and thought I'd let you know. Also, I ordered the 14th version and I got the 12th version.

I would like to return this item!

As we get older it seems like you get more and more prescription drugs to take every day and old ones floating around in a drawer. The Pill Book comes out every two years and it's a great way to check the proper times to take your meds. Interactions with other meds. Possible side effects and proper dosages. Check your spouse's meds, your parents, pass it along to friends. This is my third copy.

I HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING THIS SERIES EVER SINCE THE 9TH EDITION BACK IN THE LATE 90'S!!! I LOVE THE PICTURE PAGES IN THE CENTER,,, AND THE PSYCH MED UPDATES SHOWING THE NEW PSYCHO TROPIC DRUGS!!!

It was exactly what I wanted and I received it in only a few short days. Wonderful service and product.

Like Leonard Maltin's comprehensive Movie Guide, this is a book to have at arm's reach and to discard with each new edition (average useful life is 2 years). But having tried the somewhat less expensive Kindle version, primarily because of instantaneous delivery, I'd have to recommend spending the extra buck on a hard-copy edition. Unless you're an experienced, exceptionally agile Kindle user, reference books like this are much more convenient in hard-copy rather than virtual, or electronic, form. Practically any book that is information-exhaustive and index-dependent is cumbersome to use as an e-book, unless you don't mind entering Search numerous times. (It would be helpful if the Kindle had a one-button Index feature, with the words in the index acting as hot-links to the information in question.) Caveat: I may be overlooking a feature of the Kindle. Apart from the index, the device surpasses hard copy in its compactness, convenience, clutter-reduction, and audible read-back feature.

This book is very good. Has all the information you would need to know about the drugs, side effects, implications for patients. I also like it that the same group drugs are pared together and all the generic and brand names are mentioned. The only thing that I think this book is missing is over the counter drugs.

I recently purchased the kindle version of this book for my kindle TOUCH and so far it is really nice... I go to the TABLE of CONTENTS then to the INDEX and search for the name of the pill/ medication that I am looking for (sometimes it takes a few min, depending on what you are looking for because yes, you do have to start from 'A') and when I find it I click on it and it brings me directly to the medication/pill that I am looking for. The information is easy to read and the majority of it is in ENGLISH (not an obscene amount of med. terminology or nurse shorthand)Even the pill identification charts work, however because I have the touch, it's in black and white and the drawback to the charts is that you have to look through each one, starting at A (however if you can click (touch the side to turn the page) real fast and kinda keep up with it, again, not so bad.)

I actually purchased this to help with a project we have called 'drug cards' as I am studying to be a M.Assistant, so this is helping me learn the side effects and everything else listed :) Good book for beginning Med student or pharmacist tech if your not good with the med terminology yet.