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I have often told my MD, I don't care what you give me... I don't care if you think it won't work... as long as it helps, I don't care... don't tell me if it's a placebo if it helps... all I want is the relief... at any rate!

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Sky made a good point. Placebos often do work, and not because the pain or symptoms weren't real, but because the mind has healing powers and when somebody believes that they are going to get better, they often do. Some studies show, for example, that placebos and prescription antidepressants are both nearly equally effective. People even report side-effects while taking placebos. The mind is incredible, isn't it?

It is important to be able to trust your doctors. I don't know whether in actual practice doctors regularly prescribe placebos, but I guess the bottom line would be, is it working? If you get symptom relief without so much risk of potential harmful physical effects, isn't that good?

BTW, I'm never sure what actually works for me when I have tried things like SJW, light therapy, etc. - any of them might work due to placebo effect even though they are real treatments. But I guess it doesn't matter as long as it does work.