Anyone know of any older medicines that are still around but not usually prescribed?

Albuterol. I got switched to Xopenex..and miss Albuterol.
It’s next to impossible to get the old-skool inhalers in the US now because the propellant in them was banned (as not “eco-friendly”). The inhalers we asthmatics have now are just not as effective IMHO.

Ipecac, if not prescribed, was suggested as a purchase if you had young children; however, they have since found it more harmful than good in a lot of cases of toxic ingestion. It is no longer suggested to be kept around the house. I do not know if this qualifies as a medicine though.

Guanzabeeeeeeeeeeenz. blood pressure medicene that is older than the doctor that prescribed it.

Lithium for bi-polar disorder
Valium as a tranquillizer

Chloral Hydrate is a sleeping liquid that was discovered in 1832.

It does a good job putting you to sleep.

Laudanum. Does the job (treats mainly coughing, diarrhea and pain) but there are many safer more effective drugs out there.

@geeky_mama I agree. I think it had nothing to do with enviroment and everything to do with the fact that some people used the chemicals for drugs. It is a stupid effort to control something that is uncontrolable and the ones who suffered are the ones who really need it. The new meds work in the long run for my daughter but when she has a sudden attack, it does nothing for opening her airways in a hurry. Junkies are always going to find a different way to get high so I don’t see why those looking after their own health have to suffer.
Oh, sorry about the question, My answer would’ve been the same as @geeky_mama.

Codeine, and Terpin Hydrate with Codeine.

“Magic paint” which my grandfather carefully put on all my childhood wounds. It was yellow coloured and was a kind of iodine I think.
“Vicks” ointment which was applied liberally to my chest at bedtime if I had a cold.
TCP was used for teenage acne. The smell was pungent and carried at least 200 yards

If these are not banned by the FDA then they should be.

@Pandora and @geeky_mama salbutamol (what we call albuterol in the UK) is still the number one drug for the treatment of asthma over here in the UK. Levosalbutamol (Xopenex) is actually quite a controversial drug as chemically speaking it is identical to salbutamol. Any chemical that includes a carbon atom with four different atoms connected to it can be put together in two different ways – mirror images of themsleves like your left and right hands. If you make the molecule in a lab you will end up with a 50/50 mix of the two different vesions however when an living cell puts these types of molecules together they will always make the same version. The two different vesions will behave identically in the lab but in a living organism they will sometimes behave very differently. For example one version of the molecule for Spearmint tastes minty while the other tastes of nothing. From the point of view of medicines the difference between these two different vesions is some time critically important. One version of the molceule for thalidiomide is an extremely effective treatment for nausea and morning sickness however the version causes massive birth defects. Naproxen is another good one – one version is a powerful pain reliever and the other version does nothing but cause heart damage so its important that companies making Naproxen make the right version. Sometimes, however, pharmaceuticalcompanies will try to exploit this so as to maintain a patent on a drug after it has expired. Eosomprazole, for example, is chemically identical to omeprazole however because it is just one version of the molecule they charge a lot more for it despite the fact there is little evidence that it is more effective than omeprazole for treating GERD.

hope this makes sense

@janbb I didn’t think that Lithum is barely used, I thought that it’s common. I’m on it.

When I needed a new anti-psychotic they said you’re going old school and gave me Haldol. Apparently it’s not used that much.

@dubsrayboo I don’t have direct knowledge so I may well be wrong. That was my impression; thanks for correcting me.

Medical leeches are still used in very rare instances

There was discussion here on Fluther a few days ago about paregoric.

@flutherother – “Magic paint” is Mercurochrome. My aunt used to put it on me lo those many years ago.

Ipecac, which is mentioned in the very funny 1934 WC Fields film “It’s a Gift,” is still available in syrup form, I think. It is—or was prescribed as an emetic to induce vomiting.

@janbb Lithium is used all the time. As is Valium.