Trump admits to go against his doctor’s recommendation: “It doesn’t look right”

Donald Trump has never been particularly shy about trusting his own instincts, even when professional advice points somewhere else.

That philosophy apparently extends all the way to his medicine cabinet.

Speaking to supporters during a campaign rally in Vandalia, Ohio, the 80-year-old president offered an unusually candid explanation for why he continues taking a full-strength aspirin every day despite doctors encouraging him to use a lower dose.

Trump said he is not even sure whether his longstanding routine works as he believes it does. Giving it up, however, appears to be another matter entirely.

“I take an aspirin a day. I don’t know if it works, but psychologically I need it,” Trump told the crowd.

Trump prefers the “big one”

Trump’s aspirin detour came during his Saturday rally at Butler High School, where he was campaigning for Republican candidates ahead of November’s midterm elections.

“It thins the hell out of your blood, I guess,” Trump said. “I don’t know if it works or not, but I’ve been doing it for a long time. And here I am making speeches.”

His remarks then became considerably more specific.

Trump said he prefers Bayer aspirin, which he himself calls “the little yellow pill”, and deliberately chooses the larger tablet rather than the low-dose version his doctors have recommended.

“And I take the big one,” Trump said. “You know they want me to go down to the 80. I take the 386. I don’t know what the hell it is. It’s a monster.”

Trump appeared to get the numbers slightly wrong while speaking. His physician has previously confirmed that the president takes 325 milligrams of aspirin daily, while common low-dose aspirin tablets contain 81 milligrams.

Doctors have already tried to change his mind

Medical advice has apparently failed to dislodge a routine Trump says has followed him for decades.

“They said, ‘Sir, you don’t need that,’” Trump recalled. “I said, ‘Do me a favor, I’ve been doing okay for 35 years. Leave me alone.’”

Trump then joked about what might happen if he finally followed that advice and something subsequently went wrong.

“I’ll switch to the little tiny one,” he said, before complaining that the smaller tablet “doesn’t look right.”

“I’ll switch to that little tiny one and something bad will happen,” Trump added.

The president’s resistance to lowering his dose is not a new revelation.

During an interview with The Wall Street Journal published earlier this year, Trump acknowledged taking 325 milligrams daily and said his doctors would prefer the smaller dose.

Trump has called himself “a little superstitious”

Habit appears to play a major role in Trump’s thinking.

“I’m a little superstitious,” Trump told The Wall Street Journal when discussing why he had resisted changing a routine he said he had followed for more than 25 years.

“They’d rather have me take the smaller one,” he said. “I take the larger one, but I’ve done it for years, and what it does do is it causes bruising.”

Trump also offered his own decidedly non-medical description of what he believes aspirin does.

“They say aspirin is good for thinning out the blood, and I don’t want thick blood pouring through my heart,” he said. “I want nice, thin blood pouring through my heart. Does that make sense?”

Aspirin does not literally make blood thinner. It reduces the ability of platelets to clump together and form blood clots, which is why doctors sometimes prescribe daily aspirin for certain patients with cardiovascular disease or elevated cardiovascular risk.

Higher doses do not automatically provide greater cardiovascular protection, however, and aspirin can increase the risk of bleeding.

His aspirin use has already explained another mystery

Trump’s daily dose has previously entered the conversation surrounding the bruising repeatedly visible on his hands.

The president told The Wall Street Journal that his aspirin regimen makes him bruise easily, an explanation also acknowledged by his physician.

Cardiologist Jonathan Reiner, who previously treated former Vice President Dick Cheney, publicly questioned Trump’s decision to stick with 325 milligrams after the earlier interview.

Reiner said the president’s reasoning “makes no sense” and questioned why Trump would reject his doctors’ recommendation to move to a lower dose.

Trump nevertheless sounded far from ready to retire his preferred tablet in Ohio.

Doctors may see a smaller dose.

Trump sees a tiny yellow pill that simply “doesn’t look right.”

This article is made and published by Nicolai H, who may have used AI in the preparation