One of the most frequent reasons a physician is consulted by a patient is for leg swelling. The expected response from the physician is a prescription for a diuretic, such as hydrochlorothiazide or furosemide. Unfortunately, our society expects that a pill will cure their problem. All too often, the desired solution has untoward outcomes. I find it interesting that the person seeking the pill solution to this problem will ignore all of the published side effects of the diuretic but will usually demand to be informed what the complications are for a medication that they need for another problem.