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Do you know the side-effects of your medication?

Discussion in 'Medical' started by Usernamesmyt, Mar 21, 2016.

  1. Usernamesmyt

    Usernamesmyt New Member

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    A lot of us turn to medicine immediately we feel a little unwell. However, scientists say that sometimes the side-effects of drugs by far diminish any benefits they have.

    People don't know this, however. Until recently, I didn't bother find out the side-effects of medication before I took it. Do you?
     
  2. katie

    katie New Member

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    Always. I don't just check the drugs either, but the brand. A few years ago I had a mild ear infection and ended up the sickest I have ever been. It turned out that it was a reaction to the medication. A new doctor had changed the brand of the medication and something in the bonding agent that made the pill, not even the drug itself, caused a nightmare of a reaction. I stopped taking it and recovered completely in a day.

    Now I always check. It's too easy for something to go wrong, and I always ask the doctor and pharmacist about bad combinations and remind them of allergies, because the number of doctors who don't read medical notes is scary. I take the view I only have one liver, and I don't want anything to happen to it!
     
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  3. Kimberly

    Kimberly New Member

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    It is important that side effects are a possible outcome, meaning that there is a chance that it may not happen. Now of course if the side effects are serious, you may not even want to chance the medicine. But, all my life i've had run ins with side effects on certain medicines that would possibly make me gain weight, but never gained a pound and ended up stressing for months over nothing. So while it is important to know your side effects, it is also important to weigh the outcomes and decide whether or not the medicine is worth taking or not.
     
  4. Torialou

    Torialou New Member

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    I take a lot of medication that is given to me on script from my Doctors, I have to admit that I have stopped reading the side effects! This is because the lists go on and on, some of the drugs have pages and pages of possible side effects ranging from common to extremely rare.

    With the internet being so large in my life I tend to know about drugs these days from support groups online before my Doctors put me on the medication and hear the common side effects, along with how many deal with them first hand. I also hear so many people worrying about possible side effects that they put off taking drugs that could help with conditions because they are worried by how many side effects there are.

    I do feel that as you say a lot of people are a little to fast to reach for over the counter medication though without really knowing, or bothering to know the potential side effects.
     
  5. BethSztruhar

    BethSztruhar New Member

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    Yeah, I know everything.
     
  6. Kanagirl

    Kanagirl New Member

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    I won't take any medications unless I research the side effects, first. It's too easy to just type the name into Google and not risk your health... or your life.

    I am on 5 medications, currently. It has taken 5 years of trial and error to get something that works. While I trust my doctor to do his best, I also expect him to be human and make mistakes. My life is too important to not take the 30 seconds to look the information up.
     
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  7. BethSztruhar

    BethSztruhar New Member

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    Reading the side effects is pretty important, I agree. When my Mom was diganosed with Hypertonia her Doc gave her 4 medications. Even if her blood preaussure was normal, she started to feel sick. Ok, let's change this med -she said-, because she knew it's a side effect. The Doc gave her another. That was the absolute HELL. 12 side effcts! Migraine, nausea, backpain, etc. So to be quick: it took 5 meds to find the right one, and our Doc wasn't really happy. I don't want to trash them, but here we all know that they get paid from each company if a patient uses thir drug.
     
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  8. Kanagirl

    Kanagirl New Member

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    I had a doctor give me nortriptyline for migraines, about 8 years ago. It isn't a migraine medicine, but I assumed he knew what he was doing. The next day I woke up with my shoulders and back extremely stiff and sore. And throughout the day it didn't ease up. I didn't realize there was a connection and kept taking it. The next morning my knees and elbows felt like I had slept on them in a bad position all night. By day 4 every single joint iny body (all the way down to my knuckles) felt like they had been smashed with a sledge hammer. I laid in bed and cried! My husband googled it and a side effect was severe joint pain. That was the last time I didn't look up side effects. If I had I would have stopped after the first night. I also won't go back to that doctor. Why give me an antidepressant for my migraines? He may not have believed me when I told him I wasn't depressed, but there's still no excuse.
     
  9. msyukionna

    msyukionna New Member

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    I'm one of those lucky people who do not need regular medication. I have a very bad habit of leaving medication as the last resort. I believe that giving my body a chance to fix itself will make it stronger.

    If I ever end up having to take medication, I always read the little piece of paper that comes with the medication. I'm just being overly cautious. However, I feel that knowing the side effects triggers the placebo effect. It makes me feel like I have the side effect happening to me, which does not help with diagnosis at all!
     
    Last edited: Jun 6, 2017
  10. iamawriter

    iamawriter New Member

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    Thanks to the Internet, the moment my doctor prescribes I rush to look for side effects. I have a great rapport with my doctor and so I am able to discuss my findings with him. His contention is that as doctors they are helpless to change the medicine as that which is prescribed is meant to cure the ailment in question.

    It is for the Pharmaceutical Industry to see if there is anything they can do about this and the fact that they have not found a solution to this we have to live with it.

    I am more into homoeopathy as there one can safely take them with no side effects.

    My doctor, however, will prescribe something to counter effect the side effects.
     

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