Drug Side Effects
Learn what others have experienced when taking medications. Which side effects should you be alert for? Share your own experience so others can learn.
Are You Risking a Car Crash on Ambien?
One popular prescription sleeping pill is zolpidem, sold under the brand name Ambien. Americans have been taking it to get to sleep for more than a decade. It is currently available as a generic drug …
Are You Suffering From Severe Statin Side Effect…
Statins have been characterized as miracle drugs against heart disease. By lowering cholesterol dramatically, these drugs are supposed to prevent heart attacks and prolong life. Some researchers belie…
Baby Aspirin Caused a Catastrophic Collapse
Every medicine has risks as well as benefits. Perhaps the best example of that is aspirin. It has multiple uses but can also cause severe internal bleeding, even at the low doses referred to as baby …
Do Heartburn Drugs Disturb Bacterial Balance in …
Popular heartburn medications can disrupt bacterial balance in the digestive tract. Comparing Twins: A new study of British twins compared stool samples from more than 900 pairs. When one twin took a …
Will Cough Syrup Recall Protect Kids from Overdo…
The maker of several store-brand cough syrups for children has recalled several batches of grape and cherry-flavored cough medicine. The plastic cups provided with the syrup to measure the proper dose…
Should Breast Cancer Patients Avoid Aluminum Ant…
There is a great deal of confusion about the safety of aluminum-containing antiperspirants when it comes to breast cancer. Most health professionals and patients aren't even aware that there is a cont…
Are Your Kidneys in Danger from Heartburn Drugs?
Here we go again. America's favorite heartburn drugs are in trouble because of a new study published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine (online, January 11, 2016). The research suggests that regula…
How Safe Is Transvaginal Surgical Mesh?
Surgeons have found that plastic mesh can make certain pelvic repairs much easier, and surgical mesh has been widely used to repair hernias and reproductive tract problems such as uterine prolapse (dr…
Atorvastatin Lowers Cholesterol but Raises Blood…
As many as 40 million people may be taking statin-type cholesterol-lowering drugs daily in the U.S. Although medications like atorvastatin, lovastatin, simvastatin, pravastatin, and rosuvastatin can b…
Exerciser Needs Home Remedy to Overcome Knee Pai…
It is estimated that 30 million Americans take an NSAID-type pain reliever each day to ease their sprains, strains, arthritis and bursitis. Familiar brands include Advil, Aleve, Anaprox, Cataflam, Mob…
Don’t let Blood Pressure Drugs Ruin Qualit…
Q. I have been on medication for high blood pressure for years, but over the past eight months my doctor has changed my prescriptions quite a few times. My blood pressure readings have improved but at…
Dextromethorphan Cough Medicine Ruins a Life But…
A few weeks ago we reported on a new study demonstrating that a drug called Nuedexta (containing dextromethorphan and quinidine) might ease some devastating complications of Alzheimer's disease. A p…
Is Nexium Too Risky for Older People?
Sometimes drugs that people have long taken for granted become less appropriate-possibly even dangerous-as patients grow older. Popular drugs used to treat heartburn probably should be considered in t…
Mothers on Antidepressants May Have Babies with …
Taking popular antidepressants during pregnancy appears to increase the risk that the baby will be diagnosed with autism or a similar developmental problem (autism spectrum disorder) as it grows older…
Don’t Leave Your Mail Order Medicine Out i…
Why Mail-Order medicine Poses a Problem: More and more people are getting prescription medicines through the mail. That's because their insurance companies are encouraging them to use specific mail-or…
How Cherries and Celery Combat Gout Naturally
Q. I take HCTZ for high blood pressure. It gave me gout in my big toe. Would tart cherries counteract this side effect? A. The hydrochlorothiazide (abbreviated HCTZ, HCT or HZT) diuretic you are takin…
Is It Risky to Read About Remicade Side Effects?
How much should patients learn about their conditions and the medications they may need to treat them? That topic has been contentious for years. For a telling example, see this post at e-patients.net…
Misdiagnosed Cough from Hell Makes Life Miserabl…
Q. I have had the cough from hell with retching and even vomiting for six months now. The first doctor suggested I have a "post-viral hyper-reactive cough." The second recommended drugs for acid reflu…
Is Bitter Tonic Causing Your Terrible Headache?
Many readers recall the days when their doctors prescribed quinine to prevent nighttime leg cramps. That era is long gone; the FDA banned over-the-counter sale of quinine products in 1994. In late 200…
Side Effects from Multiple Meds Are Double Troub…
Next time you go to a pharmacy take a few minutes to do some secret research. Linger around the prescription counter and play detective by observing what happens. If you watch people pick up their pre…
New Way to Calm Patients with Alzheimer’s …
Q. My wife has late stage Alzheimer's disease. She is now in a memory care facility. They often give her sedatives to calm her agitation. I have read that such drugs are dangerous, especially for olde…
AMA Says No More TV Drug Ads
If you are fed up with television commercials for prescription drugs to treat everything from erectile dysfunction to toenail fungus to lung cancer, you are not alone. There's a chance your doctor agr…
Will the Flu Shot Work Better This Year or Will …
The drumbeat from public health officials to "get your flu shot" is approaching fever pitch. That's because influenza season is right around the corner. With holiday travel only a few weeks away, it i…
Americans Are Taking More Prescription Drugs Tha…
A study published in JAMA this week shows that Americans are taking more prescription drugs than ever. Almost 60 percent of adults were taking at least one prescription medication in the 2011-2012 sur…
Off-Label Prescriptions Linked to Bad Reactions …
Perhaps a generally positive attitude toward taking prescription medications makes people accept drugs prescribed "off-label," that is, treating problems for which they were not originally intended or…
Did Marijuana Help Relieve Asthma Symptoms?
Q. I was born in 1933 and had asthma when I was in my teens. I inhaled the smoke from Rexall Asthma Powder to treat it. I would put about a teaspoonful of the powder on the tin cover of the asthma pow…
Do Statins Screw Up Flu Vaccine Effectiveness?
Two articles in the Journal of Infectious Diseases suggest that statin-type cholesterol-lowering drugs may impair the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine. Impact of Statins on Influenza Vaccine Eff…
PPI Use Linked to Chronic Kidney Disease
Acid-suppressing drugs called proton pump inhibitors or PPIs are considered so safe that they can now be purchased over the counter as Nexium, Prevacid and Prilosec. House brands include esomeprazole,…
Is My Lasting Shoulder Pain Due to the Flu Shot?
It is hard for the FDA or the CDC to admit that there is ever a problem with the influenza vaccine. Every year about this time there is a huge campaign to encourage virtually every American to get a f…
Overtreatment for Blood Sugar and Blood Pressure…
Doctors often adopt a "don't mess with success" approach when treating hypertension or type 2 diabetes. Going by the Numbers: What is meant by that, though, is a numbers game. If intensive drug treatm…
Did Levaquin Antibiotic (Levofloxacin) Cause Let…
When most people think about side effects from antibiotics they imagine some digestive distress. Indigestion or diarrhea are perceived to be the most common complications of such medications. But one …
If You Are Sensitive to Drug Side Effects There …
Q. I have been unable to tolerate most medicines without experiencing bad drug side effects. My doctor does not believe me. She prescribes medications with names I don't recognize and I react badly to…
Another Downside of Statins
When statin drugs were originally introduced in the late 1980s, most doctors thought they had few if any side effects. To this day, some researchers contend that the vast majority of problems that peo…
Study Reinforces the Connection Between Aluminum…
One of the great controversies in neuroscience research has been the link between aluminum and Alzheimer's disease. This issue got a start in the 1960s when scientists discovered that aluminum concent…
Bad Reactions to Dietary Supplements Can Lead to…
How safe are dietary supplements? Many people assume that products such as vitamins, minerals or botanicals are safe because they are natural. Emergency Department Visits Due to Dietary Supplements: T…
Are Calcium Supplements A Waste of Money?
Vitamins Are Worthless: For decades, many doctors have told their patients not to bother with vitamin and mineral supplements. The argument is that such pills are a waste of money. Calcium is Wonderfu…
Drugs That Cause Brain Fog For People Over 60
Q. Do you have a list of the drugs that should not be prescribed to elderly people? If you don't, do you know where I could get such a list? My doctor was not very well informed nor was he interested …
Antibiotics (Quinolones) Linked to Aortic Aneury…
Fluoroquinolone antibiotics were introduced in the late 1980s. Drugs like ciprofloxacin (Cipro) and levofloxacin (Levaquin) became household names and mainstays in treating common infections in the re…
Does Ambien Cause Acid Reflux?
When a medication causes a side effect in an area that seems completely unrelated to the problem for which it is prescribed, it can take quite a while to notice.We have heard for many years that zolpi…
Statins Are NOT a Magic Bullet for Longer Life
Current guidelines from heart experts insist that virtually every man over the age of 63 and every woman over 70 should be on statin-type cholesterol lowering drugs, regardless of risk factors. What …