Skip to main content

Do You Read the Warnings on Medication?

Well, do you? I never have done that because I think I might develop all of the symptoms listed. When I listen to those warnings for drugs they are advertising on TV, I wonder why anyone would try them. It mystifies me.

I have a friend that is a nurse and she always reads them in great detail. She has had to quit a medication because of a bad reaction.

Because of the fact that I have never had much of a reaction to a prescribed medication, I don't worry. There was that one time when I had a delayed reaction and I did check to see where that problem came from. I made the discovery that it was my medication after reading the warnings. Would I have taken the drug if I had known...probably so. No one mentioned it to me either at the pharmacy of the doctor's office so I didn't know to worry. My assumption would be that if they didn't warn me the reaction would not be life threatening. Is that true? Who knows.

So when I began having a severe reaction to my cholesterol reducing statin drug, I quit the medication and visited my doctor as soon as possible. In my case, no one really believed me. The solution was to change the statin name drug and keep me on it. I fell three times in succession and could barely walk.

When I quit the drug I felt better within a few days.

It is a very long story that began almost 20 years ago. The upshot is I had to do a lot of research to find just the right doctor to help me. No one was referring me so I used a self referral allowed by my insurance. Our local Oregon Health Sciences University turned out to be the only place around that really could deal with my problem.

I have been diagnosed with "Familial" cholesterol which mean that food is not the root cause for high cholesteral.

Now I am beginning to take a drug (Repatha) using an injection every two week. Wish me luck! I am at very high risk for heart problems because of high LDL cholesterol I am told.

The warning on this medication says that the consequences for taking it are far less than the consequences for NOT taking it. The last ditch effort I guess!

The odd thing is people tell me that they have the statin reaction too...a lot of people. Several have said to simply quit that medication. I don't know how big their risk is but it truly is frightening for them.

So, do you read the warnings? Did doing so affect your response to how the drug made you feel?

I am interested.

b+


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Five Little Ducks...stories played out!

The children's song about the little ducks leaving the nest to fly away has always been one of my favorites.  Every mother has seen their babies fly away and rejoiced. Life comes full circle. Animals live that same cycle. Babies grow up. Birds leave the nest. Life goes on. So when the three ducks show up every year near my patio I am not surprised. But I am puzzled that it always seems to be the same three. Something just doesn't seem right. It appears the one did not fly away at all. Five little ducks Went out to play Over the hills and far away. The mommy duck went "quack, quack quack," Four little ducks came swimming back... And then Three Two and One. A drake, a female duck (a hen) and a not quite a drake but still not a hen gather here on the 5th green of the golf course. She leads and the other two follow along obediently. They eat, sleep, and guard each other. Each and every day this time of year they come.  I have not named them. Jinxing them would be very pos...

How to be a 12 Month Snow Bird

Vacation Rental in Mexico I live around snowbirds 6 months of the year. I have heard those people say that they all want to live the "snowbird" lifestyle when they go home. But it just is not possible. They are isolated and cold. Social activities with friends and beautiful weather are greatly missed when they return to the realities of their "real" life. One couple I visited with lately returned to Florida this morning where they own a home. The woman is a nurse and works in the summer. They are not going home until May this year. It is too cold in Michigan in the spring so they are hoping to extend their good weather season by simply staying away. Besides that they love their Florida lifestyle a lot. Last week I visited with a woman that lives the snowbird lifestyle year around. No going home to the Midwest in the spring. They essentially vacation 12 month out of the year. And I thought their solution for avoiding unpleasant weather and keeping their lifestyle in...

If You Build It, They Will Come...Maybe!

It all began with a antique window in front of a local shop. It had been painted yellow, the glass was loose and all of the hinges and latches were gone. My old friend Betty would have approved...she would tell me it was just broken enough and damaged enough for me to drag it home. When my dear husband saw it, he wondered what he was meant to do with it. Imagine his surprise when he was presented with the plan to build a small neighborhood library exchange. It wasn't the first time he had heard me ask "How hard could it be?" Now it is six weeks later and we mounted the darling little library exchange on two posts in our front yard. I love it. Now the question is, will they come or has the time passed when people actually read something made of paper? Our association president stopped by and admired the box but left after telling me that he only read books on his Kindle. We will see. Would you bring a book and take a book? b+