Do you read the 'side effects' bit on medication?

Obviously the GP did not realise what other medication I was on!

I don't bother a lot with my own meds but I always check anything new that is prescribed for DH in case it conflicts with the stuff he's already taking. When he was at the height of his chemo I found a lot of his combinations were contraindicated but it seemed that the consultant reckoned that was better than not having the drugs at all.

Legs55 Dreams you mean? I quite enjoyed being on the Metronidazole, the dreams were good fun. In one I was flying like a bird, and in another I was gliding along with my feet a few inches above the ground as if on roller skates but without the skates.

"The one I find particularly amusing is one to relieve travel-sickness which claims it may cause nausea!"

A side effect of the Flecainide I take for heart arrhythmia is.......arrhythmia.

Oh dear another turgid post today. not being a hypochondriac I do always read the side effects because you know what - you know it makes sense. Like jings I then probably ignore them but it could explain something.

I read them when something new is prescribed, then ignore them unless I find I have a strange symptom that I didn't have before. I was glad I had read the leaflet for Tamoxifen, which said that it could cause thickening of the endometrium and vaginal bleeding. Without that I would have been worried about it being caused by something worse, but a visit to the consultant and a D&C solved the problem.

Many of the "side effects" are things that people have reported getting co-incidentally with starting a new drug, and have nothing at all to do with it.

The manufacturers are obliged to inform us of all POSSIBLE effects, even the ones so rare that you would be just as likely to get a big win on the lottery.

Good thing I read the side effects becaus the doctor prescribed some antibiotics which said in capital letters DO NOT TAKE THIS MEDICATION IF YOU ARE TAKING STATINS. Doctors are so busy nowadays that they can make mistakes.

The one I really dislike is on anti-depressants where one side effect is "May make you suicidal".

When we visit the US, often there are TV adverts for prescription drugs which YOU are encouraged to ask your doctor about. Especially common are those for ED. Nice cosy middle aged or older couple, holding hands, walking on a beach with voice over about quality of life in later years.

Then comes the speed-reading side effects (like the T&C's you hear on adverts her read at 100mph)

The last one is always something like..... "If you experience an erection that lasts more than x hours when taking this drug, seek medical attention immediately!" If you are imagining the responses from viewers... you'd be ROFL. Yes it's dangerous, but the way they say it sounds so out of sync with other side effects, like blurred vision, etc.

That side effect is deliberately put last, to be the one that is remembered. The old geezer then thinks "I should be so lucky!" and rushes off to get some . . .

I can just imagine the ER scene, too, crowded out with old geezers demanding immediate attention from the pretty young female medics for their uncontrollable libidos . . .

Beware if you have prescriptions from more than one source. DH is on various drugs for high blood pressure. He was sent to a consultant for prostate problems and was given pills via the hospital pharmacy. He took them the next morning and we then went out walking in our nearby country park. After a couple of miles he became very weak and wobbly and had to clutch onto a fence for support. We were a long way from any road and I was visualising calling the air ambulance, but after a rest he managed to stagger back to the car with my help. I drove us home where he collapsed in a chair looking like death. It was a Saturday, so no surgery. I was about to call an ambulance, but it occurred to me he had taken the pills so I rang the pharmacy. They told me the prostate pills had the effect of lowering blood pressure so he had had a double dose! He recovered after a couple of hours but it was a warning to check for side effects!

Not about side-effects, but speed-reading -

The adverts on Australian tv often end in speed-reading, completely unintellegible except to those in the know and quite hilarious as we try to emulate them!

I do always read the info but can "smell a lawyer" in most of them so they have to be treated with caution as the opposites prove. . . .

I always read them, doesn't stop me taking them. But I do wait for all the awful things to happen, nothing has yet. Apart from gabapentin!