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

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!

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. . . .

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!

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!

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 . . .

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 . . .

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

I do read them but don't worry too much. The one I find particularly amusing is one to relieve travel-sickness which claims it may cause nausea!

Crun - with me it's Tramadol - I'm "away with the fairies" so I know to refuse that. Not aware of any others that give me side effects except Statins - severe muscle aches so no statins for me

any prescribed medication should not interact with other medication you are already on as when GP enters new drug into system a warning flashes up to warn them if it will interact in a bad way. I know this because I am on Epilim (Anti-Epilepsy drug) & I cannot take Amatriptylene as it lessens effect of Epilim - my GP actually put it in to show me safety feature.

I don't read leaflets unless I feel unwell on new medication & then I will check to see if I need to contact GP. My previous GP used to say "we give you medication to cure one thing & it gives you something else".

I have to take lots of tablets & am fairly aware of problems, reading these leaflets is like looking up symptoms on internet - you'll think you've got some deadly disease

Carolpaint it's not neurotic, just sensible if you are on long-term medication to check if you are given an additional drug.
One GP precscribed a short-term medication for me recently over the phone, I took it for a few days then checked online and saw the contra-indication.
Usual GP was adamant I should not take them, could have had very serious side effects.

No, I tend to read them when it's too late.

I found out the hard way, when I broke my wrist, I bought some strong pain-killers to help me sleep, and after two nights of dreadful restlessness and frightening dreams, I read the leaflet which came with them, and it said quite clearly not t be taken at the same time as statins, which I take every night. Beware!

I'm relatively new to regular medication so I always read them thoroughly and carefully, as I generally do with any other instructions. With the exception of surreal dreams on Metronidazole I haven't had any side effects at all, which isn't really very consistent with the doctors' view that I'm a "steaming great hypochondriac".

IIRC my mother spent months feeling really ill before she found out that she wasn't supposed to eat things like cheese or broad beans with her meds. That was back in the 1960s when there probably wasn't any information in the packets anyway.

My husband told me this week that when he went to the toilet, his stools were black. (TMI, I know). He didn't realise the potential significance of this, but of course I did. I asked him to be vigilant and tell me if it happened again. Then It struck me that he had started on Vitamin B 12 injections a couple of days before. I of course resorted to the Internet, and found that, yes, this often happened with this treatment. I had to hand the prescription in to the chemist for them to send med to the surgery, so I never saw the package at all. If I had, I probably would have read the relevant information in the beginning.

No never, it is all neurotic. If something strange seems to happen then read. Most of them say the same dry mouth, sickness, diarrhoea, rash, why do I know cos I was a qualified nurse for thirty years. What is said is: no side effects no good effects. Wish drug companies would work harder in getting rid of the worst which is the range of sexual problems they cause.

Which stating do you now take,goose 1964?
I am on atorvistatin.i think that is correct spelling.

I would love to read a warning list which says May cause permanent weight loss, removes wrinkles and increases energy.
Don't think that will ever happen though.