Dangerous medication?

When DH was first put on chemotherapy with all thassociated drugs I did start reading the leaflets. I found that a whole lot of them shouldn't be taken together but took it that treating the cancer was more important than any contraindications.

Eirel, the label on our bottle was a sort if double label. Apologies if this is not clear, but there was an almost invisible plastic bit that you lift and it revealed a pull out leaflet, giving information. But if I hadn't been looking carefully, it could easily be missed. I only found this out after reading this thread.

I find Ricola herbal throat sweets the best thing for a tickly cough in the theatre/cinema. It's a good idea to have a small bottle of water in your bag to sip to suppress a cough.

We should be mindful of the news item today that President Trump is planning to speed up the transition times from drug testing and research to them being available to the public. We import some drugs from the US and some are manufactured here under licence.

I've had pholcodeine on several occasions and been OK.

I think it would have been withdrawn if it was so very dangerous, elrel. All medicines have to have possible side effects listed. This doesn't mean all of them will be experienced, just that there exists a risk, usually a small one. I expect the risks are higher if the drug is taken over long periods, but it sounds as if you were only expecting to use it for one occasion.

You say it came with no warnings of side effects but it should have had a leaflet with it stating all known possible side effects. If it didn't it might be worth saying something about that to your pharmacist.

My doctor prescribed codeine to help me stop coughing at night. It worked very well but unfortunately caused horrendous constipation! Cure one ailment and create a new one.....

Hilda - you are of course quite right, I just reacted. I normally take unused medicines back to the pharmacy.
Auntieflo - scary! I was given mine with no leaflet, just the label saying quantity and frequency of dose.
Teetime - not wasted, I was checked for a possible chest infection as I had one last year which postponed surgery. That was the main reason for the appointment. I know too many people this winter who've had chest infections rapidly turn to pneumonia and hospitalise them.
Im64 - none of my regular medication is classed as dangerous. I was worried in case it could affect future general anaesthesia.

Please, never pour any medication down the sink!! Please take it back to the pharmacy where it will be disposed of without going into the waterways.

I have had this everlasting cough, since Christmas, luckily it is now nearly gone. During a bad bout, and wanting to get some sleep, I took a swig of my husband's, prescribed, Pholcodine. I didn't read the blurb, (Iknow, I know), anyway during the night I was woken by my heart going lickety split, with palpitations that would not subside. I ended up with the paramedics and a short visit to hospital. I was asked if I had done anything different, and taking the pholcodine was the only thing I could think of. I do take blood pressure tablets, so it is my own fault for not reading the warnings that are printed on the leaflet. I have hopefully learned my lesson, so please beware when taking these meds that can be bought over the counter.

'Having a baby'!! Thank goodness the days of those sorts of doctor have long gone.

In my 20s, over a couple of years,my GP three times prescribed a 'tonic' for me when I went to see him with gastritis.

It was some years later I discovered this 'tonic' contained phenobarbital and was highly addictive. On each occasion I was given a two week course and on each occasion it had no discernible affect on me. It certainly did nothing for my gastritis. I came to the conclusion that it was some type of placebo(!!!) given to palm off a patient who would be better off having a baby (his suggestion as a cure for my gastritis on one occasion).

I really don't think your GP would have prescribed you something he didn't think you should have or that would harm you. It was a wasted appointment really wasn't it?

Eirel - I don't know if you are amongst the group of us who take 'dangerous medication' on a regular basis. Reading the list of potential side effects stopped me taking the drug prescribed for PSA/inflammatory arthritis for several months when it was first prescribed in my early 40's. By the time I agreed to try it, it took me an hour to get out of bed in the morning and I could only get downstairs one step as a tortuous time. Four weeks later, I could do a 2 mile walk.
I'm now, sadly, taking all kinds of 'dangerous' stuff, without which I suspect I'd be in a real pickle
Don't worry!

In my experience, pholcodine linctus has pretty much no effect on a cough - a hot toddy is better! It's a very mild opiate, which suppress coughing and what makes it effective, so any side effects would be commensurate with that group of drugs. In all the years I worked in hospitals and pharmacies, I never heard of anyone having a bad reaction.