Unfortunately western medicine is often about addressing effects or aftermath or injury and disease, one case at a time, rather than developing a healthy population. To that end, numerous regularly prescribed, common drugs are associated with side effects with which you should be aware. Common side effects of some common drugs include the following.

 

1.    Itching – a common effect of opiates (e.g., Vicodin), itching does not even represent an allergy, rather a common effect.

 

2.    Nausea and depressed appetite – too many medications to name cause this effect.

 

3.    Increased blood pressure – non-steroidal anti-inflammatory products (e.g., ibuprofen), estrogens, and pseudoephedrine (decongestant).

 

4.    Increased blood sugar – corticosteroids such as prednisone or methylprednisolone, antipsychotics, and beta blockers.

 

5.    Altered mental acuity – opiates, anti-parkinsonism agents, antipsychotics, and agents used to treat overactive bladder.

 

6.    Depression, memory loss, confusion – “statin” drugs used to lower cholesterol, opiates.

 

7.    Vision effects – Viagra, Levitra, and Cialis (trade names) frequently cause a blue haze or bright visual glare. They may diminish blood flow to the optic nerve to such a degree as to induce blindness. Chronic corticosteroid use may cause cataracts.

 

This list of adverse reactions and products is not intended to be exhaustive; rather a small sample of side effects that many of you are experiencing with a handful of commonly prescribed products. Doctors do not prescribe these products with the intent of precipitating these effects. However, they are limited to the products made available to them by the pharmaceutical industry and insurance panels; and all products are associated with some type of adverse reaction documented to affect a greater or lesser percentage of the users. So, be a good consumer, and seek awareness of the primary and secondary effects of your medications, effects that you are essentially agreeing to risk experiencing.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 at 10:31 am and is filed under health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.