Here's a "safety checklist" from a prescription I got Wednesday:
1) May cause drowsiness. Do not mix with alcohol. (Like I'm going to be making marguaritas with it.)
2) Use caution when driving or operating heavy machinery. (I don't normally drive a tractor.)
3) Use caution during hot weather and while exercising.
4) May cause dry mouth and/or blurred vision. (Good thing I wear glasses.)
5) May cause sensitivity to bright light.
Yikes! And I'm sure you've seen, as I have, the commercials for medications that make this one seem mild. Sometimes the warnings include death. I figure, the drug co's don't want to be sued in case you come down with, say, sudden mortality--they can say, We told you so!
3 comments:
I know you probably already do this, but I check every RX I get at several places on the Internet. That can be the best way to discover the "real" side effects people experience.
But they have to report EVERYTHING everyone has experienced as a side effect, so you don't know which way you'll react. So far on this one, I have had about one side effect. Which is good, I guess.
I like the websites where actual people post the side effects they have. I had shingles a year or so ago and a few months ago one of the spots where I had had sores started bothering me again. The doc wanted me to take Lyrica for pain, but I took the RX and came home to check it out first. Went to www.askapatient.com and quickly decided I would pass on the Lyrica. Two side effects I remember people reporting were rapid weight gain and nightmares. I went back to that site today and looked up Lyrica again. Scary stuff.
Luckily, I was able to get through that period with only aspirin. OK, a lot of aspirin. Had it been full-fledged shingles again, I would have been back at the doctor begging for something else.
p.s. My doctor does not like my checking things on the Internet. I also refuse to take statins because I had a very serious reaction to a statin drug several years ago. Makes him crazy. I just try to avoid the subject.
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