Side Effects. Should we be more concerned??

Why side effects? For me they are usually full on front effects.
I just had an interesting discusson with a friend of a friend in the medical profession.
From this I gleaned that we shouldnt be dismissing these so called side effects as easily as we are told to.
We should be questioning exactly what these drugs are doing to us that we encounter such horrible peripheral "benefits"
All drugs have side effects, our migraine ones apart form Triptans are not even made for our illness (I think).
The effect these drugs have on our bodies/organs are powerful, and as such I was informed can do us a lot of often irreversable damage.
I had it suggested that we might all be better taking the Triptans, or OTC (usually not every day) that we are warned about, than taking daily prophylactics that are for other conditions and inflict us with such severe side effects.

I was quite horrified at what i was told. As someone who gets all the side effects it made me wonder.

P

Unfortunately, triptans don't work for me. I think there are several on this forum in that boat.

Charlotte

I'm one of those who don't take triptans. For one, they don't work for me. Also, I would be taking them daily, and also I avoid them due to heart-related warnings.

What are some of the side effects you are thinking about specificially?

I know, many cant take Triptans. I wasnt suggesting we all should,what they said was the side effects the just fob us off with as innocuous are powerful drug effects and perhaps not to be dismissed that easily. No specif effects,just the fact that they are not good.

Interesting point.

I'm taking topamax, off label, as it is designed first for epilepsy. Is it harmful for my liver?

I'm also taking indocin daily, as my pain management. It is an anti inflammitory. Is it also harmful for my liver and my stomach?

Will I be sick one day and need a liver transplant? Will I develope a stomach ulcer? How much damage am I really doing with these so called meds?

Is this the kind of stuff you're talking about?

I dont know to be honest. I just had this conversation. When I said I had migraines, I was aksed what drugs I took and then he went onto say that the side effects are not given enough attention. I wondered if we should all have scans and check ups if we are going to take these strong medications....
It is just a shame that they dont make us aware if he is right, all down to us.
I dont know he is right, but he made it sound as if they all know this......

How about the ones that go away Pen?

Almost all my side effects from topamax have dramatically decreased, I feel like in time they will go away completely.

Triptans gave me side effects and didn't work! Talk about a double whammy.


AZgirl, you most certainly are not taking topamax off label. It is one out of four drugs approved by the FDA for the treatment of migraines. If you read the manufacturers studies, you will find the answers to your questions. They did testing exclusively on migraineurs. If you get stuck, let me know. I have read it several times.

I dont know, I think what he meant was, we dont know what they are doing to our bodies to create those effects and if the effects go are we being damaged. I think they should monitor us better. Like my friend is on Parkinsons drugs and is checked regularly.
My husband got statins and they gave him bad side effects. Dr told him they would go away. Turns out on line this is not the case.
I am not trying to be alarmist, it just made me think, we dont always know, they dont always volunteer much info.

OTC meds/vitamins & minerals/herbal supplements are not without their side effects and dangers either. It's an ongoing cost - benefit analysis.

Chris

I think we also have a responsibility to be informed patients and participate in our own healthcare. I personally don't feel I can complain "I didn't know" about my medications' side effects if I haven't done the research on the meds, nor do I feel I can blame the dr. for not monitoring me if I don't ask informed questions, or keep him well apprised of my condition as it relates to how my body responds to my meds.

Drs. are responsible for giving us the best possible health care, and we are responsible for participating fully in our health treatment.

Just my opinion.

Good point Pen.
Like you, I live in Europe and here our culture is even stricter in terms of medicine assumption.

I don't use triptans since they don't work for me.
I use ergot for the worst attacks, which is quite hard on liver and which can potentially cause heart issues.
I spoke with a cardiologist and he assured me that within the recommended weekly dosage, ergot is not a problem and that it's shown by 50 year use on patients.

This made me feel a little bit more confident, but I don't like meds anyway and I am always scared by side effects.

Bye

Excuse brevity, but I dont thinnk this fella was pointing any fingers at drs.
Rather the drug companies.....
Think of the drugs recently withdrawn because of "adverse" effects.
I was just concerned at his comments about the kind of drugs we are given for other conditions we dont have.
This could mean drugs we really dont need, and the effects could be more than just "side".
I AM NOT saying he is right. I just thought I would share.

I'm also skeptical about taking "preventatives" on a daily basis. I've never been warned by my neurologist or family doctor about any side effects and certainly no long term side effects. It is actually my pharmacist that will bring up these things whether I ask or not. I am never asked to make followup appointments to check on the liver, etc. either; although if you read the warnings, there are many long term effects of these drugs. Don't count on your doctor to be making safe decisions for you. You have to take responsibility. I have pretty much an unlimited supply of all of my medications except for narcotics which is interesting. That one is limited and also very cheap. The ones I have a huge stash on are very expensive. Makes you wonder. I will not take anything on a daily basis and take my abortives at the first "inkling" of a migraine. This keeps me pretty much migraine-free and limits drastically the amount of medication I need. I do think the more migraines you can keep at bay, the less you will have. Before I was able to successfully abort them, I also was prone to getting them more often.

Just a tidbit on Topamax. I'm picking on this one because the side effects can be pretty drastic. Although the side effects can wear off after prolonged use, using drugs or alcohol in excess can also build up a tolerance so you do not feel the effects. Doesn't mean it is not doing harm to your body.

I've been on MANY preventatives and the only time I was monitored was when I was on depakote.

I now completely research everything before I even fill the script.

Charlotte

A pharmacist friend I know said that when it comes to any meds, we are all "ginuepigs."

Kate wrote:when it comes to any meds, we are all "ginuepigs."

That is true poetry.

Those in UK, just watching a programme from last nights BBC2 Horizon called Pill Poppers.
Side effects mentioned a lot. Statins, which first they denied had any, caused loads.
Apparently they dont know what these drugs will do to us until we take them.....
Apparently we all take something like 14,000 pills in our lifetime.
Maybe thats where my friend was coming from...

We of course need to be responsible for ourselves. But sick people should be cared for.
Drs do have a duty of care after all.

I dont want to be a guinea pig. But seems I have no choice.

14,000 pills in our lifetime.

Unfortunately, sometimes that feels like a week's supply.

Charlotte

paradox wrote:14,000 pills in our lifetime.
Unfortunately, sometimes that feels like a week's supply.
Charlotte

I know, and at the end of the programme they said, if you have been effected by this subject of this programme...
But on there was a woman hooked on Codeine. She was taking 70 a day.
She is still trying to get off them. She doesn't get headaches though!!!

I think most of us will agree that taking any pills (side effects and all) is better than a migraine. The problem seems to be that most of us are taking stuff that doesn't even work and doing damage to our bodies that we aren't told about. They make a big deal about pain killers (in fact, they past a law in the US that started this year that keeps track of all pain killers a person is prescribed to keep people from going to more than one doctor, etc.--a good thing to keep drug seekers from abusing), but not much is being done about prescribing multiple pills with side effects--some dangerous.

I am lucky to have such good insurance! We are offered a program where we sit down with a pharmacist that looks at all of our prescriptions and consults on the dangers, precautions, etc. If we participate we get a huge reduction in co-pays, some of the drugs even being free. I still haven't done it (New Year's resolution yet to be done). A pharmacist is the person to see if we are worried about
our medications, not our doctors.

estre004 wrote:I think most of us will agree that taking any pills (side effects and all) is better than a migraine. The problem seems to be that most of us are taking stuff that doesn't even work and doing damage to our bodies that we aren't told about. They make a big deal about pain killers (in fact, they past a law in the US that started this year that keeps track of all pain killers a person is prescribed to keep people from going to more than one doctor, etc.--a good thing to keep drug seekers from abusing), but not much is being done about prescribing multiple pills with side effects--some dangerous.

A pharmacist is the person to see if we are worried about
our medications, not our doctors.

.

Linda, thanks for this. I so concur about the pharmacist. In our GP practice I could get between 0 to 18 Triptans a month.
One of them just told me to quit all the pain meds. and take more antidepressants. If I didnt like it go see another dr.
The one I saw last gave me 18.......I am only the poor patient, how the Hell do I know which is correct. It sure adds to stress.

I see there is pressure to withdraw another Fibro drug over there today. This is getting more and more common.
I am sure this is what my mate was hinting at. Hidden benefits. The side effects are possibly the tip of the iceberg as to what is going on inside us.....scary stuff.

Savella (milnacipran)
The side effects listed by the group include:
Raised blood pressure
Increased heart rate
Suicidal thoughts
The petition also states that Savella offers "only a marginal effect on pain."
Savella became FDA approved for fibromyalgia in 2009. It's a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI), similar to Cymbalta (duloxetine), but unique in that it raises norepinephrine more than serotonin. Both of these neurotransmitters are frequently low in people with fibromyalgia.

Pen,

I tried Savella as a migraine preventative this fall and it caused tachycardia (rapid resting heart rate). It was scary and made the headaches worse. I was only on it for a few weeks.

Becky

Becky, seems this is prescribed for Fibro but a few of the drugs are used for migraines as well.
It sounds as if, if your experience is anything to go by, this group are on the right track.

Estre, could you tell us more about this law? I hadn't heard about that yet, I find it very interesting.

No choice but to be a guinea pig? There is always a choice. We may not like the choices, but they are always there.

There was a programme on tv the other night about the pills we take and wether we should think more about them. they said tothat we are really part of a big experiment.

Di