Drug Side Effects
Learn what others have experienced when taking medications. Which side effects should you be alert for? Share your own experience so others can learn.
What Are Metoprolol Side Effects When Prescribed…
Metoprolol is one of the most prescribed drugs in the United States. At last count, nearly 90 millions prescriptions were dispensed annually. It has FDA approval to treat high blood pressure and heart…
Do Statins Lower CoQ10 Levels? Can Supplements C…
Doctors prescribe the cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins as an essential step in treating heart disease. Many physicians also prescribe them for prevention. While many people take these medicin…
NasalCrom Is A Forgotten Allergy Treatment That …
People who suffer from allergies rarely get the respect they deserve. Complain about arthritis, chest pain or diabetes and you will get lots of sympathy. Describe your drippy nose or ask about effecti…
Can We Stop Deceptive Drug Ads on TV?
You are doubtless fed up with prescription drug advertising on television. Based on our informal poll of reader comments, just about every "regular" person dislikes these commercials–patients, physi…
Can Tylenol – Acetaminophen Raise Blood Pressu…
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are among the most popular drugs in the pharmacy. That’s because there is a lot of pain out there. Whether it’s from headaches, arthritis or backaches…
How Helpful Are Beta Blockers After Heart Attack…
Beta blockers are among the most trusted and most prescribed drugs in the pharmacy. This category of medications includes atenolol (Tenormin), carvedilol (Coreg), metoprolol (Lopressor, Toprol) and th…
How Safe Is Your Pain Reliever? Acetaminophen, I…
Almost everyone takes a pain reliever now and again. It might be for a headache, a muscle strain or arthritis. Occasional use is considered reasonably safe. But regular use of most OTC analgesics pose…
Is Celecoxib Safe To Prevent Nighttime Urination…
There is nothing more annoying than waking up in the middle of the night with a strong urge to pee. Well, actually there is. Waking up to discover that you have had an accident in bed is uncomfortable…
How Does Red Yeast Rice Compare to Statins?
Tens of millions of people take statin-type cholesterol-lowering drugs. Many physicians believe such drugs are dramatically effective against heart disease. We will not deal with that controversial to…
Are You At Risk for COVID Infection? Pemgarda Fo…
There’s a lot of COVID vaccine hesitancy these days, largely due to reports of adverse reactions. We get it. A lot of people are worried that the vaccines are more dangerous than catching COVID. But…
Paradoxical Excitation from DPH Sleeping Pills
When you think about sleeping pills, you probably imagine medications that make you drowsy. After all, the whole point of sleeping pills is to help you fall asleep easier. In recent years "PM" pain re…
Will PPIs Protect You from Esophageal Cancer?
There are guidelines from the American Gastroenterological Association (Gastroenterology, March, 2017). They inform physicians that best practices require prescribing proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) to …
What Is the Risk of Red Yeast Rice?
One of the pillars of heart disease prevention is keeping blood fats, especially cholesterol, under control. But doctors don't always agree on the best way to achieve this goal. Most recommend a healt…
A Brand New Blood Pressure Drug: Tryvio (Aprocit…
It took more than 30 years but we have a new medication to treat hypertension. It is called Tryvio (aprocitentan). Will it make a big difference in the management of high blood pressure? Only time wil…
Are Some People More Aggressive on Statins?
Most people are aware that statin-type cholesterol-lowering drugs can cause muscle pain and weakness. Similar statin side effects include muscle cramping and soreness. In the worst case scenario, some…
Will Benadryl Trigger Restless Legs Syndrome?
People who experience restless legs syndrome (RLS) will go to great lengths to avoid it if they can. They describe RLS as a creepy-crawly feeling that is relieved only by moving the legs. It can be qu…
Sleeping Pills for Seniors: A Scary Solution for…
Do you have trouble sleeping? That’s just a natural outcome of accumulating lots of birthdays, right? Actually, insomnia is not a normal consequence of aging. According to the National Poll on Healt…
Ibuprofen and High Blood Pressure: A Dangerous R…
Use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is on the rise (Open Heart, April 28, 2017). We're talking about drugs like ibuprofen and naproxen. Such pain relievers are perceived as quite safe…
Taking Thyroid Medicine at Bedtime Fights Off Fa…
Thyroid problems are extremely common, with about 12 percent of the American population affected by one at some point during their lives (American Thyroid Association). Since an underactive thyroid gl…
How to Get Rid of a Wart with Tagamet
Warts can affect almost anyone. For reasons that are not clear children seem especially susceptible. But adults can also develop warts. Sometimes a single wart on the sole of the foot multiplies and …
Getting Off Prilosec Is a Challenge but Reduces …
Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) like omeprazole (Prilosec) or esomeprazole (Nexium) were originally designed to help heal ulcers, but before long doctors started prescribing them for gastroesophageal re…
RSV Vaccines and Guillain-Barré: a Worrisome Co…
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) can be as mild as a cold...or it can kill. Infants and older people with chronic health conditions are especially vulnerable. Drug companies are now advertising vacci…
What to Do When Eczema or Atopic Dermatitis Driv…
The symptoms drive you to distraction. Eczema or atopic dermatitis can cause itchy red skin. The rash can show up on hands, wrists, arms, legs, face, neck or scalp. The itching can be especially awful…
Kidney Stones and Rybelsus (Semaglutide) aka Oze…
Occasionally a reader experiences a very serious medical problem and attributes it to a medication. Such is the case with the reader below. She wants to know if there is a connection between kidney st…
Study Reveals Side Effects of COVID-19 Vaccines
Back in the summer of 2020, people could hardly wait for COVID-19 vaccines to be developed so that the pandemic would end. Within a few months, people were starting to report side effects such as Bell…
Is Lp(a) the Best Kept Secret in Heart Disease?
Ask most people about their risk factors for heart disease and they will likely mention total cholesterol (TC), LDL-C (“bad”) cholesterol and HDL-C (“good”) cholesterol. Sometimes people even …
Can Sildenafil – Viagra Help Prevent Dementia?
Few drugs have captured the world’s attention like Viagra (sildenafil). It changed the treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED) and became a household word. Most health professionals attribute sildena…
Are You Taking “Good” Drugs or “Bad” Dru…
You have doubtless heard that we live in a “polarized” world where the middle ground has been lost. Pundits usually apply this concept to politics: Republicans vs. Democrats or liberals vs. conser…
When Vitamin B12 Deficiency Causes Mental Confus…
I hate the term "senior moment." It implies that when people reach a certain age they start forgetting things...like names, dates, or faces. Some people use a cruder term: "brain fart." Have you ever …
Best Home Remedies for Restless Legs Syndrome
Restless legs syndrome (RLS) affects 5% to 15% of adults (Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, Dec. 15, 2016). That means as many as 30 million Americans suffer from RLS. Roughly 6 million people are s…
Could Your Medicine Cause Hair Loss?
Drug side effects can be really scary. Watch a few TV commercials and you will hear the announcer describe adverse reactions such as blood clots, pancreatitis, heart attacks, strokes and cancer. But t…
Do Statins Cause Diabetes? Many MDs Wish It Were…
If you search the medical literature for statins and diabetes, you might be surprised at what you find. Many health professionals would prefer that no one ask: do statins cause diabetes? There is trem…
Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Relieved With Soap!
There are some medical conditions that are surprisingly common but quite mysterious. You have probably heard of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Doctors now call it myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME). The …
Repatha to Lower LDL Cholesterol: Uses, Abuses, …
There are powerful cholesterol-lowering medicines making waves. Many health professionals are convinced that there is no such thing as too low a golf score or a cholesterol level. They are right about…
Reader Spanks Us Over Phenylephrine Decongestant…
Last fall I wrote a nasty article chiding the FDA for its delayed action against cold, cough and allergy pills containing the phenylephrine decongestant. That’s because I had written about this prob…
Should Prescribers Discuss FDA’s Drug Warnings…
Physicians, nurse practitioners and physician associates can all prescribe medications. But they are admonished to “do no harm.” That puts them in a double bind. Every single drug that they recomm…
The Aduhelm Boondoggle Against Alzheimer’s Goe…
When the FDA approved aducanumab (Aduhelm) on June 7th, 2021 “…for the treatment of Alzheimer’s…” it created a firestorm of controversy. That’s because a panel of highly regarded outside r…
Is New Weight Loss Drug Zepbound Better than Weg…
As you no doubt know, the buzz machine has been working overtime promoting weight loss drugs like Wegovy (semaglutide) and now Zepbound (tirzepatide). Zepbound is a twin of the diabetes drug Mounjaro,…
Does Low-Dose Oral Minoxidil Restore Lost Hair?
Does the drug name Rogaine ring a bell? It is the topical form of an oral medication that was first approved by the FDA in 1979 to treat hypertension. The original brand name was Loniten and the gener…
How Safe Are Topical NSAIDs Like Voltaren Gel?
When the FDA allowed drug companies to sell NSAIDs over the counter we were concerned. That's because drugs like ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, etc) and naproxen (Aleve) came with some pretty serious si…