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.
Drugs That Are More Dangerous in Hot Weather
"Hot as hell" is a phrase we have heard a lot this summer. And with good reason. Temperatures have soared in much of the country. And it's not over yet. Anyone without air conditioning has really been…
Do You Know Someone Taking Stimulants for ADHD?
Many of my fellow pharmacists have watched the Netflix documentary about Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder drugs (stimulants) called Take Your Pills. I decided to see what the hype was about an…
Are Your Dietary Supplements Contaminated with D…
The Food and Drug Administration has been testing dietary supplements for years. “From 2007 through 2016, 776 adulterated dietary supplements were identified by the FDA and 146 different dietary sup…
How Dangerous is Aluminum for People? What’…
No doubt you have seen the commercial that repeatedly asks: What's in your wallet? That, of course, is the Capital One ad. We have a different question: What's in your armpit? If you use an antiperspi…
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…
Horse Pills Make Her Gag: How to Swallow Big Pil…
It can be hard to swallow big pills such as metformin for diabetes, magnesium oxide, fish oil or some antibiotics like doxycycline. A reader recently offered a simple solution for this problem. How to…
Surprising Gabapentin Side Effects
The Food and Drug Administration first approved Neurontin (gabapentin) in 1993 to treat epilepsy. Anticonvulsants are not normally blockbuster drugs. Perhaps that is why the original manufacturer, Par…
Will Benzodiazepine Use Increase Your Risk for A…
Americans love benzodiazepines (aka benzos). These anti-anxiety agents are used as all-purpose psych drugs. Millions of people take benzos to calm jittery nerves, ease anxiety and overcome insomnia. T…
Are You Fed Up with Prescription Drug Ads?
Drug companies used to focus their marketing strategies exclusively on doctors. They spent millions on sales representatives who traveled the country chatting up physicians and handing out free sample…
How Can You Lower Blood Pressure Naturally?
Everyone loves pills. Doctors love to prescribe medicine. Patients love to swallow drugs. We are a pill-taking society. But all medications come with pros and cons. That is true of anti-hypertensive d…
The Miracle of Metformin Against Diabetes and Ca…
One of the cheapest and most effective medicines for controlling blood sugar has been around for decades. In truth, though, herbalists were using goat's rue (French lilac) for hundreds of years before…
Do Flu Shots Protect You from Alzheimer Disease …
Doctors are confident flu shots protect you from influenza, although the level of protection varies from year to year. Unfortunately, older people who are at highest risk from flu infections are less …
Benzene In Sunscreen? What’s the Latest?
No doubt you have heard the slogan “What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas.” I have never found that tag line inviting myself, but it has become quite famous. We have a different slogan to share: …
Are All Natural Deodorants Free of Aluminum?
People love the word “natural.” You’ll find this word on food, beverages, dietary supplements and cosmetics. People have become justifiably concerned about pesticides, fungicides, plasticizers, …
Is a Loved One Taking Too Many Medicines?
Do you know someone who swallows a handful of pills with breakfast? A parent perhaps, or a good friend? Maybe you worry that you are taking too many medicines. Have you ever bothered to actually count…
A Lawyer Loves Halcion for Sleep! What Are the D…
Triazolam (Halcion) was first approved in the Netherlands in 1977. Reports of bizarre side effects (anxiety, paranoia, hallucinations and aggression) led Dutch regulators to restrict higher doses of t…
Surprising Ketamine Side Effects and Anti-Suicid…
There is tremendous confusion and controversy surrounding a very old drug called ketamine (Ketalar). The FDA first approved Ketalar in 1970 as an injectable anesthetic. It has advantages over existing…
Are You An Activated Patient? Engage Now!
For far too long the health care system has been out of balance. Physicians have been at the top of the pyramid. Patients were relegated to the bottom. It is time we changed the paradigm! Engaged and …
Will Stopping an Antiperspirant Cause Bad Reboun…
Who would have ever imagined that the antiperspirants we apply to our underarms could change the ecology of the bacteria that live in our armpits? It turns out that antiperspirants can shift the balan…
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…
Coping with Anxiety During Really Stressful Time…
If you aren’t a wee bit anxious, you have either been living in a cave for the last few years or you pay zero attention to the news. An awful lot of your friends, neighbors and family members have b…
New Analysis Disputes Dogma that All Seniors Nee…
The American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC) created a risk calculator that tells physicians and patients when someone should take a statin-type cholesterol-loweri…
How Could Heartburn Drug Help Plantar Warts?
Plantar warts, those that appear on the soles of the feet (and occasionally the palms of the hands), can be devilishly difficult to remove. Doctors sometimes use freezing or laser therapy, but even th…
Can Your Medicines Cause Insomnia?
Tens of millions of people have trouble sleeping every night. Many just can’t fall asleep. Others fall asleep just fine but wake up after a few hours and have a hard time getting back to sleep. What…
NasalCrom (Cromolyn Sodium) Is Surprisingly Help…
It is that time of year: sniffling, sneezing and snorting because of allergies. Such symptoms didn't used to be a big deal. During a time of COVID-19, though, people look at you with anxiety and trepi…
Beware Kidney Injury From the Triple Whammy!
Tens of millions of Americans are at risk for kidney injury. That's because they are taking a combination of drugs that researchers refer to as the "triple whammy" (Mathematical Biosciences, May, 2022…
Should You Take Aspirin for your Heart? Does You…
Aspirin is well over 100 years old, but scientists are still trying to figure out if it should be used to prevent heart attacks and strokes. The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) was created …
Have You Had Lasting Pain from a Shot?
Every year, public health experts urge everyone who hasn't already been vaccinated to get a flu shot. People develop immunity within about two weeks of immunization. Most people expect to get the shot…
Tylenol & Alcohol: Acetaminophen Side Effec…
We keep getting questions from readers who want to know about taking Tylenol & alcohol together. You might think that this question would be easily resolved. The various Tylenol labels are a bit c…
Serious Side Effects of Voltaren Gel Are Scary!
Many people, including some health professionals, believe that the skin is a great barrier to topical drugs. They assume that only a little bit of the medicine gets into the blood stream. We have lear…
If Acetaminophen Is Killing People, Why Should Y…
Acetaminophen is considered one of the safest pain relievers in the pharmacy. That's partially because Tylenol is a household brand that most people take for granted. Unlike other over-the-counter pai…
Does Your Medicine Pose a Cancer Risk?
Most people take prescription medications to relieve symptoms or prevent serious health problems. Some of the best sellers include blood pressure medicines, acid-suppressors, diabetes drugs and medica…
Heartburn Drugs like PPIs Are Linked to Dementia
PPIs (proton pump inhibitors) are incredibly popular. Drugs like esomeprazole (Nexium), lansoprazole (Prevacid) and omeprazole (Prilosec) used to be only available by prescription. Physicians loved th…
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 …
Should You Worry About Vision Loss from Viagra?
Drugs for erectile dysfunction have become very popular. They include avanafil (Stendra), tadalafil (Cialis), vardenafil (Levitra) and the original, sildenafil (Viagra). Such drugs are referred to as …
Reclast Side Effects Incapacitate Patient
Before agreeing to take any medication, people should be aware of the benefits and risks. There are a number of drugs that are used to combat osteoporosis, which is certainly a benefit. But all of the…
Pain Reliever Confusion: Aspirin | Advil | Aleve…
Walk into any pharmacy and you will find an aisle devoted to pain relief. There are so many brands and generic options that it could give you a headache just trying to figure out which of the many pro…
Popular Blood Pressure Pills Under Cancer Cloud
Nearly a decade ago, a front-page story in the Wall Street Journal blew the lid off a highly controversial internal squabble at the FDA involving a popular category of blood pressure medicines. ARBs (…
Show 1275: The Vicious Cycle of COVID and Diabet…
There are at least two pandemics raging through the world at this time. The first is obesity. The second is, of course, COVID-19. Diabetes sits uncomfortably at their intersection. In a vicious cycle,…
Is Your Medication Causing Nightmares?
We are all encouraged to get a good night's sleep. That's because scientists find that restful sleep is important for brain function, cardiovascular health and diabetes management. Sleep is also impor…