I picked up my usual monthly part bag from the pharmacy today and filled my pill box for the next week. I was just about to throw away the empty box of one of the pills when I noticed the accompanying sheet which supposedly lists all the possible side effects. I say supposedly because I really don't know as I have never bothered to read any of them!
I wonder if this is why I never have any?
The mind is a powerful thing and I suspect to many of us not our best asset where personal health is concerned.
Just musing here you understand.
Bob
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Of course Kaz....that is a side effect of living 😉 . I always read leaflets thoroughly and back up on internet ! ( hypochondriac ?..moi ?!) Some truth in what Bob says though .
I don’t think it’s the reason you haven’t had any side effects Bob but I do think that some people are very susceptible to autosuggestion - placebo affect?
Tell someone they are going to die within 3 months and many will. Fake news and the disrupters (previously referred to as Propaganda) rely upon this phenomena.
I prefer to use the power of Positive Thinking - works just as well - read the leaflet and tell myself I’m NOT going to get any of those symptoms - then forget about it.
I have never read any of those leaflets in 5 years of being on meds, I've got a busy enough mind without knowing what 20 things might go wrong any minute! Just keep chucking them in the bin Bob and you'll be fine 👍
I generally check one of the online drug interaction sites when I get a new drug as I seem to be on quite a cocktail nowadays 🍸💊 and I have a great relationship with my pharmacist.
Good one Bob. I must plead guilty. All my meds got blamed for what probably was a misbehaving gallbladder, lol. I apologized to them and thanked them for doing their jobs👍🏻
I try not to read the leaflet until I have taken the medication for a while and then ask myself if anything new has happened and if it is permanent. If in doubt I ask a pharmacist especially after my GP told me 'I don't know, pharmacists are the experts'!
That's exactly what I do too, Buffafly. I never read the leaflet until I've been taking the medication for at least a couple of weeks and then always consult the pharmacist if I have questions.
In large part that's because I always remember that when I was a student (many years ago!) I had quite a few friends who were medical students. Almost all of them were convinced, at one time or another, that they were suffering from some disease or condition they'd just been studying. It's a well known phenomenon.
Guilty as charged. Since my system is quite sensitive I do read it all but try not to go down the rabbit hole about it. "Managed Risk" is the word that keeps me balanced.
Hi guys,
I never read junk mail 😂😂
That said our ageing tortoiseshell rescue cat, aged 19 plus, has developed hyper thyroidism. She is very strong willed and refuses to take tablets or even a syringe of liquid medicine in the corner of her mouth. Guess what I did ...... I read the junk mail in the packet. It said, not to be administered with food as medication testing was inconclusive. No other choice. We administered it with food and her T4 levels over some 6 months have dropped from 95 to 29, the low end of the normal range.
John - one of my cats had the same problem - no way could you get any medication into her unless injected. In the end I had had to grind down her thyroid tablets and put it in cat milk - she adored cat milk, so we got away with it, at the time she was about the same age as your furball. She lived until she was 23 years old.
That is awesome Cassie, wow! 23 ! Until your post the oldest cat I've ever known got to 21, 23 is awesome. I must say that shortly after going on this medication we thought we were going to loose her but, one day she looked at my wife, a look that said don't give up on me yet, I'll fight on. And since then she has never looked back.
My cat was called Candy - at the age of 17 she had a stroke and was paralysed down one side, we thought we would loose her, Vet gave up as medicating her was impossible. We gradually got her back to health, hand feeding her, but she could not walk properly. She gradually re taught herself to walk again, it was fascinating watching her, propping herself up against walls, sofa ect and she did it. Got back to full mobility and no sign of the stroke. She was a very small cat but boy did she have determination and fight in her, right to the very end.
Cassie
in reply to
Same with one of my cats ...same illness.....i wrap her tab up in tiny piece of pate and give that to her first thing. Any other way and she would have my hand off😾
Ah …. looking to see what the ingredients of a medication/supplement/food stuff are is different from reading about possible side effects of a medication and then being convinced that what you are experiencing is a side effect of that medication. I always try to remind myself that coincidence is not (necessarily) an indication of causation.
I really do NOT want to know what was in the curry I ate at our local Hindu Restaurant this evening. I just wont have that again as it was little too hot for me. Think I might sit in the freezer for a while now. (Sorry trust me to make a joke of it but it was my thread.)
I just remember those medics. I knew when a student (as I mentioned in an earlier post in this thread). That taught me quite a bit about the ways in which the mind can be influenced so I'd rather not know in advance that eg 10% of those taking the medication experience 'x' side effect as I suspect I might be unduly influenced by what I read.
If I do experience something 'new' then of course I'll investigate to see whether there might be a causal link with the medication. ….. and I always ask the pharmacist about possible contra-indications if I am prescribed a new medication at the time it's being dispensed.
However, as is demonstrated every day on the Forum ….. we are all different.
Hi, doesn't food like hot stuff bring on an af episode for you? Just a little curious? Had always believed you had to avoid so many foods that can bring on an episode!!.
Never has unless it contained alcohol. Not had AF for ten years anyway since my third ablation. Lots of things can upset my insides but strangely curry never has. Too much of anything does me no good at all so I brought a doggy bag home to eat tomorrow if I can throw some yoghurt on it to cool it a bit.
I very rarely read the accompanying leaflets! I used to be a nurse and apparently we are not very good at reading the leaflets. I’m not good at reading instructions either 😂😂😂
Mine are all in french! And they seem to put double the paperwork in the box, I bin it like you.........but yes there’s still dear old internet to check...and I succumb.....you could be right!!!
Being an ex nurse I do read briefly. Interested in the theory as my OH never reads any of them and never has a problem. Ditto after his hernia surgery, while I worried about anaesthetics,heart disease etc he sailed tbrough it so I think you are spot on Bob.
You're very fortunate Bob, I'm currently off work with a banging headache, blurred vision, dizziness and fatigue. I wish my mind had the power to override these side effects
John you have taken what started out as what I hoped would be a light hearted humorous comment and spun it out of all proportions. I'm sorry I mentioned it but I did think it was funny at the time based on a previous more serious (to them) post about trusting in ??? etc.
I search all through these leaflets but never seem to have any of the problems. i once was given glaucoma eye drops and the side effects included a condition called Peyronie's disease! (look it up if you must!). Told my GP and he fell over laughing!
I concur. GPs have such a range to cover and are not infallible. Best to check. I am wishing I had as medicine I’d been on long term now cancelled as contraindicated on visit to A&E.
Having had this attitude from Dr's previously, I never look at side effects of medications until I feel weird and then I might look to see if it sheds light. Having said that I can see where a more laid back attitude would help, I find this interesting.
I purposefully don’t read side effects or I wouldn’t take any meds but I’ve still got very strong side effects from the BISOPROLOL and I’d rather not have to change the drug as it works for me. I’m trying Verapamil now but it doesn’t seem to be having any effect, heart rate is up and weird feelings in my feet persist, plus my arms at times. 🤷🏻♀️
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