does anyone know for the UK what is the definitive / reliable / bone fide organisation that provides details for individual medications I.e. dosages, side effects.
I’d like to know more about efficacy / when meds are supposed to start working.
The underlying reason for post is my current med that I have been taking for 13 days is not helping at all with my angina (including sob, fatigue), getting headaches (especially on exertion, sharp pain top of head) , dizzy, feel generally unwell, and also being a distinctly miserable git! I’ll be contacting GP on Monday, I was wary before after 5 days gp insisted I go A&E bloods /ecg ok but couldn’t help I didn’t think the could anyway) in case they might say I have not given it long enough. Pharmacist today did say I’d given it long enough though. Earlier in week one said long enough, one said not long enough. Confusing.
Many medications that we are prescribed have not been specifically tested on women pre or post menopausal.
Women may respond to their medication differently depending on which part of their menstrual cycle they are on.
Nor have many medications been tested on different ethnic groups.
For those of us living with less common heart conditions there is also very little research evidence either about which medication is affective.
We are all unique and our bodies haven't read the NICE guidelines or the British National Formulary so don't know how to behave or respond to our medications 😊
We all respond to our medication differently. What may work for one person will be disastrous for another.
Ranolazine for example I would describe as a ' marmite' medication , you either love it or hate it!
Then unfortunately there is a group of patients who don't for whatever reason respond to their medication.
I don't. I am hopefully waiting for a wonder drug to be developed that will help me.
There are certainly a lot of factors you’ve outlined that are at play in whether a med will work for me or whether testing has shown should work for me.
I guess even with the same gender, age, ethnicity and medical condition, it is still not a foregone conclusion it will work in any one individual.
Diltiazem is the specific med and is definitely my marmite - I’m a marmite hater😊
My medical plan has always felt like trial and error which I know you have more experience of than me ❤️. This backs up the lack of evidence of what works.
So I’ve learnt whilst the leaflet and other official sources are key one has to always consider most importantly is how I feel and how I respond and that is a valid response.
Hi. I’d always use BNF firstly, then seek advice via pharmacist or GP. BNF is the defacto site clinicians use in the uk as it provides NICE guidelines. Every clinician has there own opinions based on experience though. Hope you find the right solution. Chris
BNF it is for official line, I’ve tried to understand the official line before I go back to GP but I also know it’s not working. And yes they do have differing opinions. I need to have more faith in what my body and especially my heart is telling me - it’s not happy!
Dear you,
I have to agree with using the BHF site for drug information and like others have said they tend to give 'One size fits all' answers.
I have never been weighed before the introduction to a new drug and find it amazing that a 16 stone man can be on the same dosage as a 6 stone lady.
Take care
• in reply to
thanks I do like to have the right info to refer to. That’s a good point regards weight, I feel like a zebra being given an elephant’s dose😂
For the UK, for drug dosage, use the British National Formulary site, as mentioned. It is similar information to that printed in a book that all the doctors use. Note, hospital doctors in particular can and do over-rule, but you can always ask them why.
The BNF is weak on side effects and on relevant lab tests that need doing.
For side effects I use several (not British) sites. My first port of call is usually drugs.com professional, which also has a good drug-interactions checker. I usually discuss anything unusual with a pharmacist.
thanks for that additional insight, I do like to research and understand what I am taking, how should work, side effects etc albeit as above its a one size fits all approach.
Doctors tend to downplay interactions and side effects. They tend to assume they are rare, or are only psychological, or the doctor will deal with it if they need to. The BNF should have prominently, for each medicine/class of medicine a list of the major interactions to watch for, and a list of the needed tests before starting and during the time you are on the meds. They are sometimes there, buried. We all do well to do our own research and ask questions.
We use EMC site a lot in pharmacy, useful for side effects. The BNF is useful but you will find it conflicts with NICE guidelines on occasions because their foci is slightly different. Ask your pharmacist if you need an interpretation
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