MEDICATION INFORMATION LEAFLETS

[Benos123]

This site medicines.org.uk/emc/browse... gives you access to search for information on all your medications and gives you both the Patient and Health Professional information leaflets in return.

As an example, these are the two leaflets for Prednisolone - for The Patient: medicines.org.uk/emc/produc... and where you then download the pdf file, and for The Health Professional: medicines.org.uk/emc/produc....

Finally, all the info I've posted is published by Datapharm (datapharm.com/) and who modestly declare that "Datapharm runs emc (electronic medicines compendium), the UK’s leading provider of trusted medical information, and provides regulatory and compliance software solutions to the pharmaceutical industry".

And so you can now pass away a few hours finding out what your drug of choice should and should not be doing and be really informed when you next visit your Doctor/Consultant. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER and Enjoy.

[helvella]

Unfortunately, very useful though it is, it does not give access to the documents for all UK medicines.

For example, it has neither Teva levothyroxine nor Teva liothyronine. (Though it does have a few Teva medicines.)

If the product you are looking up isn't there, it will be here:

products.mhra.gov.uk/

But the search facility is awful.

And for Ireland, I think you will find a lot here:

hpra.ie/homepage/medicines/...

[Benos123 in reply to helvella]

Indeed, but the post has achieved it's aim in "stirring the medicinal pot" so to speak, and we now have information flow. This will hopefully encourage all those others out there, and in particular those who know more, to follow suit.

[helvella in reply to Benos123]

Meant to include that the EMC site sometimes does not have the latest versions of the documents they do include.

Seems to rather depend on the manufacturers to pass them on to EMC.

[userotc]

Just used the site to read through a couple of "advertisements" for the NHS-prescribed drug that still gives me serious side effects 5.5y after discontinuation. Based solely on that read, sadly I'd still take it now!

The marketing of the drug on the site is even worse than (still) on the NHS website today and that's bad enough! Serious, relevant sides are barely mentioned or understated despite much bad publicity in the press etc over the years.

The advice from me remains the same - avoid medicines like the plague!

[Benos123 in reply to userotc]

I agree wholeheartedly with you.

In my case, I'd been dosed up, both in the UK and Ireland on Naproxen/Ibobrufen/Vimova (NSAIDs) for 20 or 30 years for a whole series of ailments, and then only to find out a few weeks ago after five transfusions of blood plus one of iron, that I now have Chronic Kidney Disease and that NSAIDS are highly toxic to the kidneys.

And so here I am now with a very painful hip that's long overdue replacing, plus polymyalgia for which I take as little as possible prednisolone for, and a pile of other autoimmune diseases and as paracetemol doesn't touch the sides so to speak, seemingly the only option is to increase the prednisolone and only God knows what that is really doing to me!

And yes like you, I'd probably take them all again, for the relief they brought at that time!

[userotc in reply to Benos123]

No, I mean I'd probably take even today (if I don't know better) because the side effects are not prominent in the pharma "advert".

[Benos123 in reply to userotc]

On reflection I would be inclined to lay the blame with the Doctors & Consultants who continued to prescribe the NSAIDs to me, with their greedy paws extended for all the €50 & €125 fees from me over the years.

The most recent Consultant proved, whilst I was in hospital for three weeks, how the CKD diagnosis was plain to see from all my annual bloodtests results over the previous 15 years, and which showed how the creatinine level had been steadily detiorating.

Note: Some of these results had even been asterisked by the Lab as being outside of the acceptable range, but no action was ever suggested or taken to my knowledge.

To conclude, all my health problems can now be attributed to eighteen years of over exposure to organic solvents & chemicals at work, followed by a year living in a property that was later found to have contaminated ground water and which acted as the trigger that has set-off a succession of autoimmune diseases, that continue to this day!

Onwards & Upwards!

[userotc in reply to Benos123]

Totally but they are bullet-proof so, unlike in most other industries, there's no chance of retribution - I know cos I tried! Same with the covid vaccines, as you probably know.

Besides me:

(i) My mum likely suffered her CKD due to NSAIDs and/or HRT. Probably with added effect of high BP, the result was a kidney tumour and subsequent nephrectomy which is still consequential 4.5y later.

(ii) I learned recently that gabapentin can cause/accelerate dementia. So even our dog probably suffered from drugs after given that drug 2y ago and now with dementia.

(iii) My dad was on statins for 9m before stopping. Subsequent blood tests indicated very high billirubin which has fallen back to normal since withdrawal. Phew!

And his cholesterol is now good!

Probably best I stop there!

[Benos123 in reply to userotc]

Maybe it's best whilst your still ahead! LOLS

[helvella in reply to userotc]

I assume you have done a Yellow Card report?

(So far as I am aware, there is no time limit on such reports.)

[userotc]

Yes done >5y ago ...for what it's worth!

[Benos123]

With thanks to those from the USA, here now is the link for American Drug Information!

pdr.net/

and which goes to prove that SHARING IS CARING!

[helvella in reply to Benos123]

The search facility did not work at all for me. It pops up offering levothyroxine sodium and Levothyroxine Sodium injection but they are not able to be selected.

Browsing the list by name, it doesn't have "levothyroxine sodium". It has, for one example, "Levoxyl" - one specific brand. But not by active ingredient.

Also, the information for Levoxyl is actually a mishmash of information from many products.

You can find the documentation for most USA medicines - and it is managed by the FDA themselves:

dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/

And they only offer alerts notification if you register. Whereas the FDA offers free alerts:

For the USA you can sign up to FDA alerts here:

public.govdelivery.com/acco...

helvella - Thyroid Hormone Medicines

I have created, and try to maintain, a document containing details of all thyroid hormone medicines in the UK and, in less detail, many others around the world.

dropbox.com/s/shcwdwpedzr93...

There are a number of official national sites in that document - for example:

Spain - cima.aemps.es/cima/publico/...

(Link to my document inadvertently lost during original posting.)

[Benos123]

Thanks for the response.

I can't offer any suggestions as to why the links do not operate to your satisfaction, but I have now received the fdr link from three different USA based people and a number of others in the USA were pleased to have found it from my post.

However, I'm your sure that your sharing now of the additional USA & Spanish link(s) will be of great value to the Health Unlocked community going forward.