We all have heard that commercial. The one that say’s “ask your doctor If {name of medication} is right for you?
If you are anything like me you probably have taken a break, changed the laundry over, ran to the kitchen for a drink or visited the restroom.
Upon returning the add is still on and listing all the side effect’s that are possible while taking “said” medication.
Have you ever questioned who would take that medication, if those are the side effect’s? Especially in cases where a side effect is the reason for taking the medication in the first place.
For instance say you suffer from migraine’s, but the medication for migraines list headache’s as a side effect. Or the one that is for intestinal issues. Then list constipation or diarrhea as a side effect.
If you already suffer from a symptom and your trying to get relief, why on earth would you want to have that also be the side effect? How do you know during treatment if it is the symptom or the side effect?
The hard thing in the chronic illness community we often have to weigh the risk of the side effect’s to take a chance on relief.
What happens when you have a side effect from a medication that is not listed, not common? How do you determine if it is a new symptom or a side effect?
What work’s for you may not work for me.
In many instances medication that claim’s it will cause drowsing wake’s me up for day’s. Meanwhile medication that is used for fatigue or says it may cause insomnia put’s me right out.
I thought I was strange and this was a rare thing, but after many years talking to other’s in the chronic illness community I have found I am not alone.
This just doesn’t stop with medications, but with things like physical therapy, changes in diet and using things like holistic measures. There is not a one size fit’s all when it come’s to your health care.
Heading into my 3rd DMD (Disease Modifying drug) since January of 2019 I have been given lots of advise on what I should do. Some advise, is to try other med’s and some advising to not take them at all.
What we forget when giving someone advice is that we do not have the full picture. We don’t know what they have tried, what other medication they are on and we don’t know what other medical conditions they have.
It is perfectly fine to tell someone what works for you, what didn’t work and even tell them side effect’s you had. This can give them things to watch for if they are on or Starting a medication. It is also gives them a reference point for discussion with their physician.
This also carries over to someone’s weight or eating habits. What we see is only a picture in time, not what is normal in their life.
Let’s just make a deal to be kind to other’s when we don’t know their story.
While trying a medication remember to give it time for side effect’s to go away, because sometimes they dwindle. Your doctor or pharmacist should give you information on how long side effect’s should last
Warning though pay attention to new symptoms. Did it start before, after or during the time you have been on the medication?
For the past 2 year’s I have had several relapse’s With M.S. and I was blaming the fatigue on relapse’s and M.S. While having a pre-screening for my new D.M.D I failed a EKG, with a low heart rate. Come to find out one of my medication’s can cause low heart rate and that would of course cause fatigue.
This medication I have only been on less than a year, so no it wasn’t the cause of my fatigue 2 years ago, but that year I had chemo, 2 kidney stone surgeries and a relapse possibly brought on by all the above. I may have needed the REST to recover.
I have now tapered down off that medication and am waiting for the result’s, but It will be another week or two before we truly know if it was the medication or if I need to see a cardiologist.
This is a real time testement to weighting Symptoms and Side Effect’s. We just don’t know what to expect when we make that individual choice to take a leap of faith.
We can all agree we are trying to live our best life free of Symptoms and avoiding Side effects.
It is great to hear from our community, so Share your story of Symptoms’ vrs Side effect’s. What do you find beneficial to help you know the difference?
