What's the worst side effect you have experienced taking a prescribed medicine?

Kitty 34

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Feb 16, 2000
I've had a few in my medical past, just wondering about you or a family member. Did you call your doctor, go to ER and/or stop taking the meds if you felt it was serious enough?
 
I was recently prescribed a steroid to help with a horrible cough that I had. I took it twice, and within 15 minutes each time I got sick (literally). So, I stopped taking it completely. I also had an inhaler with a different steroid in it that worked great to knock down the cough, so I just took that as I needed it.
 
Upset stomach with one, I called the Doctor and he switch to a different medicines.

I had an MRI and got a rash from the contrasting agent they used. Doctor marked my chart that I had an allergic reaction.
 
My doctor put me on an inject-able that seemed to mimic morning sickness. I totally lost my appetite and certain food smells gave me nausea. in fact, I spent the months floating between queasy and nausea. I gave it four weeks and took myself off it. I lost 15 pounds thought!
 


Nothing major. I did once get this weird blister that left a small and permanent discoloration, which in fact indicates an allergy to a particular medication I was taking. I had a second one too, but it was smaller and did not leave a mark behind.
 
The percocet they gave me after I got my wisdom teeth out made me very nauseated and vomit a few times. I just stopped using it once I figured it out, the pain wasn't that bad at that point anyway.

Another caused rapid weight gain, which was very upsetting for a middle school girl. I mostly outgrew the condition (CVS) and was weaned off the med pretty quickly thankfully.
 
Suicidal thoughts and paranoia. I didn't really understand that it was the medication talking as these side effects are infrequent, but all of it stopped when I stopped taking it. I thought the condition I was being treated for was causing me to feel that way, so I didn't take myself off and I didn't mention it to my doctor. But since the medicine wasn't really helping, the doctor took me off, tried something else, and then referred me to a specialist who figured out what was going on and fixed me up.
 


All over rash. Turns out, I am allergic to all sulfa drugs. It was horrible.

Second worst: I had the shakes for 5 months while I terbutaline. Could not hold my hands still. That made my 5 months of bedrest even more torturous because I could not read (the page kept moving, making me nauseous). Instead, I played handheld video games (rudimentary ones...20 years ago), and watched TV. Egads is there a LOT of bad TV. LOL. I also listened to books on tape, but not the same (to me) as turning the pages of a book and being easily to go back a few chapters to refresh my recollection on characters or a plot point.
 
I have all the terrible side effects to prednisone, so I try to avoid that one as much as possible.
I once took meloxicam to deal with a particularly bad bout of costochondritis and I had the most horrible vivid disturbingly violent nightmares.
 
I developed a sudden allergy to an antibiotic I had taken many times. It caused huge hives (the doctors were so impressed they asked to take photos), I was covered head to toe. The hives lasted more than 8 months.
 
CODE BLUE was called! Happened after open heart surgery a few years ago. Cardiologist ordered a new med (Tikosyn) to regulate my heart and it went wild. Seriously close to dying.
 
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I've had a few in my medical past, just wondering about you or a family member. Did you call your doctor, go to ER and/or stop taking the meds if you felt it was serious enough?

I was playing with DS at the park, and tripped on a sprinkler head; tore open my toe to the bone, lost the nail. Went to the ER, got it cleaned and stitiched up, and got Demerol. The Demerol made me agitated, and I had some confusion, so I stopped taking it; just took Tylenol.

An infection set in, went to the bone, and my foot swelled with cellulitis; so the doc prescribed Oxy; gave me like 5 pills. Never had oxy before. I took one, and will never take one again. I had trouble breathing, it felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest, the room was spinning and nothing would make it stop, and I was having trouble seeing (like when you get up too fast, and everything starts getting fuzzy and dark...like that but I was laying flat on my back in my bed and I wasn't moving); I was shaky and my heart was racing. Called the ER and they told me to come back in. ER nurse said I was having a reaction to the Oxy. No more for me!

Non-prescribed: I can't take Ny-quil. The walls breathe.

TL;DR I'm a lightweight
 
Sulfa drug reaction. It was so bizarre...I lost like 10 pounds in 2 days (I wasn't heavy to begin with, either...went from 135 to 125 pounds). I also got terrible muscle aches in my back, neck and legs that lasted almost 3 weeks. I had a terrible headache for a week and just felt fatigued and awful. I thought my symptoms were from the infection I had, but the doctor was alarmed when I mentioned them a week into a two week treatment and told me those are serious, but rare side effects and I should never take sulfa drugs again. Turns out, my mom and sister are both allergic to sulfa antibiotics as well.
 
DD is allergic to sulfa drugs. Lowers her blood pressure and makes her week. Found out as a a teenager and has avoided it since.

The only one I avoid is hydorcodone.....hated it. Made my head feel like it was full of cotton. I stopped taken it after 2 days and just went with an over the counter pain med.
 
I've had a few in my medical past, just wondering about you or a family member. Did you call your doctor, go to ER and/or stop taking the meds if you felt it was serious enough?

The worst “side effect” would be the pregnancy that resulted from my IUD that was supposed to last 13 years but wasn’t even effective for 8 months...however my daughter that resulted from that pregnancy Is a pure joy and we couldn’t imagine life without her. But 8 years ago with two young boys and everything a young family entails it did not feel like a blessing.
 
As a teenager I was prescribed e-mycin for I don't even remember what. It upset my stomach so badly I vomited violently enough to abrade my esophagus and it took about a month for it to completely heal. I've avoided that family of antibiotics ever since and have had no problem with other types.

As an adult I was prescribed Crestor for high cholesterol and within a month the brain-fog was so severe I was on a wait-list for an appointment with a neurologist. It was actually my pharmacist that encouraged me to just quit the pills immediately, which resolved the problem within very short order. My own doctor, who had made the neuro referral, completely pooh-poohed the idea that I could be having such a bad reaction to the drug. :mad:
 
Years ago I had a broken wrist and needed to have it reset, they gave me lidocaine, and every part of my body was tingling and light headed. That was a little upsetting to me.
 
I'm generally really lucky with medications and don't experience the negative side effects. The only exception being an antibiotic I was prescribed to help with acne. It made me really nauseous, so I stopped taking it and asked my dermatologist to try something new.
 

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