Saturday, April 21, 2012

S is for ... Side-effects

How's my mental health today?

I feel good - tired, but good.

Heidi may have figured out the cause of my exhaustion. My doc had put me on a heavy vitamin program including a large dose of Vitamin D. Heidi went to the Internet this morning and looked up Vitamin D toxicity. It seems that side-effects of the accumulation of vitamin D in my body may be causing my exhaustion as well as the dry mouth and metallic taste I have been dealing with for several weeks.

I won't be taking anymore of that vitamin for a while.

Medication side-effects are an issue for me (and many others). Over the last 22 years I have experienced a small list of medication side-effects:

  • Kidney and bladder shutdown.
  • Interfered with my sexual function.
  • Anxiety sky-rocketed.
  • Caused more difficulty in sleeping.
  • Blank periods in my memory.
  • Double vision.
  • Deterioration of eyesight.
  • Parkinson's type symptoms.
  • Extreme sensitivity to sunlight and heat.
  • Non-stop hunger.
  • An anti-depressant that worked well for me was removed from the market when it was discovered that it could cause fatal liver problems.
Medications help me to manage the symptoms of my health conditions, but it is vital that I pay attention to their side-effects and deal with them.

I found a website that lists many anti-medication quotes, and though I find they are quite extreme, they make for interesting reading. See: http://www.whale.to/v/quotes2.html

"The person who takes medicine must recover twice, 
once from the disease and once from the medicine." 
~~ William Osler, M.D.

2 comments:

  1. Poor thing! Hubby seems to have the rarely seen variety of side effects from medicines. I just had my first bout with extreme bad side effects...couldn't pee! So the quote I find quite humerous and on a par with something Mark Twain might have uttered.
    Barbara
    Life & Faith in Caneyhead

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  2. I sympathise. I too have had numerous side effects from medications. So much so that I will not buy the prescribed medicine until I have investigated its possible side effects.
    Sometimes you are damned if you do and damned if you dont!

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