Friday, 27 November 2009
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Is Your Medicine Making You Sick?
This past Monday I found myself reclining in a chair at an Ears, Nose, and Throat Specialist (ENT) with a camera up my nose. The problem began about a month ago when my fall allergies started to kick up. And perhaps maybe some of my spring allergies as well since it has been so unseasonably warm here in Jersey (the dandelions and forsythias are beginning to bloom)!
Anyhow, in the past, I have taken everything from Allegra to Sudafed without any relief so a few weeks ago I decided to give the nasal spray, Nasonex a try. At first, I loved it! Just 15 minutes after the first sprays the mucus started to break up and (sorry for the grossness) began to come out. I was so excited to finally feel some relief from the pressure and pain.
For two weeks I used Nasonex religiously. My only complaint was that I could only use it once a day! Then, this past Saturday, while driving up to my boyfriend’s I felt liquid coming from my nose. I figured it was just running and gave it a quick wipe. When I looked down I noticed it was not mucus coming out but blood! Luckily, the nosebleed didn’t last too long.
Hours later, while in the city, I noticed my nose felt wet again. The look of panic on my boyfriend’s face told me that it had to be blood that was pouring out of my nostrils. I ran straight to the bathroom. 20 minutes and half a roll of toilet paper later, the nosebleed stopped.
The next day, my once pharmaceutical student boyfriend, informed me that I should probably stop using Nasonex. The spray contains ingredients that can cause dryness in the nose which in turn can lead to nosebleeds. Aha, the medicine I was taking to help with my nose woes was the culprit causing the bleeding! I stopped using the Nasonex right away and when I did not have a nosebleed Sunday, assumed I was in the clear.
Monday morning while getting ready for work, I was bent over the sink brushing my teeth when my nose started bleeding again. It was as if someone had turned a faucet on the way the blood was flowing out. Thank goodness my mom was home to rush me to the ENT.
And that is how I wound up in an ENT’s office with a camera up my nose. The Dr. informed me that my nose would have to be cauterized. Instantly, I felt faint. I told him I didn’t want a small blowtorch or soldering iron put up there!
The Dr. looked amused and quickly began to explain that they did not use such tools to cauterize a nose. Ah, sweet relief! He then pulled something out of a drawer that looked like a large matchstick and explained that this is all it took to burn my blood vessels, silver nitrate. It hurt a little but was nowhere near as bad as what I had been expecting.
Like my boyfriend, the ENT told me to no longer use Nasonex and to instead switch to a gentle saline solution such as Oceans. I have always thought that going with a more natural product when you can is better to do and this whole ordeal just helped me to remember that. It stinks when the medicines that are supposed to help you only lead to another health problem!
Have any of the prescribed drugs you have used caused more problems than they have solved?
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- From: michcoy@xanga
- Name: Michelle
- About Me: I am a full-time nanny who loves to write whenever I can. I also love being outdoors whenever possible. Camping, hiking and kayaking are a few of my favorite activities.
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Comments (7)
There is also a big study out there that says that Afrin, another nasal spray, that's over the counter is actually physically addictive. When I was in hospitals and the air was dry, they would give it to me, but never longer then 5 days because you could become dependent on it and coming off of it can actually give you withdrawl effects. Seriously, google it if you don't believe me.
Doesn't it say this on the label? Yeah, definitely something to not use quite so often.
I've always just used saline solution for stuff like that. Works like a dream, and saline is not harmful when used like that.
I try to avoid any prescriptions that cause more harm than the problem they're supposed to treat.
When I had a seizure and I was prescribed with Trileptal, everything seemed to be going fine, until the dosage got increased. At first I had only been taking 300mg, but then my doctor upped it to 600mg after a second seizure occurred. After I had a third one, she upped it to 900mg. That resulted in another seizure- yes, because of the medicine, not my body. She even said it herself that the medicine was too much for my body to handle. So from then on, I only used 600mg of the medicine and I thankfully haven't had a seizure since ! :] I'm grown out of it now, actually.
That's what Big Pharma is all about, making you sicker. Sorry you had to find out the hard way.
That sucks :( I use a netty pot with warm water and the salt that comes with the pot and it works wonders.
I was on Abilify for a while and it has a lot of side effects. I had to be tested often for diabetes, because that's one of its side effects. Also death is a side effect, but thankfully I did not experience that one! :p
However, I did experience what they called light-headedness on the side effect paper. But, it was a lot more than just light-headedness! I could hardly walk across a room without almost passing out.
I was at my parents' once and while I was taking a shower, I got so light-headed I almost didn't have time to get myself covered up before getting out of the room and finding a place to lay down. It didn't help to sit down, or to my head between my legs. In fact, those things made the experience worse whenever I'd tried them before.
And then I had two wait half an hour before I could walk the short distance to the apartment attachment on the back of the house where my grandpa lived (and where I was living with him). And even then as soon as I got home I had to lay right down. Some big help I was to my grandfather at that time! -_-;;
Although, unlike with the OP's experience with Nasonex, as soon as I stopped taking Abilify the problem went away without any further problems. :p