When you take a drug, it is designed to have a specific effect on a certain body processl Though scientists try and make the drugs as specific as possible, they are only partially successful. The drug has a powerful effect on the heart and a lesser effect everywhere else.

At the same time, drugs are continually elminated from the body through the kidneys' producing urine, and thorugh the liver by chemical breakdown. The healthier these waste-disposal systems, the less damage is done to the body by drugs. The lower the dosage the less uninteneded effects the drugs will have, and the more chance there is for the disposal systems to clear them out.

All drugs are poisons to a greater or lesser extent. There is no such thing as a completely harmless drug. But whether or not you will get a noticeable side effectds depnds on dosage, kidney and liver function, constitution, general health and resistance, age, diet, and many other factors.

Doctors can never predict who will get which side effect. It is also a question of sensitivity. A healthy person may feel a side effect which is not felt by his unhealthy cousin. It may be that he ismore aware of what's going on insie. Even if drug side effects are not noticeable as a symtom, it doesn't mean that they are not there. They may only appear later, as with antibiotics and dose is raised or when an additional drug is taken.

Your doctor should be on the lookout for bad reactions from symptoms of the disease or a new disease, especially when those reactions are unusual. Doctors often believe the assurances of nice-sounding package literature supplied by the pharmaceutical industry and cant believe what they see. Doctors are often lulled into a false sense of security concerning the drugs that have been in common use for some time. But they should not be.

Side effects, especially of new drugs, are meant to be reported to the authorities, but not more than 1% of side effects are reported by doctors. If you report an unacceptable side effect to your doctor he will often replace the durg with a similar one, or change the dosage schedule. Sometimes you can be given further drugs to cope with the side effects. There are, however, very few actual drug antiodes to other drugs: the doctor's strategy will always be to try and deal with whatever symptoms turn up one by one, with the general health of the patient often becoming worse nad worse as each new drug is added. Surprisingly, conventional medicine knowns almost nothing aobut dietary methods of hastening the removal and detoxification of drugs.

How to avoid drug side effects The best guard against drug side effects are good prescribing habits in doctos, watchfulness and awareness in the patient, and a tacit agreement betwene the two that drugs should not be a first resort.

Your doctor should not be conditioned to reach for the prescription pad when he sees you at first. He should have a healthy respect for all drugs, and express a wish to cut prescribing to the barest essentials.

You must tell your doctor you don't like to take drugs. He many assume the opposite unless you make it very clear.

Your doctor should not prescribe an unfamiliar new drug if there is an older well-established one available. If you hear "I want to try a new medicine that looks very promising" as what's wrong with the old one.

The doctor should know, and tell you, why this drug is chosen, what benefits he expects from it, what to do if there is no benefit, what problems may occur and how to deal with them. Much unnecessary drugging results from doctors not having a CLEAR AIM in mind when prescribing and not haivng the ability to asess if the target has been reached.

You should discuss with the doctor whether the remedy actually cures the disease or whether it relieves the symptoms, and if so for how long. As what will happen then, and whether you will then have to raise the dosage.

Ask yourself and the doctor whether the drug really is necessary. Will the problem go away by itself anyway? Is it trivial? Ask yourself if you are going to the doctor more as a conditioned reflex and whetehra drug isnot actually the answer you need. If you feel the weight of modern life, will a tranquilizer really lift it, or will it make you more helpless? Is it better to eat more salads and greens for life or be on laxatives for live? Are blood pressure drugs worth it or is it better to try and change a few habits?

Try preventive methods of treating common non-serious ailments before exploring the drug option. Many frequent symptoms such as tension-headaches, sore throats, frequent colds and infections, digestive upsets, skin irritaitons, anxiety, mild depression and circulatory problems in their early stages are very successfully treated by a change in diet, more exercise and fresh air, reducing the pollution inside your body, psychological work, relaxation and massage. Complementary medicine is another option, to create in you the conditions for health so that you will have no need of any additional drugs.

Discuss your lifestyle with your doctor. Will the drugs interfere with driving, your intellectual or physical work, your job? If so can they be taken in a different way, or can different drugs, or a drugless soluiton to be the problem be subsituted?

Your Ten Questions:

1) what is the drug called? What is the type of drug?

2) what does the drug do?

3) why do I need it?

4) what will happen if I do not take it?

5) will I be able to stop taking it easily?

6) when and how should I take it?

7) what are the possible side effects? What might happen?

8) how long should I take it for and when should I see results?

9) are there any foods, drinks, supplements, or over-the-counter medications I should not take or that I should take?

10) when do you want to see me again?

When you Buy and take drugs

1) never assume that a drug is harmless and it won't hurt to try it. A completely harmless drug is yet to be invented

2) never assume that if a little works then more will work better

3)a mixture of ingredients is not necessarily better than a single one and may be more toxic

4) when you buy a drug over-the-counter (OTC) at the pharmacy/drug store make sure you know the answers to the quesitons listed above. If not ask the pharmacist.

5) keep the doctor's or pharmacist's instructions on how to take your drug. If he says take it with meals three times a day, do just that; it will minimize harmful effects

6) if you are in doubt take a drug with food rather than without

7) dont use old drugs. they may have lost their value and some such as tetracyclines can be more harmful when old (check expiry dates).

Watching for Drug side effects

You need to be on the lookout for unwanted effects. You cannot leave that to your doctor. Be aware of any changes in symptoms, or feelings, even subtle ones like irritability, dryness in your mouth, itching or tiredness. They may be signs that something is not going well--the tip of the iceberg of invisible damage being created in your body.

A very useful tool for watching what's going on is a diary. Make a daily note of how you feel and whether your original problem is disappearing or new ones are appearing. Sometimes the months pass, and you may just get used to being ill, without realizing that you are now suffering from the drug effects different from your original problem.

Affected Part by a wide variety of medications

Eyes: double vision, watering, blurred vision, yellowing of the white

Muscles: muscle pain especially in the nec, muscle cramps, muscle weakness, tremors or shakes, numbness

Ear and Nose: ringing in ears, pain in ears, bad taste/smell

Skin: itch, rash, flushing yellowing, unusual sweating, feeling of insects crawling

Digestion: dry mouth, loss of appetite, diarrhea, unusual thirst, nausea or vomiting, stomach pain.

Mind and Head: irritability, dizziness, fainting, frequent yawing, apathy and lethargy, unsteadiness, headaches, depression, lack of concentration, insomnia, loss of menory, pain, hallucinations, hyperactivity.

Urine: ncontinence, painful or frequent urination, cloudy or dark urine

chest and throat: constricted throat, breathlessness, unusually rapid or slow heartbeat, palpitations

General: unexpected fevers, chills, puffiness, esp hands and feet, swelling, unexpected weight loss or gain, unusualy menstruation or heavy bleeding, loss of sex drive or impotence

Obtaining Further information

Your doctor may not ell you what you want to know; perhpas he doesn't know himself. it may be that the doctor doesn't believe you have side effects or doesn't understand how you feel. it is not always apparent to patients who much a doctor is sbutly guided and influenced by drug companies who are always keep to play down their drugs' disadvantages.

Stopping Medical Drugs

Supposing you are having adverse effets which are unacceptable and you have decided to stop taking a medical drug, what should you do?People often just stop taking dugs without telling their doctos. This is partronizingly called "non-compliance" by the meidal proession--not doing what you are told. Two out of 5 people do not take their medicines as directed.

Very often sthe symptoms that made you take the drugs in the first place will come back twice as hard when you stop them.

In the case of some prescribed drugs the suppressed symptoms return with such force that you put your life at risk if you stop ANY drug suddently. Particularly steroids, the drugs have made important functioins of the body redundant, so that drugs cannot be withdrawn immediately. There are also cases particulary with antibiotics or anticancer drugs, where withdrawal in mid course can worsent the disease.

Which Vitamins should I take to help prevent drug side effects?

A good deal of knowledge has now been gathered on the interconnectins between drugs and dietary factors. Many drugs remove vitamins from the body, by using them up, or by preventing their absorbtion in the digestion from food you eat, or by killing bacterial in the intestine on which you depend. Some of the drug side effecst are the result of a lack of vitamins caused by drugs.

Mineral depletion also occurs with some drugs, either because they affect the kidney, making it a leaky sieve, or because they prevent proper absorbtion from the food.

The specific vitamin and mineral losses are given in the following tables. Your doctor may not know about all these vitamins looses; he may not have read the relevant literature. You should take above the Daily Recommended Allowance of the vitamins concerned, and spread the dosage throughout the day, roughly in parallel with drug dosage.

Anticonvulsants esp phenytoin purpose of drug to prevent epileptic seizure vitamins depleted is D, K, Folic Acid, B6

antacids used to reduce stomach acidity vitamins depleted include A, B complex

aspirin (and salicylates) reduces inflammation, pain, and fever vitamins depleted include A, C, E, K

barbiturates sedatives and sleeping medication vitamins depleted include A, D, folic acid, C

cholestyramine lowers cholesterol in blood vitamins depleted include A, D, K, folic acid, B complex, and B12

Clofibrate lowers cholesterol in the blood vitamins depleted include K

colchicine treats gout vitamins depleted include B12, A

corticosteroids prevents inflammations and allergies vitamins depleted include A, B6, D, C

diuretics increase urination vitamins depleted include B complex

estrogen type contraceptives contraception pills vitamins depleted include folic acid, B6, B12, B2

epsom salts cleanse the bowels vitamins depleted include B2 and K

hydralazine lowers high blood pressure vitamins depleted include B6

indomethacin used to treat rheumatism and arthritis vitamins depleted include B1, C

isoniazid treats TB vitamins depleted include B6, B3

levo-dopa treats Parkinson's disease vitamins deplted include B6

mineral oil laxative vitamins depleted include A, D, K

neomycin treats bacterial infections vitamins depleted include B12, A

nitrofurantoin treats bacterial infections of the bladder vitamins depleted include folic acid

penicillamine treats rheumatoid arthritis vitamins depleted include B6

phenothiazine treats psychosisi and schizophrenia vitamins depleted include B6

potassium chloride used to treat low potassium levels vitamines depleted include B2

pyrimethamine prevention and treatment of malaria vitamins depleted include B12

sulphasalazine used to treat ulcerative colitis vitamins depleted include folic acid

tetracyline kills bacteria vitamins depleted include trimethoprim + sulphonamides kills bacteria vitamins depleted include folic acid, K, B

Drugs that deplete Minerals anticonvulsants prevents epileptic seizures minerals depleted include calcium

antacids reduces stomach acidity minerals depleted include phosphate

aspirin reduces pain, fever, inflammation minerals depleted include iron, phosphate

barbiturates induce sleep and sedation minerals depleted phosphates

chemotherapeutic drugs treats cancer minerals depleted include magnesium, zinc

colchicine treats gout minerals depleted include sodium, calcium, potassium, iron

cortisone prevents inflammation minerals depleted include calcium, potassium

diuretics increases urination minerals depleted include potassium, magnesium, zinc

laxatives reduces constipation minerals depleted include potassium, calcium

neomycin kills bacteria minerals depleted include sodium, potasium, calcium, iron

There are also certain rare cases where you should not take vitamins with medications because they counteract it. This is why you should inform your doctor about the vitamins you are taking.

Cases include:

anticoagulants purpose: risk of blood clots vitamin: vitamin K or large amounts of leafy vegetables it reduces the effect

anti-psychotic drugs purpose: psychoses vitamin: vitamin C can reduce effect

levodopa purpose: parkinson's disease vitamin: B6 and B complex reduce effect

methotrexate purpose: leukemia vitamin: folic acid, B2, can reduce effect

sulphonamides purpose: urinary infections vitamins: vit c can cause kidney stones

tetracyclines purpose: infections vitamins: iron, milk, reduce absorption

Do you have any of these symptoms while taking drugs? If you have any of these side effects please let the doctor/pharmacist know.