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The Pharmacist Answers Podcast

Your health is probably one of the most important things to you.  Yet it can be one of the most complicated things to understand.  Our bodies are meant to work a certain way, but when they don't, we may never be 100% sure why or what to do about it - even after seeing a healthcare professional.

The Pharmacist Answers Podcast is hosted by Cynthia Hendrix, PharmD.  On the Podcast, you can learn the basics of body parts and organ groups, get a glimpse of how disease processes work, and learn some practical steps to take in your own flesh and blood relationships with healthcare providers.

Everyone's health story is different.  No one is truly a "textbook case".  You need someone who sees your uniqueness and help you gain the knowledge and confidence to have conversations, ask questions, and make decisions that are right for YOU!

*The Podcast started out as live conversations on Periscope.

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Medication Intolerances 3

Dec 31, 2015

Tidbits about Headaches

A headache is an ambiguous side effect because there are so many different things that can cause headaches.  Hormones are a big culprit of this.  Blood pressure medications can too.

For someone with chronic high blood pressure, the higher pressure becomes the body's new "normal".  Once medication starts to bring it down, even though the pressures are within a normal range, the body will experience symptoms of low blood pressure.

2 lies people tell about allergies

  1. No allergies - so then they take something they are allergic to and have an emergency
  2. Allergic to "everything" - because they experienced mild or moderate side effects.  Or in the case of pain pill seekers, they're "allergic" to the weak pain meds to get the doctor to prescribe stronger ones.

Stimulants

Irritability, nervousness, jitteriness, or moodiness can be a side effect of amphetamines (used for ADD) or cold medicines (i.e. pseudoephedrine).

A factoid about ADD/ADHD:  the focus and attention area of the brain are underactive, so a stimulant helps it be more active so improve focus.

The biggest complaint people have from any stimulant is the inability to sleep at night.  Just need to make sure it's taken early enough in the day so it wears off in time for bed.

Bones and Joints

In this case, we rarely want you to keep taking the medication if these side effects happen.  For example, cholesterol medications (i.e. statins, and fibrates) and quinolone antibiotics (Levaquin, Cipro, Avelox).  The quinolones have a rare but serious side effect of tendon rupture; it is painful and permanent.

Tendons: the connective tissue that anchors muscles to the bones.

Osteoporosis medications can lead to bone pain - since their job is to cause changes in the way the bones are built and rebuilt, it's not uncommon to feel something.  But usually temporary.

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Music Credits:  "Radio Martini" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/