For most of us, taking prescription drugs is as routine as taking a shower. Today a whopping 60% of Americans pop pills for various ailments, according to The Washington Post.
Though getting a prescription from your doctor for the pharmacy to fill commonplace, we should carefully consider what we put in our bodies. Here are 20 prescription medications with their fair share of dangerous side effects. Both adults and children take a common drug that can impact their sexual health (page 9).
1. Vasotec
Prescribed for: high blood pressure
As an ACE inhibitor, Vasotec relaxes your arteries, which prevents them from getting too narrow and raising your blood pressure. It can also be the difference between life and death for those struggling with heart failure. However, you may experience low blood pressure and liver dysfunction, as well as the swelling of your lips, face, or tongue.
2. Xanax
Prescribed for: anxiety
Also called alprazolam, Xanax helps treat those suffering from anxiety and panic disorders, giving them much-needed relief. At its best, this well-known drug affects the chemicals in your brain to help balance your anxiety. At its worst, Xanax can be habit-forming, resulting in addiction, overdose, or death.
3. Viekira Pak
Prescribed for: hepatitis C
Those suffering from hepatitis C certainly need help treating it. And Viekira Pak can help. However, it also has terrible side effects for those with underlying advanced liver disease. Taking Viekira Pak can lead to liver injury and failure, which can result in death.
4. Chantix
Prescribed for: quitting smoking
Few things are more life-altering than this terrible habit. However, quitting smoking with help from this popular drug can result in intense side effects. Chantix, also known as varenicline, can cause psychiatric disturbances, such as suicidal thoughts, as well as vivid nightmares and intense withdrawals. Be sure to ask for input from your doctor.
5. Methadone
Prescribed for: relief from extreme pain and withdrawal symptoms
Opiate addiction is a severe problem in the U.S., and many doctors rely on Methadone to treat patients in withdrawal. Known as an opiate analgesic, the drug alters the way the nervous system and brain respond to pain. Although this drug can aid an addict with their recovery, it can also cause life-threatening breathing problems, hallucinations, nausea, agitation, fever, intense muscle stiffness, and more.
6. Nexium
Prescribed for: excessive stomach acid and stomach ulcers
Excess acid production in your stomach can be painful — it makes sense that you’d want to avoid it. Nexium, also known as esomeprazole, treats conditions like gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), erosive esophagitis, and more. Just watch out for side effects like severe diarrhea, inflammation of your kidneys, and vitamin deficiencies.
7. Lipitor
Prescribed for: heart health
Two types of cholesterol exist: LDL, which is bad for your heart, and HDL, which is is known as the good cholesterol. Lipitor lowers the former and elevates the latter, which can be lifesaving for those struggling with heart health. Unfortunately, this common drug has made headlines many times for its ability to cause long-lasting muscle and nerve problems.
One Atlanta man filed a lawsuit claiming that even three years after ceasing his Lipitor use, he still experiences a lack of balance, a burning sensation in his feet and hands, and bouts of memory loss. Another lawsuit alleges that a New York man experienced extensive muscle damage and debilitating memory loss.
8. Plavix
Prescribed for: preventing blood clots
Many people are tempted to ignore heart problems until it’s too late. But Plavix can treat your blood vessels so they don’t clot by preventing the platelets in your blood from coagulating. Unfortunately, it can also cause users to cough up blood or discover blood in their urine. Some people experience chest pain that spreads through their arms and shoulders.
9. Risperdal
Prescribed for: schizophrenia
As an antipsychotic, Risperdal can prevent the hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized thinking associated with schizophrenia. The drug actually rebalances the brain’s serotonin and dopamine levels, helping the user lead a happier life. But treating this debilitating disease with Risperdal can also cause side effects like low blood pressure, sexual dysfunction, muscle tremors, and uncontrolled movements.
10. Propecia
Prescribed for: male-pattern baldness
Propecia can give men a better head of hair and a lot more confidence. But one user, Kevin Malley, had absolutely no sex drive after taking the drug for six months. ABC reported that Malley’s “body changed, even his genitals shrank, and he slipped into a mental fog.”
Unfortunately, a study by the Journal of Sexual Medicine found that Propecia’s side effects, including sexual dysfunction and loss of libido, may last for months or even years after ceasing drug use.
11. Cardura
Prescribed for: relaxing the prostate muscles and treating hypertension
Cardura, or doxazosin, blocks specific chemicals, which relaxes the prostate muscles and bladder. It also widens blood vessels, which helps with hypertension. Some people who use this prescription drug experience breathing problems, a painful erection, or an irregular heartbeat.
12. Actos and Avandia
Prescribed for: controlling blood sugar
Diabetics may take either Actos or Avandia to lower the sugar in their blood. How? These prescription drugs make your tissues “more sensitive to insulin, the hormone that regulates the absorption of sugar into your cells,” according to the Mayo Clinic. Unfortunately, Actos and Avandia users may be at an increased risk of heart failure, heart attack, and bladder cancer.
13. Ambien
Prescribed for: insomnia
Not being able to sleep can be torturous, making for drowsy days and anxiety-filled nights. When Ambien improves unbalanced brain chemicals, users can experience relief. But the sedative has been known to cause impaired thinking; some people completely forget they’ve done an activity like driving a car, making a phone call, or having sex.
14. Mirapex
Prescribed for: Parkinson’s disease
Also known as pramipexole, Mirapex can help someone suffering from Parkinson’s disease to move better and shake less. Decreasing stiffness and unsteadiness can dramatically help those who need the drug. Unfortunately, it can also cause them to hallucinate and experience low blood pressure and sudden sleepiness.
15. Levaquin or Cipro
Prescribed for: bacterial infections
Both Levaquin and Cipro can remedy serious bacterial infections like urinary tract infections, chronic bronchitis, and anthrax. The antibiotics can also disable tendons, muscles, and joints, however, and they’ve been discovered to cause irreversible nerve damage in some users, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
16. Klonopin
Prescribed for: panic attacks and seizures
Klonopin, also known as clonazepam, increases the effects of a neurotransmitter that moderates the brain’s nerve signals. This can be invaluable to those suffering from panic attacks or seizures.
As a controlled substance, the drug can be abused by users, who can overdose with grave side effects. Emergency room visits due to clonazepam abuse grew by 122% from 2004 to 2011. Other side effects include suicidal thoughts and chest pain.
17. Brilinta
Prescribed for: heart disease
Despite the fact that Brilinta can cause dizziness, nausea, and severe bleeding, the drug is used by many to prevent heart attacks and strokes in people with heart disease. Doctors may recommend using Brilinta along with low-dose aspirin, and they’ll stress not to take it too often because those side effects may increase.Next:Unexplained rashes? It could be your epilepsy medication.
18. Lamictal
Prescribed for: epilepsy
Both adults and children can use Lamictal to manage this neurological disorder involving sudden convulsions and loss of consciousness. Unfortunately, this drug can cause serious rashes requiring hospitalization. Suicidal thoughts are also a side effect of this anti-epileptic.
19. Accutane
Prescribed for: acne
Living with skin problems is terrible, and Accutane can provide relief to frustrated teens and adults by treating severe cystic acne that hasn’t responded to other treatments.
However, doctors stress how crucial it is for female users to avoid getting pregnant. Many studies link Accutane to serious birth defects, so “women of childbearing age are required to enroll in a special pregnancy prevention program before beginning Accutane treatment,” according to DrugWatch. Other side effects include liver damage, depression, and bowel diseases like Crohn’s disease.
20. Yaz
Prescribed for: preventing pregnancy, hormonal acne, and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD)
Yaz is a rather dynamic prescription drug recommended for women 14 and older. It can treat PMDD, a severe form of PMS, and clear up moderate acne. Although women rely on it for these reasons — and to prevent pregnancy — they may be at an increased risk of blood clots, which could travel to the brain, heart, or lungs. Studies also link Yaz to high cholesterol, high potassium levels, and gallbladder disease.
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