Call 888-647-0579 to speak with an alcohol or drug abuse counselor.

Who Answers?

Cold meds may have serious side effects

There are more than 800 over-the-counter cold and cough medications. It is a huge and profitable industry, with an excess of $2 billion spent each year nationwide.

Because they are sold without a prescription, many people assume the medications are “safe.” These medications are associated with potentially serious side effects. Many products contain multiple substances including a decongestant, cough suppressant, antihistamine, and/or fever reducer/analgesic. Complications after using decongestants include elevated blood pressure (those with hypertension should not take over-the-counter decongestants), increased heart rate (causing palpitations and anxiety), slow heart rate, seizures, stroke and heart attack.

Many cough and cold preparations even include antihistamines such as chlorphen-iramine and brompheniramine, although histamine has not been shown to contribute to the symptoms in the common cold. This seems to be their attempt at the shotgun approach, trying everything.

Side effects of antihistamines include drowsiness, increased heart rate, blurred vision, agitation and seizures. Dextromethorphan (for cough) has been associated with stupor (don’t take it if you are going to drive), coma, or the other end of the spectrum, hyperexcitability.

Tylenol and other medications containing its active ingredient, acetaminophen, can be highly toxic. In a study at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, acetaminophen is the No. 1 cause of acute liver failure.

Patients treated for acetaminophen overdose were divided into two groups; accidental overdose versus intentional overdose. Surprisingly, the group who accidentally took too much acetaminophen faired worse than the group who where attempting suicide.

The accidental overdosers fared worse because a much higher proportion were heavy drinkers. Heavy drinking changes the liver’s functioning and makes it much more susceptible to suffer the toxicity of acetaminophen. Those who take more than an occasional acetaminophen should not drink alcohol because of the increased risk of liver damage.

Patients with liver and kidney disease also should exercise caution in taking acetaminophen.

One of the authors of the Parkland report suggests that people consider taking 2 grams of acetaminophen a day as the maximum dose, as opposed to the 4 grams currently recommended by most manufacturers (a single oral dose of 325 to 650 mg every four to six hours for an adult). Relatively small overdoses of acetaminophen have been blamed for liver damage and even deaths in children.

Always remember, medicine sold over the counter is not completely safe and may cause side effects and toxicity.
__________
source: news-journalonline.com

More Treatment & Detox Articles

Types of Addiction Treatment Centers Available

Addiction treatment centers help people overcome their addiction by providing resources and support There are thousands of rehab centers located throughout the country No matter a person’s addiction problem, there is a treatment center out there to help them overcome their addiction Why People decide to go to an Addiction Treatment Center According to www.drugabuse,gov,….

Co-occurring disorders

Co-occurring disorders, as the name suggests are the type of disorders that occur again. These disorders are mostly related to mental health problems and therefore the chance of the disorders affecting again is high in the patients who suffer mental imbalance or have self destructive tendencies or are impulsive in their behavior. The co-occurring….

The Disease Model of Addiction

If I went to my doctor with a set of symptoms, no one would question the fact that I was sick. No one would impose a moral judgment on me for having those symptoms, and I wouldn’t be viewed as a law breaker for being ill. But many people reject the idea of addiction as….

Methadone Rises as a Painkiller With Big Risks

Suffering from excruciating spinal deterioration, Robby Garvin, 24, of South Carolina, tried many painkillers before his doctor prescribed methadone in June 2006, just before Mr. Garvin and his friend Joey Sutton set off for a weekend at an amusement park. On Saturday night Mr. Garvin called his mother to say, “Mama, this is the first….

Medicines derived from cannabis: A review of adverse events

Researchers at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), McGill University and the University of British Columbia (UBC) determined that medical use of cannabinoids do not cause an increase in serious adverse events, but are associated with an increase in some non-serious adverse events. Several drugs containing compounds derived from the cannabis plant, or cannibinoids, are….