What's the worst,most vile-tasting,or horrible side effects medication you have ever had to ingest?

Mine are:
Methylprednisolone Dose Pak-yep,STEROIDS. I have allergies along with my COPD,and I'm now on steroids...again. The worst side effects are sleeplessness and the munchies 24/7. Why would someone in their right mind choose to ABUSE steroids I will NEVER fathom!

Diabetic tussin cough syrup....yecccch!

Clozaril.....caused me to have really VIVID dreams and NIGHTMARES...also weekly blood tests.

Risperdal. made me sleep 18 hours at a time.

the steroids that are abused are usually anabolic steroids. Methylprednisone is a corticosteroid (produced by the endocrine glands, such as the adrenal glands.) When you hear about steroid abuse, they are usually referring to things like Testosterone and other sex hormones that produce the muscle bulk and stamina..  Corticosteroids are used for other conditions such as inflammatory, respiratory, and other conditions.  Long term use of corticosteroids can produce a condition called "Cushing's Syndrome, which is characterized by a moon face, a  fat pad on the back of the neck, an enlarged abdomen with stretchmarks appearing, and weight gain."  But you are right, they do taste awful.

Wow...i was prescribed neurontin (sp?) because i had shingles and its used to prevent the pain of neuralgia- shingles is an infeciton of your nerve endings..a very very disgusting thing.

but this medicine is generally prescribed to prevent epileptics from having seizures.
nerves/nerves...go figure.

so while i am tearing my hair out and reserching neuroses and  psychiatric illness, ihear on the radio that this drug makes people depressed and suicidal and stop taking it now.  thanks for the warning, doc!
and i had been a mental case.  i had been reading about all these disorders and wondering how to tell my family i think  i should be hospitalized (yeah, yeah, insert joke here) and all the while it was the drug.

vewy scawy.

the steroids that are abused are usually anabolic steroids. Methylprednisone is a corticosteroid (produced by the endocrine glands, such as the adrenal glands.) When you hear about steroid abuse, they are usually referring to things like Testosterone and other sex hormones that produce the muscle bulk and stamina..  Corticosteroids are used for other conditions such as inflammatory, respiratory, and other conditions.  Long term use of corticosteroids can produce a condition called "Cushing's Syndrome, which is characterized by a moon face, a  fat pad on the back of the neck, an enlarged abdomen with stretchmarks appearing, and weight gain."  But you are right, they do taste awful.


My mother had to take take predisone when she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis about 4 years ago. She did eventually get that moon face effect. She has weened herself off of it now, but it was hard to see her change like that, especially after she had been fairly successful losing some weight right before that time.

Pennicillan(sp?) was the worst, seeing how my legs swelled and I couldn't walk and I could have died! That was 10 years ago and it's obvious that I haven't taken any since. I hope I won't ever be in the position that I'd need it, dumb allergy.

Wow...i was prescribed neurontin (sp?) because i had shingles and its used to prevent the pain of neuralgia- shingles is an infeciton of your nerve endings..a very very disgusting thing.

but this medicine is generally prescribed to prevent epileptics from having seizures.
nerves/nerves...go figure.

so while i am tearing my hair out and reserching neuroses and  psychiatric illness, ihear on the radio that this drug makes people depressed and suicidal and stop taking it now.  thanks for the warning, doc!
and i had been a mental case.  i had been reading about all these disorders and wondering how to tell my family i think  i should be hospitalized (yeah, yeah, insert joke here) and all the while it was the drug.

vewy scawy.
Neurontin is also used in the treatment of bipolar disorder.

The cortisone shots I have to have sometimes in my bad knees. The shots work but the knee is one h*ll of sore due to the huge injection for about 24 hours...then blessed relief and no stiffness.

Doc and I are talking about using Synvisc next time.

Resperidol - I couldn't move, I felt like I had lock jaw.

Prozac - I tried to set myself on fire.

Sulfa - hives like you wouldn't believe

I injured my back and was Darvocet, Feldene and Soma at the same time. I suffered some brain damage because of it.... loss of vocabualary and stuff.... still working my way back to normal. The message boarding helps but sometimes I just sit here and stare into space trying to remember the word for what I'm trying to say.... it sucks. Plus it killed the trigger in my brain that tells me I am full so I gained like 100 pounds cuz I never get full.


Okay hiere is wha t hteis woul d look like if I didn't check  it a nad filwer wahat I sayut I can badrely type a long message and bame it legible of course itys funny thayt I can type but big waourds beteer but thats cux I thinkg about them more thea nt the littele ones
(Okay here is what this would look like if I didn't check it and filter what I say. I can barely type a long message and make it legible. Of course its funny that I can type big words betterh but that's becasue I think about them more than the little one.)

Geldeins and darboucet at your servdiis  (Feldene and Darvocet at your service)

As far as medication goes I been perscribed lots and I don't remember them.  As far as brain damage I have had a tumor.  I keep what I say short otherwise I'm trying to think of what to say and to choose the right words and stuff.

I can't even remember exactly how long ago, could be 8-10 years ago I think, I was prescribed Paxil & the side effects were wicked. I ended up only taking it for about 2 weeks & then had to get off of it. I had the weirdest dreams, I mean I had dreams of weird alien like creatures, and one dream was in frikken Black and White  :o  no color, what's up with that? and there was another more serious side effect that the Dr. mentioned potential libido changes. Holy crap!!        and for a injured back I was prescribed Vioxx & for tennis elbow Celebrex  and both had side effects that concerned me, mainly what i thought were respiratory changes and muscle tremors. weird sh*t. I got off of those also.  thank goodness I'm all healed and good to go now.  8)

I can't even remember exactly how long ago, could be 8-10 years ago I think, I was prescribed Paxil & the side effects were wicked. I ended up only taking it for about 2 weeks & then had to get off of it. I had the weirdest dreams, I mean I had dreams of weird alien like creatures, and one dream was in frikken Black and White  :o  no color, what's up with that? and there was another more serious side effect that the Dr. mentioned potential libido changes. Holy crap!!        and for a injured back I was prescribed Vioxx & for tennis elbow Celebrex  and both had side effects that concerned me, mainly what i thought were respiratory changes and muscle tremors. weird sh*t. I got off of those also.  thank goodness I'm all healed and good to go now.  8)


Designer pain relievers like Vioxx and Celebrex are severely overprescribed.  The fact is that the vast majority of the population can use good old fashioned aspirin for pain relief.

Somewhere in the late 1970's, the pharm industry created the "aspirin boogie man" and started hawking all sorts of "aspirin substitutes", which are uneccessary for all but a small minority of the population.

All of this simply to make a buck. >:(

did i tell the story of how I had to take neurontin for shingles...it's an infection of your nerve endings.
well it made me massively depressed and i was obsessed with my depression. it was all i researched.  I ignored everything and stayed up
at night reading about all kinds of disorders.  it was awful.  then i heard about the recall on the radio. good thing I did.
I stopped taking it and i was well in a few days.

Not every medication is going to agree with every patient.  That's why it's necessary to tell your doctor about any and all allergies you have and any negative reactions---even mild ones--you've had to medications in the past.

Years ago I took Neurontin to augment Effexor.  It wasn't very effective for that purpose.  However, I had no adverse reactions.  It's one of the most prescribed medications.  People can get everything from hives to psychosis on Neurontin, but that's just a miniscule percentage of the millions who take it every year. 

Neurontin is an anti-convulant.  My NP was prescribing it for one of those off-label uses--to augment an antidepressant.  I believe this practice has since stopped because these off label uses are where many of the terrible reactions to gabapentin occur. 

Neurontin is under investigation, but it hasn't been "recalled" as in "taken off the market," like Vioxx was.

Yes the Big Pharm is unscrupulous about making a buck and I've got some serious issues with industry.  However, I have bigger issues with our healthcare system in which some plans refuse to pay for certain meds a doctor recommends, or will not pay for a referral to the right specialist. 

One of the biggest problems with antidepressants is they don't provide instant relief.  It's not like taking opiates for pain.  In the first several weeks of acclimatizing to an antidepressant the treatment might sometimes feel worse than the illness.  These are powerful chemicals and patients must be monitored closesly by a psychiatric specialist.
This applies especially to young people and antidepressants for they are much more at risk of suicidality than older people.

If we allow a GP to just hand the patient a scrip for Paxil and say check in with me in four to six weeks, we are taking a serious risk.

BTW, I take ibuprofen for pain.  I find it works far better than regular aspirin.

Pain medicine has come a long way since the 1970s, but not without accompanying risks and costs.  People read about opiate addiction and immediately trash pharmaceuticals, heck, they trash all of "Western medicine."  Well, there ain't no such thing as a free lunch.  On the one hand, if you take oxycodone for excruciating pain, your body will get addicted to it.  On the other, you might be able to run your life, keep your job, and take care of your family rather than ending up incapacitated and bedridden.  Meditation, Yoga, acupuncture, and herbs are great if they work, but for serious illnesses, they quite often don't.  If you're going to tell me, "Well, you have to believe acupuncture will work in order for it to work," then you're back to little more than faith healing.  See, the New Age health gurus get to preach about how things should be.  Medical practitioners must deal with the way things really are.