Common drugs with scary side effects

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - Lots of people were surprised to hear last month that a study found certain cholesterol-lowering drugs, known as statins, had dangerous side-effects in women.

So, the 22News I-Team decided to dig deeper and reveal other commonly used drugs with side-effects you may not know about.

Studies have shown, Americans are living longer today than they were say 10 years ago.

That's the good news.

The bad news is, we're taking on more medications to help us live longer, which can lead to its own set of problems.

"They have a lot of adverse effects and could actually become life-threatening in those patients," said Anthony Zimmermann, WENU Pharmacy Practice.

The 22News I-Team called on Western New England University drug experts after a UMass Medical School and Mayo Clinic study found statin cholesterol-lowering drugs could increase a woman's chances of developing diabetes.

Turns out there are side-effects to be aware of in a number of other common drugs.

For example, lots of people take long-acting beta agonist to relieve their asthma, but don't take it by itself.

"The problem with those is its been found they can actually exacerbate and worsen your asthma is they're use alone by themselves," Zimmermann said.

Pharmacists say they can actually have an opposite effect if not taken with an asthma controller medication.

Another drug to be careful of is Acetaminophen.

A common example of Acetaminophen is Tylenol but pharmacists say lots of prescription drugs have Acetaminophen in it as well. So taking a Tylenol casually while also on a drug with Acetaminophen in it, can quickly result in an overdose.

A third drug to be careful of is the proton pump inhibitor used to treat common digestive disorders.

If you're not careful it can lower your magnesium levels.

"If that happens, patients can have spasms, muscle spasms, they can go into convulsions, they can have irregular heartbeats," Zimmermann said.

Bottom line, the risks are everywhere even with the most common medications.

So be your own advocate, ask your pharmacist or doctor questions and mention to them all drugs you may be consuming in a day.  

You can find more information like this on the side-effects of common drugs on the FDA's website.

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Common drugs with scary side effects