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Taking two or more drugs at the same time, “back of the ear” may have serious side effects and should be paid attention to by a specialist. To prevent such incidents, pharmacists explain the five most dangerous combinations.
Abbas Kanani, a pharmacist at Chemist Click, lists five drug combinations to avoid. “Combining medications can put your health at risk and increase side effects or lead to more serious health problems. Sometimes new symptoms may appear after drug interactions, which can be confused with a new condition,” he explains. “The opposite can also happen when effectiveness is reduced, which can put you at risk of not getting the right dose for your condition,” the expert adds. Drug combinations can have serious consequences, such as blood pressure or heart rhythm disturbances. Organ damage can also occur with long-term use of interacting drugs, especially if the drugs are metabolized by the same organ, such as liver or kidney damage. You can also increase your risk of allergic reactions, which can range from a mild rash to severe anaphylaxis, a life-threatening condition,” he said, according to The Express Tribune.
“The liver has the job of processing all these drugs, and taking them in higher doses than necessary or in non-recommended combinations can trigger various liver diseases,” says family doctor Mihaly Mala. Stomach problems are not excluded either. For example, anti-inflammatory drugs can irritate the stomach lining, and we can wake up with gastritis or even a stomach ulcer, which can land us directly in the hospital. Drug combinations to avoid The British pharmacist says that over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen and naproxen should be avoided together with anticoagulants such as warfarin.
“Taking NSAIDs with anticoagulants may increase the risk of bleeding. Both drugs affect blood clotting, and gastrointestinal bleeding may occur when taking NSAIDs,” explains Dr. Mihai Mara of Adevărul. Certain antibiotics, such as erythromycin and clarithromycin, should not be combined with statins. He informs them of the increased risk of muscle damage (called rhabdomyolysis). “Antibiotics can increase the concentration of statins in the blood,” he adds. Migraine medications should not be taken with antidepressants. “Triptans, used to treat acute migraines, and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, used to treat depression, increase serotonin levels,” the pharmacist says. Too much serotonin is called serotonin syndrome and can cause symptoms ranging from mild (chills and diarrhea) to severe (muscle stiffness, fever and seizures). “Some antibiotics reduce the effectiveness of birth control pills,” he warns. Antacids and certain antibiotics, such as tetracycline and ciprofloxacin, should not be taken together. “Antacids prevent antibiotics from being absorbed because they bind to them. Take antibiotics two hours before or four hours after acid reflux medication,” he says. “If you want to take two different medicines at the same time, you should always consult your GP or pharmacist. Regular checkups and blood tests will help monitor the effect of the drug combination and, if necessary, make dosage adjustments,” he explains. How harmful is one common cold pill? Easier said than done, especially in our country where self-medication, self-diagnosis, seems to be a national sport. Because Romanians do not go to the doctor, but prefer to treat themselves with medicines at home, sometimes they take them in fist. These include antibiotics. Nevertheless, the demand for over-the-counter medicines remains high. Doctors, however, have sounded the alarm. Applying them in large quantities can do more harm than good. For example, medicines for the treatment of colds, including preventives, taken regularly, act directly on the bacteria in the intestines, which, over time, are wiped out. The result? People who self-medicate may get rid of their colds, but they may end up with another disease: leaky gut syndrome. “The idea is that we should take these drugs only when they are really needed. Never, never in any way, never preemptively in any case. Then we should turn our attention to those drugs that have been prescribed by doctors in the past and that the body tolerates well. We know that this has not caused us any harm. Obviously, we must respect the dose prescribed by the doctor on other occasions or recommended by the pharmacist. Because if you need one paracetamol a day and you take five, that’s not okay”, says Dr. Mihaly Mara.
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