I have a severe allergy to the antibiotic Levaquin. Wanna know how I learned this tidbit? From a near death experience. That's right I was given this medical marvel as a way to clear up... something. Twenty minutes after I ingested it, cut to me, being stabbed with an Epipen. Be ready people. Don't swallow everything.
Yuck
basketball wives smell GIF by VH1GiphyI dreaded going to the bathroom because my pee smelled terrible.
Lofty
Zoloft caused me to have absolutely freakish yawning. ALL the time yawning. And HUGE yawns that actually hurt my jaws and the corners of my lips. I stopped taking it and informed my doc. Who then told me it can't cause that. Oh well. A year or two later I tried Zoloft again and it started up within two days.
And well taking Ambien resulted in me waking up in the front yard completely naked. Not going to be taking that again anytime soon. Haha.
Sleep Please...
I started taking some Trazodone for pretty relentless insomnia following trauma, and it started affecting my memory! I was word searching like crazy and could not remember words for various things. Scary as a young ish person.
I also take that sleep medication for severe insomnia and yeah it definitely is affecting my memory too... also I occasionally have mild hallucinations, but that coincided with an increase in my zoloft soooo not sure which one is causing that.
Pooped
poop GIFGiphyI had an antibiotic once that gave me uncontrollable diarrhea. I don't think I left the bathroom all day, because I would have a 10 second warning (at best) that I was about to have explosive diarrhea. Even without eating anything, my body still found something to propel out of me.
ZAP
Brain zaps.
Describing it to someone who doesn't understand makes me feel like I'm making something up, too. How do you tell someone you feel like your brain is being shocked by static electricity? Crap is the worst.
See there, healing comes with consequence. The consequence maybe mild, but they're there. Now, a little cramping and poop aren't a big deal, that much, but you want to be prepared.
Damn Keflex
I was prescribed Keflex as a teen. Took it on an empty stomach, vomited. My Mom called the doctors office and they said, oh you have to take it with food. So she stopped at McDonald's and got me a chicken sandwich. I ate the sandwich, took another Keflex and vomited everywhere. I couldn't eat McDonald's chicken sandwiches for ten years. I just say I'm allergic now, easier than putting up with that, and no other antibiotics have ever caused me any issues.
Nightmares
Melatonin gives me incredibly weird dreams and I'm pretty sure I start chewing on my tongue in my sleep because it hurts the next day.
I assumed melatonin wouldn't do anything. But to my surprise it actually works for me. Sometimes it would take hours to fall asleep but something about it helps me fall asleep pretty quickly. Dreams are pretty normal, which is to say I can never even remember them.
Near Death
death GIFGiphyAmoxicillin is a no no for me to had a really bad reaction nearly killed me so doctors no longer prescribe and of the cillin family.
Ups and Downs...
I had an awesome one! Going through the roller coaster hell of medications to treat depression, I started REALLY liking triscuits. Also buying those big shredded wheat flavorless biscuits someone eats for breakfast. I was up to 3 boxes of triscuits and one of the big shredded wheat brillo pads a day when I mentioned this to my psychiatrist, who said one of the possible side effects of that medication was craving wheat. And how.
Bad Burn
Scott Aukerman Tattoo GIFGiphyWas in antibiotics for a gnarly sty (Doxycycline). Didn't help my sty at all. Now I get sun burns realllllly easy. I'm latin, so I never used to burn before. I regret taking them sooo much.
Ghosts
I was shot back in the '70's, it tore up my shoulder. They shot me full of pain killer (to cut down on my screaming I imagine). I never lost consciousness, but I could see ghosts of people who had died in the hospital, or whose bodies where brought to the hospital. I knew they were ghosts, because the nurses walked right through them. They (the ghosts) told me all sort of important things, none of which I could remember later.
Labor
I had an IUD insertion booked and because at the time, I've never been pregnant or had kids, they wanted to open the cervix with picotin.
Its also used to induce labor. They told me that I'll have mild cramps. I insert the pill and go to my appointment.
By the time I got there, my contractions were in waves and I had the absolute primal need to bear down. I couldn't sit, I couldn't stand. Only squatting felt normal. I was shaking. Your body kinda freezes up like a cat held up by its scruff. You're just riding on a wave of tension and pressure.
So now I'm a few weeks from delivery. That moment was over 5 years ago and my husband always asks "how do you know it's Braxton hicks and not really a contraction?"
Oh honey... cause those pills gave me a taste of the real deal.
Little Pills
pills andrea wagner GIF by Real Revenue Wives of GIPHYGiphyTylenol 3: constipation and everything being funny (flushing a toilet? Absolutely hilarious)
Ambien: I became a belligerent, angry, irrational, insomniac after 3 days.
Coded
Whenever I take coding, either cough syrup or Tylenol with codine, my brain just stops recording. I operate normally, act normally, but I have no memory. I have worked full shifts at work, exercised done everything normally but I have no memory of anything that takes place like 15 minutes after I ingest codine.
Relaxer
Baclofen, it's a muscle relaxer for everyone else but for me it gives me a super sense of smell. I'm not joking, my sense of smell gets so sensitive that I could probably put a blindfold on and navigate with smell alone.
I've asked anyone I know who's taken it and a few doctors - None of them have ever had or heard of anyone else having this side effect.
Roided...
Couldn't achieve an orgasm thanks to Zoloft. It was great at first but then it just got really frustrating.
By far the worst is when I have to take a steroid. I'm pale so I burn easily in the sun but on steroids I burn when I look at a picture of the sun. Add to that I'm irritable, have an insatiable appetite, and there's a 50-50 chance I end up with a rash, which is beyond annoying because I take the steroids to help with a rash.
Bugged Out
My mom gave me some sort of medicine for the flu when I was 4 which suddenly triggered hallucinations. I started seeing bugs everywhere, eating me, so I began screaming my lungs out. Apparently it was an allergic reaction.
Yellow Waterworks
Doctor Who Reaction GIFGiphyI take a drug for my arthritis that turns my tears yellow. I feel terrible on it. Just started about 3 weeks ago.
Supplements Needed
I was having twitching and irregular heartbeats. My doctor prescribed me some vitamin D and folic acid supplements alongside a beta blocker.
I used those meds for 15 days and they cured my depression. Like 80 percent of it was gone. My mind was calm for the first time in a long time. That also made me realize that my depression was partly fatigue and nutritional deficiency that caused it to get so much worse. I started multivitamin and multimineral supplements afterwards and it has gotten so much easier now.
Lost Limbs
Was doing a migraine treatment for a week and one of the things they gave me had me lose control of my Limbs. My arms and legs were twitching and randomly throwing themselves around, I also lost my vision... this month they will be doing a week long ketamine treatment for them, soo I'll get back to you on that.
In this day and age, we know, we have to be our own advocates when it comes to out health. So never be afraid to ask why you should take what they tell you. Or at least do a little light reading before you throw it back.
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