Med side effects may go away -- here's why

[vm]

I ran across this a couple of weeks ago. I thought it gave a good look at why our bodies sometimes initially react weirdly to a med. It kind of explains why our bodies need a period of time to adjust to the med and why sometimes it pays to hang in there a bit to see if the side effects go away:

These are powerful, alien substances that your stomach, liver, kidneys and brain have probably never encountered before. They don't know what the hell to do when confronted with these crazy meds! Not at first. Do you know everything you need to know about what to do and whom to see on the first day at a new job? Of course not! It's the same thing. Just as you need to adjust to a new environment and new skills, your body needs to adjust to these new substances. Your liver needs to learn how to properly metabolize them, your kidneys need to learn how to get rid of the leftovers correctly, and your brain needs to know how to follow its new set of instructions based upon an entirely new set of chemical signals. Your brain has been doing things the messed-up way for months, if not years, and is rather used to doing things the messed-up way, now it has to suddenly do things the not-quite-as-messed-up way, or maybe even the completely-not-messed-up way. That's confusing as hell for your brain. Of course you're going to have a headache or weird tingling or hear music where there is no music playing.

http://www.crazymeds.org/SideEffects.htm

I don't think that whole site is necessarily accurate, but I liked this part.

[Sarojini]

:) That's cute, but it really does have some truth in it. Thanks for posting!! :)

[tigger_gal]

Thanks for posting this kim.. it really dose make sense..
Brat

[vm]

Thought I'd "bump" this up - always good to be reminded. :)

[ICLori]

This is a great post! I remember when I was taking Elmiron, I did have some slight diarrhea for about a week, maybe two weeks at the most, then I was fine. So I know people are very worried about side effects, but I've noticed that much of the time, once your body gets used to them in a week or two, the side effects go away and you have the benefits. So the small time you have to put up with some side effects is really worth it when you get the benefits - it's worth it to push through.

Blessings,
Lori

[vm]

I was searching for this tonight in relation to a post about side effects - can't believe I found it from 2004!

Still very relevant and helps me remember why it can take awhile for our bodies to adjust to new medications. I thought I'd bump it up so others can read it, too. :)

[leelee88]

It makes A LOT of sense.. Thanks for bumping it up! I think it is important for people to give some meds a chance! I know My Mind, Body did NOT like lyrica at first but I hung in there dealing with the weird feelings I was having and now I am so much better with my IC and fibro.. So glad I hung in there!!