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My daughter just got word from a friend that she found her husband dead in bed yesterday morning. The cause was a drug reaction between a prescription he was on and a simple over the counter cold medication. He had been fighting off the flue. My daughter didn't want to start asking a lot of questions as her friend is pretty broken up right now, so I don't know what the prescription or which cold medication. From the way her friend talked, my daughter was given the impression it was a maintenance type medication.

Scary stuff. I am a nut about reading labels on over the counter stuff. I have found a few that interact poorly with prescriptions I am on. Be careful folks...this kind of accidental drug death could happen to anyone.

03Lightningrocks wrote:My daughter just got word from a friend that she found her husband dead in bed yesterday morning. The cause was a drug reaction between a prescription he was on and a simple over the counter cold medication. He had been fighting off the flue. My daughter didn't want to start asking a lot of questions as her friend is pretty broken up right now, so I don't know what the prescription or which cold medication. From the way her friend talked, my daughter was given the impression it was a maintenance type medication.

That's awful!

03Lightningrocks wrote:Scary stuff. I am a nut about reading labels on over the counter stuff. I have found a few that interact poorly with prescriptions I am on. Be careful folks...this kind of accidental drug death could happen to anyone.

Ask your Dr & pharmacist, too, because the drug interaction warnings on some stuff I take didn't mention things like all decongestants (I have bad allergies), or two of the three main OTC painkillers (which are also in cough syrup).

A couple of years ago a friend of my mine went home after work to find his girlfriend dead. She was recovering from the flu. She was taking some type of medicine, but I never did know exactly what. She was 32 years old.

We just never know from day to day what seemingly insignificant decisions can drastically alter our lives. I believe that many of us tend to think over the counter equates to safe.

Tragic.

Also be aware of some nutritional supplements and how they may react with other medications you are taking. I've heard St. John's wort for instance has a bad effect with several medications. Google or better yet, check with a doctor.

I think I trust my pharmacist more than the Doc when it comes to medications. I have had the Doc give me some medications that the pharmacist said that would react with other medications that the Doc never mentioned. They deal with the medications every day where a Doc may not.

Same here. My doctor has prescribed meds that conflicted with other meds he prescribed but it is usually my fault. For instance, I have narcotic pain pills left over from a year or more ago. I tend to save them in case I start having back trouble. I don't take them unless needed, consequently, I always have spares. My medical records tell my Doctor he hasn't prescribed that medication to me for 18 months so it is understandable that he would assume I used them all as directed. I had some muscle relaxants in the safe from 2 years ago. I flushed them last week. Figured I would not likely take two year old meds. But again, how would he know I had them if I didn't tell him?

There are many other meds I have in the safe I never used up. This is why I am so careful about mixing new prescriptions with stuff he doesn't know I have. I bet I am not the only over fifty guy with a stash of old meds.

I don't know the whole story on this situation but I am pretty sure it was a situation of him having a prescription medication and not checking the label of an over the counter medication. Our doctors cannot control what we take after we leave their offices. I am on a blood pressure med that does not play well with the cold meds they keep behind the counter. Those things make my blood pressure go beyond dangerous. It warns of this on the label. The trick is, you have to read the darned label!

03Lightningrocks wrote:We just never know from day to day what seemingly insignificant decisions can drastically alter our lives. I believe that many of us tend to think over the counter equates to safe.

Isn't that kinda the premise, though? I thought the FDA only allowed drugs to be sold OTC if they (supposedly) don't interact with each other or common prescriptions. At least that's how the justification for the FDA's existence was explained to me. Well, that and RDAs for vitamins, nutrients, calories, and such.

It is very easy to overdose on many meds and the reaction can vary from loss of consciousness and others to liver toxicity. Many prescription pain killers have tylenol and if you supplement them with more tylenol then you can kill your liver. Mix alcohol with it and you will certainluy kill your liver.

OTC mixed with prescription meds is serious stuff.

AGAW

Dave2 wrote:

03Lightningrocks wrote:We just never know from day to day what seemingly insignificant decisions can drastically alter our lives. I believe that many of us tend to think over the counter equates to safe.

Isn't that kinda the premise, though? I thought the FDA only allowed drugs to be sold OTC if they (supposedly) don't interact with each other or common prescriptions. At least that's how the justification for the FDA's existence was explained to me. Well, that and RDAs for vitamins, nutrients, calories, and such.

Beats me... I am a business owner, not a pharmacologist. What I do know, regardless of premises, is that my daughters friend just lost her husband due to mixing prescription drugs and over the counter meds. I also know that I am on prescriptions that have clear warnings about combining with other meds. My suggestion would be to read the labels on any meds you take, prescription or otherwise. Better safe than sorry.

When I find out more details I will post them up. It is not really appropriate for me to start quizzing my daughter about it just yet. I am sure she will volunteer the info when she finds out.

Just realize that what you are considering as OTC meds may be listed by the FDA as food supplements and your pharmacist and doctor may not know what is in them. We all think that these food supplements are safe but who knows. Everyone is taking fish oil. Do you know where it comes from? China perhaps? Are they mixing diesel fuel in it? What's the mercury level? Remember when they were poisoning dogs with contaminated dog food? Children with toys (Fisher-Price no less) with lead paint. Many people have complete faith in these products as they are on the shelf of reputable stores. But remember, there is a fool born every minute when it comes to this stuff. Also, most docs write Rx electronically now and if there is a cross reaction with a med that is also Rx even if written by another doc it is flagged automatically. The doctor then has the option of still sending it or making a change. Won't show everything but shows a lot.

Another thing to think about is that anyone can be allergic to a medicine or herb, or supplement. That person could be the 1:100,000 person who could get very ill or die from one medicine or polypharmacy. I know people who are allergic to penicillin, sulfa drugs, codeine, chocolate, shellfish, oranges, peanuts, bee stings etc. Anyone of them cause a potentially fatal reaction.

I know that people who take certain kinds of blood pressure meds are not supposed to take certain kinds of over the counter cold meds without their doctor's knowledge. Which BP med or cold med those would be, I don't know. I take BP pills every day, and I have taken cold meds....but never without my doctor's knowledge.

The Annoyed Man wrote:I know that people who take certain kinds of blood pressure meds are not supposed to take certain kinds of over the counter cold meds without their doctor's knowledge. Which BP med or cold med those would be, I don't know. I take BP pills every day, and I have taken cold meds....but never without my doctor's knowledge.

The last time I checked, most medical schools required one semester of pharmacology for graduation from their M.D. program.