Cold and/or flu medication

[RanMan]

I've been told by my neurologist and also my family Doctor that, If I should happen to catch a cold or the flu , Since I'm on medication for my EP, I should not take any over the counter medications, especially the ones that contain DECONGESTANT and/or ANTIHISTIMINE as they can cause internal bleeding or even massive nose bleeds.
When they mix with the other meds that I'm on, (dilantin and pheonobarb) they can also trigger a seizure.

The only safe medication that I could take if abolutely necessary is Tylonol.

I found out the hard way. One day with out thinking, I took an extra strength Advil for a headache. A few minutes later, my nose started to bleed massively and uncontrollably.
A few days later I had a Dr's appt. for a different matter and I happened to mention the nose bleed incident and the Dr. said that under no circumstances am I to take that and was very suprised that I didn't bleed out through my stomach (I also have Ulcerative Colitis) as it causes a reaction with my other meds and it causes thinning of the stomach walls and arteries.

Randy

[howdydave]

Howdy Randy!

Get to know your pharmacist on a first name basis!

It's amazing what "apparantly harmless" over the counter meds can be dangerous or potentially lethal when mixed with some anti-epileptic drugs.

I've found out that cough medicine is another thing that one has to be careful about.

I usually stop by and ask "Is it safe to take this whith my medication?"
The answers change with my current list of meds (I'm currently taking 13 prescription meds.)

[Bernard]

... I'm currently taking 13 prescription meds.

They must just love figuring out the answer to that question for you!

[howdydave]

Howdy Bernard!

I don't think they can!!

Hmmmm... 13 different meds...
That means (2^13)-1 possible combinations.
That's (8,192)-1

I still can't figure out how any of my doctors can prescribe anything for me without shakin' in their boots!

BTW: That's a handy formula to remember if you want to figure out how many combinations there are. (Possible drug interactions.)

If you remember mainframe computers or the binary number system, just think of it as a binary number (all "1"s.) The total number of different meds you take is how many digits are in the number.

[Elisa]

I don't trust anybody, I check it out all by myself.
http://www.drugdigest.org/DD/Interac...,4109,,00.html
Elisa