# new medication worries



## Waxwing (Jul 25, 2008)

This isn't about any particular medication, but does anyone else get incredibly nervous when taking a new medication for the first time? 

I just took my first Carisoprodol to (if the fates smile on me) unlock my jaw. As someone who is pretty drug-friendly you'd think that I'd be cool with trying new things, but every time I do I get a horrible panic attack and think about "oh what if I'm allergic what if I get sick blah blah blah."

So as silly as it sounds I took a shower and dressed fairly nicely in case I have to call 911.

Seriously, y'all, I'm bananas. 

Soothe my soul and tell me someone else is like this


----------



## Blackjack (Jul 25, 2008)

Yup, although I don't get all cleaned and dolled up beforehand.  I'm always worrying about that kind of stuff.


----------



## Waxwing (Jul 25, 2008)

Blackjack said:


> Yup, although I don't get all cleaned and dolled up beforehand.  I'm always worrying about that kind of stuff.



Whew good. I'm glad I'm not the only weirdo.

I'm sitting here thinking, "ok, it's been 23 minutes. I am not dead."

lol

UPDATE: I'm fine. Also? Muscle relaxants are Pleasant.


----------



## JerseyGirl07093 (Jul 25, 2008)

Waxwing said:


> Whew good. I'm glad I'm not the only weirdo.
> 
> *I'm sitting here thinking, "ok, it's been 23 minutes. I am not dead."
> 
> ...



That sounds just like something I would do! 

Oh, you are not the only one!
I do it too!
I'd rather take no medication if I could but since it's a necessity at times I just have to.
I worry what will happen if I have a reaction, what if I drop dead, what if, what if, what if!?!?
I've even felt like you have and had the "am I wearing my good underwear" in case someone has to call 911 thought? 
This is the fun that panic attacks bring. 

I am supposed to be starting a new medication tomorrow and I'm already nervous!


----------



## Miss Vickie (Jul 26, 2008)

I'm the same way. I usually obsessively read the package insert and go to rxlist.com and read their descriptions. Then... I wait. 

I'm also the same way when medicating my patients with something they haven't had. I often give an IV drug that drops blood pressure -- drastically -- and while we don't "have to" obsessively do blood pressure checks, I do. Like every two minutes, until I'm sure they're stable with it. OTOH, someone with pressures of 200/110 isn't likely to drop to 60/30 like a stone but still, I worry. 

I think it's good to take the taking of medications seriously. A surprising number of people die each year from properly prescribed, properly dispensed medications. So it's good to take that potential seriously, as long as it doesn't prevent you from taking meds that you need.


----------



## KHayes666 (Jul 26, 2008)

Meds scare me.

I've been off them for 7 years and I can't be happier. I feel bad for you Waxy, it must be terrifying.


----------



## kathynoon (Jul 27, 2008)

I am always afraid to take a new medicine. Not so much that it may cause serious harm. I worry more that it will have annoying side affects that I will hate having to deal with.


----------



## Mishty (Aug 4, 2008)

Waxwing said:


> This isn't about any particular medication, but does anyone else get incredibly nervous when taking a new medication for the first time?
> 
> I just took my first Carisoprodol to (if the fates smile on me) unlock my jaw. As someone who is pretty drug-friendly you'd think that I'd be cool with trying new things, but every time I do I get a horrible panic attack and think about "oh what if I'm allergic what if I get sick blah blah blah."
> 
> ...





LOL

I do the same thing!
I never take meds the first time without someone to catch me if I fall, go nuts or turn into a slobbering ball of confusion! 

oh and muscle relaxants *are* pleasant :happy:


----------



## cnk2cav (Aug 4, 2008)

I hear ya!

I just recently started taking a med that has possibility of seizures if not taken at least 8 hrs apart, and I'm constantly obsessing over how many hours have passed.


----------



## Jane (Aug 4, 2008)

Yep, if I have a bad reaction, I want it to be my best clothes they cut off me in the E.R.


----------



## missy_blue_eyez (Aug 4, 2008)

Waxy, ummmm, I hope you dont think Im being rude, but Id rather ask, but what is wrong with you? Are you poorly? Sorry If I sound ignorant? xxxxx


----------



## Miss Vickie (Aug 4, 2008)

Jane said:


> Yep, if I have a bad reaction, I want it to be my best clothes they cut off me in the E.R.



And don't forget the clean (and sexy, if you're on the hunt) underwear.


----------



## Jane (Aug 4, 2008)

If I get too scared I think we can rule that "clean" stuff out of the equation.


----------



## GenericGeek (Aug 4, 2008)

Waxwing said:


> This isn't about any particular medication, but does anyone else get incredibly nervous when taking a new medication for the first time?
> 
> I just took my first Carisoprodol to (if the fates smile on me) unlock my jaw. As someone who is pretty drug-friendly you'd think that I'd be cool with trying new things, but every time I do I get a horrible panic attack and think about "oh what if I'm allergic what if I get sick blah blah blah."
> 
> ...


WW,

It's GOOD to be cautious about trying a new med for the first time -- your body is like no other, and you alone know what's "normal" or "abnormal". Just don't get _*too *_freaked out about it, OK?

If it's any consolation, Carisoprodol is actually a very _*old *_drug -- a muscle relaxant that used to go by the brand name, "Soma". So it has a 4 decade-long track record; not like some of the "New! Improved! Wonder Drugs!" that we find out 3 or 4 years after their introduction, aren't so wondrous _*at all.*_

My doc made sure that I understood it was for short-term acute use only, because it can be habit-forming over longer periods. The reason? Your body metabolizes it to another very old drug, Meprobamate, which used to go by the brand name "Miltown".

Miltown was a minor tranquilizer, which was superseded by Valium, which has now been replaced by Xanax, etc. Valium was marketed as a "non-addictive substitute for Miltown", but guess what?  Valium proved to be _*very *_addictive (for some people.) So the pharmaceutical industry came up with Xanax... You guessed it, they used the same spiel. Now we know how nasty a Xanax habit can be... :doh:

I'm not saying that you shouldn't take the stuff. Quite the contrary. It's a great muscle relaxer, and has worked wonders for me when my back or neck went into spasm -- and everything else failed. Just be an informed medical consumer, and everything will be OK!


----------



## thatgirl08 (Aug 4, 2008)

I totally, completely feel you on this. I've had some serious anxiety and panic attacks problems in the last few months and I couldn't even bring myself to take medicine to calm me down because I was too nervous about having a bad reaction to it. I've never actually had a bad reaction to medicine though. I'm not allergic to a single goddman thing actually. But I was like sacred shitless. I finally took it, but the first like 5 days I was like in panic attack heaven because if something hurt for like a millisecond..I'd be like OMFG ITS THE MEDICINE AHH I'M DYING. How ironic that I had panic attacks about taken my anti-panic attack meds. Hmm. Anyway, I'm not sure if this will help you or not. Hah. But um, I feel you on this. Anddd, for the record, I'm totally fine now! I made it! Haha:] Good luck!


----------



## Waxwing (Aug 4, 2008)

missy_blue_eyez said:


> Waxy, ummmm, I hope you dont think Im being rude, but Id rather ask, but what is wrong with you? Are you poorly? Sorry If I sound ignorant? xxxxx



Not rude at all!! I'm fine; I just have periodic jaw locking. It's ok though.



GenericGeek said:


> WW,
> 
> It's GOOD to be cautious about trying a new med for the first time -- your body is like no other, and you alone know what's "normal" or "abnormal". Just don't get _*too *_freaked out about it, OK?
> 
> If it's any consolation, Carisoprodol is actually a very _*old *_drug -- a muscle relaxant that used to go by the brand name, "Soma". So it has a 4 decade-long track record; not like some of the "New! Improved! Wonder Drugs!" that we find out 3 or 4 years after their introduction, aren't so wondrous _*at all.*_



Thank you for being concerned, and props to you for having the drug knowledge! I'm always nervous that I'll be the one in a billion who drops dead upon ingestion. Which makes the next couple of paragraphs even weirder. 

To be honest, I had Soma as a younger person (hadn't taken it since I was about 12). But only for recreational purposes. I think that it's just been so long since I've taken substantial amounts of muscle relaxants, benzodiazopenes, or opiods that I'm no longer sure how I'll react to them. 

The answer to how I would react turned out to be that I am now SO resistant to pillies, it takes a really inappropriate amount to do anything. And I'm no longer willing to take really inappropriate amounts of things. 700mg of soma did nothing but make me mildly liquidy, but only for about half an hour. No therapeutic impact on my jaw.

Ah well, back to the physical therapy exercises.


----------



## Blackjack (Aug 4, 2008)

If I may weigh in again, I just tried getting meds at the pharmacy in the supermarket I work at. Then tonight when I go to take them, I find that they look absolutely nothing like the sertraline that I've been taking for like over ten years. So I climb back in my car and check... they use Actavis, and I've been taking the generic for oh, at least a year and a half now.

So I'm eyeing this medicine bottle warily. I know it's the same thing, but going from Zoloft to the generic I noticed a few tiny differences in the effect it had on me... I'm kind of nervous about what this might do. It's probably just something in the fillers that makes the difference, but... eh.


----------



## olwen (Aug 4, 2008)

Waxy, whenever a new medicine is prescribed I do a ton of research before I actually take them. I check the contraindications, allergy warnings, side effects, what the dosage is supposed to look like, I even look up the generic name, any possible brand names, and then read up on the molecular structure, and there have been a few times where I checked the latest Merck Manual to see what the off label uses are and then went online to see if I can find out about what happened in clinical trials. Overkill? Perhaps.


----------



## liz (di-va) (Aug 5, 2008)

I'm always scared to take a new med! Even if i haven't thought about it until I"m about to swallow it. Then -- gah!!!


----------



## Waxwing (Aug 5, 2008)

I love you guys. I feel so much less silly now that I know other people are as paranoid (though I like to call it "careful") as I.

Beej, generics are 100% a-ok.


----------



## Blackjack (Aug 5, 2008)

Waxwing said:


> Beej, generics are 100% a-ok.



Generics are, yeah, but I was worried about this other name that was on it, even though it's the same stuff. Turns out I survived.


----------



## olwen (Aug 5, 2008)

Waxwing said:


> I love you guys. I feel so much less silly now that I know other people are as paranoid (though I like to call it "careful") as I.
> 
> Beej, generics are 100% a-ok.



I like to think of it as making informed choices regarding our health.


----------

