OTC drugs to avoid and when?

 Over the counter drugs are the drugs that can be bought from pharmacy stores without a prescription from your doctor. It’s a common practice to take over the counter drugs to treat cold, flu, pain (headache, dental pain, body ache). Its essential to know about the risks of OTC drugs so that you know when to avoid them.

Aspirin- 

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a common myth followed by people is to place aspirin on the gum to reduce pain. Toothache should not be managed by placing aspirin as it’s acidic in nature which in turns might burn the gum. You will experience more pain by placing it directly on the tooth.

Acetaminophen (Tylenol) -this over the counter drug is known to cause liver damage and toxicity, it is generally used for pain relief.

Drug addiction- Overusing some over the counter drugs can cause drug addiction. To achieve the same effect from the drug the patient might increase the dosage, as the body develops tolerance over time.

Cough and cold medicines (DXM), motion sickness pills are few of the OTC drugs that can cause addiction if its abused over a period of time.

Drugs to be avoided in certain underlying systemic diseases:

High blood pressure 


Photo by Doctor Murray

patient- pain relieving medicines such as ibuprofen, naproxen, ketoprofen should be avoided in these cases.

Decongestants and cough suppressants can also increase your blood pressure.

Diabetes- in diabetic patients over the counter drugs used for the treatment of cold/flu can affect the glucose level. Acetaminophen (paracetamol) should be avoided as it can cause kidney problems.

Recent studies have shown the drug tramadol(tramazac, trofel, painadol) can cause complications (low blood glucose level) in diabetic patients.

Asthma- 

Photo by Mental Floss

aspirin and NSAIDs(non-steroidal anti-inflammatory) which include drugs like ibuprofen (Advil) , naproxen should be avoided. They tend to trigger asthma.

Antibiotic misuse- have you ever heard about the term “antibiotic resistance” and wondered what it actually means?

Some of the antibiotics (medicines) that were commonly used for treatment of infection don’t work as they used to before. The reason been overusing antibiotics, the microorganism are now resistant to those antibiotics.

Antibiotics should be used responsibly, and taken only when prescribed by health professionals. 

Antibiotic resistance has now become a worldwide concern.

Pregnancy- pain killers NSAIDs, aspirin are contraindicated in pregnancy, it can increase chances of miscarriage and some studies associate consumption of ibuprofen, diclofenac etc. (NSAIDs) with birth defects seen in infants.

Is it safe to take over the counter drugs?

You might have taken over the counter for many years to prevent cold, flu, pain, allergies but it’s important to know that each and every drug has certain adverse effects, food/ drug-drug interactions. You have suffer from some underlying systemic problems which can either be diagnosed or undiagnosed, hence it’s better to be safe than sorry.

OTC drugs are for your help but be careful that they are helping you and not harming you

 

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