The Stroke was a Medication Side Effect
Medication side effects can be anything from constipation or rashes to strokes and heart attacks. I found out about strokes and heart attacks, also being medication side effects, when I was an unfortunate victim. I presented with unusual symptoms and no-one realised that I was having a stroke. There is a window of 3 – 4 hours, after a stroke, when it is possible to get rid of the clot. This is known as thrombolysis. Doctors, carers and patients alike swear by its effectiveness. Clot-busting could not be applied in my case because no-one had diagnosed a stroke during the clot-busting window. The only symptom, at the time, was that my eyes focused in different directions.
Why such a drastic medication side effect
I was having a stroke and no-one knew it. This was such a drastic medication side effect that no-one even thought it was possible. How could it be possible when stroke was only associated with the F.A.S.T signs and symptoms? How could it be possible when even the stroke team adopted a wait-and-see approach because even they were not sure? It’s only on day 4 that the stroke team confirmed I was having a stroke. Then the presenting symptoms, the eyes focusing in different directions, were forgotten and it was treated like any other stroke. Yet even then the symptoms were getting worse and they continued to do so for the next few years.
Ramipril caused the stroke
Meanwhile ramipril, an ACE inhibitor very often prescribed for high blood pressure, was actually the cause of the stroke. I had gone from taking no ramipril to taking 10 mg within a few weeks. The manufacturer warns against prescribing it this way because it can cause strokes and heart attacks.
Training about side effects
It is time that side effects training for doctors and nurses became compulsory. The training would be conducted in the same way as resuscitation training (i.e. once a year). That is the only way that all healthcare professionals would continually update their knowledge of side effects.
Participants in research studies
Furthermore, healthcare professionals should be the participants of medication research studies. By healthcare professionals I mean GPs, endocrinologists, nephrologists, cardiologists, anaesthetists, neurologists, other types of doctors as well as nurses and technical staff. These professionals would be the actual subjects of the studies. The 10, 20 or more tablets that they prescribe to patients would be prescribed to them. After all, “most of the tablets can’t do them any harm”. Most of them are only prescribed to “minimise” risk factors such as statins, blood thinners, diabetes medications, blood pressure medication(s), medication for osteoporosis etc. According to prescribers, they are only a preventive measure so they can’t be harmful.
What would they do for blood pressure
Some professionals would get ACE inhibitors, others calcium channel blockers, yet others potassium sparing diuretics, beta blockers etc. Would they still freely prescribe these drugs if they were prescribing from experience rather than from theory or from the word of a sales representative.
How dare they tell me that the drugs they prescribe have no side effects.
Doctors would get the combination of drugs for three years or more because some side effects only show up much later. This would also make sure that the pharmaceutical companies still get their profits, the professionals still earn their salaries, and the professionals know what they are doing to patients and know what is meant by medication side effects.
Family and friends follow healthcare professionals
Family and friends do what they are told to do by healthcare professionals because they have no experience with these diseases. They are told that exercise is the most important thing. They are told to make sure that patients exercise on a daily basis and that more than once a day is even better. No-one tells them that symptoms do actually get worse and may do so for several years. No-one tells them that there may actually be no progress for a very long time. Perhaps because the conditions leading to the stroke are still present and will be until the type of medication is stopped? We do not, all, recover within a year.
