Side effects —ADD Tip o the day 202

When I recommend a medication to someone (with or without ADD or ADHD), they often ask a very reasonable question, “What are the side effects?”    If I tell you the potential side effects, you are more likely to get them.   So I ask to just call me if you notice anything unusual.  But some people need more information, and I try to give it.

There is a common misunderstanding about “side effects”.  All medicines have potential side effects.  So do food and water, for that matter, as well as all the “natural” remedies.  If you read all the potential side effects of any medicine you probably wouldn’t take it.  But the point is they are potential.  The real issue is percentages; what per cent of patients taking this medicine got which side effect?  With some medicines, most people will get side effects and with other medicines the side effects might constitute a very long list, but rarely occur.

There are other factors too.  Some side effects, even tho they might infrequently occur, can be quite serious.  Others are of little significance.  It is a matter of risk/benefit ratio, but to assess that, you need percentages, not just potentials.

doug

I am old fashioned, and don’t talk about “drugs’, but about medicines.  In my mind, there is a significant difference.