Summing up 2017

This January starts my fourth year of blogging. I thought I might run out of material, but so far, that hasn’t happened.

This post sums up 2017. As to my own health, I’m in pretty good shape, and have still not had a check-up since my last one about 15 years ago. So I have no idea what my cholesterol level or other so-called health indicators are. I feel fine, give or take the aches and pains of old age. (Actually, on that measurement, I’m better, thanks to my efforts in improving my posture.)

What has stuck with me, however, are the health issues of people near and dear to me—all caused by adverse drug reactions. The first case is a friend who was hospitalized because of internal bleeding. She was so anemic she needed a blood transfusion. The cause? A combination of Plavix and aspirin, which the doctor prescribed to prevent stroke. Another friend spent several days in the hospital with a serious depletion of electrolytes. The cause? Diuretic medication, which the doctor prescribed for a bladder problem. Finally, my husband became seriously ill as a result of taking doctor-prescribed budesonide for colitis. The muscles in his hands, arms and legs felt so weak and painful he could hardly function. He wasn’t hospitalized but saw a number of doctors and underwent several tests. None of the doctors could diagnose the cause, yet none would consider budesonide being the culprit. But I have no doubt of it and found 374 FDA reports of “budesonide-related pain in extremity.” Of course, those were just the reported cases. It still makes me fume.

Adverse drug events (“harm experienced by a patient as a result of exposure to a medication”) account for nearly 700,000 emergency room visits and 100,000 hospitalizations each year. The most common of the problematic drugs are antidiabetic agents, such as insulin; anti-coagulant/blood thinner medications, such as warfarin, Plavix and aspirin; and, of course, opioids. Nearly one-third of adults in the US take five or more medications. 

Leave me out of it.

For an introduction to this blog, see I Just Say No; for a list of blog topics, click the Topics tab.