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Be Safe When Using Over the Counter Medications Pittsfield, Massachusetts (MA) - Berkshire Health Systems
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Health Take-Away

Health Take-Away

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  • Use the Power of Nature for Better Health
  • Unplug from Online for Better Health
  • Weight Loss Through Narrowing Your Eating Window
  • Mammography and Dense Breast Tissue
  • Medication-Assisted Treatment for Addiction Disorder
  • Smoker or Former Smoker? Lung Cancer Screening is Recommended for You
  • Be Safe When Using Over the Counter Medications
  • Screenings for Colon Cancer
  • Thyroid Health Essential to Metabolism
  • Go for Nutrition that is Heart Healthy
  • High Blood Pressure and Ways to Lower It
  • Hospitalists: Your Around the Clock Caregiver
  • Weight Loss Surgery Has Lasting Impact
  • Can you Find Joy in the Holidays When Sick?
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  • New Tool to Assess Breast Cancer Risk
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  • New Moms Encouraged to Breast Feed
  • Language Diversity Important to Healthcare
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  • Urgent Care or Emergency Department
  • Free Medicare Wellness Visit
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  • Life Threatening Stroke Can be Prevented
  • Mammography and MRI for Women with High Risk of Breast Cancer
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  • Stop Mindless Eating
  • Hospitals Working to Improve Heart Health
  • Your Healthy Gut Bacteria
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  • Healthy Resolutions for 2018
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  • Concussions: Myths and Truths
  • Celebrate a Thankful & Healthy Holiday
  • Don't Die of Embarrassment: Get Screened for Colon Cancer
  • Don't Let the Flu Get You This Season
  • Advanced Cardiac Imaging
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  • What is a Hospitalist?
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  • High Blood Pressure: One of the Few Things in Life We Can Control
  • Friendship is Powerful Medicine
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  • Cardiac Rehabilitation: Regaining a Healthier and Better Life
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  • How Walking Can Change Your Life
  • Injury-Free Sports & Activities
  • Have a Healthy Summer
  • Head to a Farmers' Market
  • Just Breathe
  • Lyme Disease Facts
  • Mindful Eating
  • Empathy in Healthcare
  • Preparing Your Family for an Emergency
  • Helping Someone to Cope with Opioid Addiction
  • Breast Cancer Awareness: Mammograms Save Lives
  • Antibiotic Resistance
  • Lung Cancer Screening
  • Giving Thanks
  • Healthy Holidays
  • Alcohol's Impact on Breast Cancer Risk
  • Acupuncture Can Help with Relief in Breast Cancer Care
  • Breast Reconstruction Surgery Journey is Personal
  • Building Your Immunity during COVID-19
  • Emotional Toll of COVID-19
  • COVID-19 Anti-Body Testing: What It Tells You What It Won't
  • Treating Varicose Veins
  • Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine: What is OMM
  • Know Your Audiology Options
  • Pets as Therapists
  • Reducing the Stigma of Substance Use Disorder
  • Be Kind to Your Heart
  • Headache Care
  • Managing Presenteeism
  • Don't Struggle with Resolutions
  • Enjoy the Holidays Through the Gift of Giving
  • Seasonal Affective Disorder
  • Save a Life, Lift Your Soul, Give Blood
  • Team Approach for Breast Cancer
  • Surviving Breast Cancer: A Journey
  • Hunger in the Berkshires
  • Vaccinations Help Avoid Needless Risks
  • Embrace Mindfulness
  • Low Carb High Fat Diet has Benefits
  • Probiotics Uses the Good Bugs to Fight the Bad Ones
  • Use the Power of Nature for Better Health
  • Unplug from Online for Better Health
  • Weight Loss Through Narrowing Your Eating Window
  • Mammography and Dense Breast Tissue
  • Medication-Assisted Treatment for Addiction Disorder
  • Smoker or Former Smoker? Lung Cancer Screening is Recommended for You
  • Be Safe When Using Over the Counter Medications
  • Screenings for Colon Cancer
  • Thyroid Health Essential to Metabolism
  • Go for Nutrition that is Heart Healthy
  • High Blood Pressure and Ways to Lower It
  • Hospitalists: Your Around the Clock Caregiver
  • Weight Loss Surgery Has Lasting Impact
  • Can you Find Joy in the Holidays When Sick?
  • Coping with Holiday Depression
  • When Quitting Smoking You May Need to Try and Try Again
  • Vaginal Birth after C-Section
  • New Tool to Assess Breast Cancer Risk
  • Migraines: How to Treat Them
  • Vestibular Care: It's All in Your Ears
  • Prepare for a Healthy Trip Abroad
  • New Moms Encouraged to Breast Feed
  • Language Diversity Important to Healthcare
  • Latest Advances in Joint Replacement
  • Vaping and Nicotine Addiction
  • Urgent Care or Emergency Department
  • Free Medicare Wellness Visit
  • Rehabilitation from Stroke Onset
  • Life Threatening Stroke Can be Prevented
  • Mammography and MRI for Women with High Risk of Breast Cancer
  • Breaking the Silence on Kidney Disease
  • Stop Mindless Eating
  • Hospitals Working to Improve Heart Health
  • Your Healthy Gut Bacteria
  • Give Up Smoking in 2018
  • Healthy Resolutions for 2018
  • Healthy Giving for 2017
  • Concussions: Myths and Truths
  • Celebrate a Thankful & Healthy Holiday
  • Don't Die of Embarrassment: Get Screened for Colon Cancer
  • Don't Let the Flu Get You This Season
  • Advanced Cardiac Imaging
  • Chronic Wound Care
  • What is a Hospitalist?
  • Healthy Heart Rhythms
  • Wellness Coaching
  • Men's Health In Crisis
  • Prevent Stroke or Respond FAST
  • Walking to Good Health
  • Healing Through Acupuncture
  • Self Care is Our Future
  • Family Wellness - Play Together Stay Healthy Together
  • Rewriting Your Book of Life
  • Pre-Diabetes: A Wake-Up Call for Better Health
  • Overcoming Crisis With Resiliency
  • Stepping Off the Slippery Slope
  • Sleep & Wellness: Learning to Cherish Your Sleep
  • Kicking the Habit and Ending the Fear
  • High Blood Pressure: One of the Few Things in Life We Can Control
  • Friendship is Powerful Medicine
  • It's Flu Season: Get the Vaccine!
  • The Healing Power of Gratitude
  • Where's the Joy?
  • New Year's Resolutions to Live By
  • Preventing Falls: A Leading Health Risk for the Older Population
  • Staying Healthy in the Office
  • Exercising at Home and Staying Fit in the Winter
  • Cardiac Rehabilitation: Regaining a Healthier and Better Life
  • Nutrition & Exercise: Two Great Gifts for Children
  • A Screening That Has Saved More than a Million Lives
  • How Walking Can Change Your Life
  • Injury-Free Sports & Activities
  • Have a Healthy Summer
  • Head to a Farmers' Market
  • Just Breathe
  • Lyme Disease Facts
  • Mindful Eating
  • Empathy in Healthcare
  • Preparing Your Family for an Emergency
  • Helping Someone to Cope with Opioid Addiction
  • Breast Cancer Awareness: Mammograms Save Lives
  • Antibiotic Resistance
  • Lung Cancer Screening
  • Giving Thanks
  • Healthy Holidays

Be Safe When Using Over the Counter Medications

Know the benefits – and dangers – of over-the-counter medicines
By Hayden Kuhn 

It’s four days into one of your worst colds ever, and you’ve got another one of those piercing headaches that just won’t quit. The Dayquil you’ve been taking has suppressed the coughing and congestion, but your head’s still pounding. So you pop a couple more extra strength Tylenol, the same dose you’ve been taking like clockwork all week. As bedtime nears, determined to get a good night’s rest and back to work, you take two of those store-brand sleep aid capsules you found in the medicine cabinet. 

Three hours later, after waking up with severe abdominal pain and a violent bout of vomiting, you’re in the Emergency Room being treated for acute liver failure, caused by acetaminophen overdose. 

You’ve just learned a frightening, all too common lesson about the dangers of not paying full attention to the active ingredients of everyday over-the-counter or OTC medicines. In a scenario that plays out every day across this country, it turns out each of the three OTC drugs you were taking contained various levels of acetaminophen, and the combined volume was toxic. Overdosing on acetaminophen, found in more than 600 OTC and prescription medicines, is the leading cause of acute liver failure in the U.S. About 60,000 people a year are hospitalized for acetaminophen overdose complications. Most patients fully recover without serious liver damage, though more than 1,500 Americans reportedly have died after taking too much of the drug. 

Acetaminophen isn’t alone among OTC medicines which, though safe and effective when taken as directed, can be dangerous if not properly used. The misuse of OTC medicines overall results in nearly 200,000 hospitalizations nationally each year.  

The second type of OTC pain relievers of greatest concern are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen-based Advil and Motrin and naproxen-based Aleve and Naprosyn. NSAIDs are used to ease fever, minor aches and pains, colds, sinus pressure and allergies. They inhibit an enzyme associated with those symptoms. But because this enzyme is also used in other systems of the body, high doses of NSAIDs can actually cause too much inhibition, leading to stomach bleeding, kidney injury or heart attack. The risk is low for people who use it occasionally, but increases exponentially for people over 60 who are taking prescription drugs for other conditions. If you’re on blood thinners, steroids, diuretics, blood pressure pills or any other prescription meds, the interaction with NSAIDs could be problematic, so it important to consult with your doctor before using them. 

The booming popularity of OTC drugs is fueling the problem.  More than 700 products sold OTC today use ingredients or dosage strengths available only by prescription 30 years ago. That’s good news for consumers seeking convenient, effective relief for common aches and pains.  But if they’re not taken as directed, particularly in combination with other drugs, the results could be toxic. 

Some strong suggestions on how to avoid such dangers:

  • Always start by reading the label – all of it.
  • Look for an OTC medicine that will treat only the symptoms you have.
  • When in doubt, ask your doctor or pharmacist before you buy or use an OTC medicine.
  • Take the medicine EXACTLY as stated on the label. Many OTC drugs become prescription strength if taken more than recommended on label.
  • Use extra caution when taking more than one OTC drug product at a time.
  • Don’t combine prescription medicines and OTC drugs without talking to your doctor.
  • Keep a list of all the OTC medicines, prescription drugs, dietary supplements and herbal remedies you take. And update your doctor regularly.
  • Always give infants and children OTC medicines specifically indicated for their age and weight.

Hayden Kuhn, PharmD, RPh, is a pharmacist at Berkshire Community Pharmacy at Berkshire Medical Center.

 

 

 

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