Do you trust medication when the side effects are worse than the disease?

[DefunctTheory]

The question is: how LIKELY is it that you would receive these side effects? Virtually all drug's side effects are worse than what they treat, but only to some. Cold medicine, for example, cause cause fever, hallucinations, and internal bleeding, but that only happens in the rarest of circumstances.

I would probably not.

Interestingly, an anti-depressant Paxile has a side-effect to increase thoughts of and/or committing suicide in most people. That one really confused me.

Is it wrong that I almost always laugh out loud at those commercials?
I mean seriously, what is the point of an anti-depressant that can make you more depressed?

Try Nortriptyline, an antidepressant used to quit smoking that makes you SUICIDAL.

 

[burningdragoon]

Well ignoring that fact that I am pretty healthy and am not any medication, it depends I guess on how severe both what I have and what the meds might do to me. However, I at least understand that just cuz a side-effect is listed, doesn't tell you how likely it is. Pretty sure that even if there's a 0.0000000001% chance of the side-effect, they have to mention it.

 

[hawkeye52]

If the medication gives you worse side effects then the actual illness and that the side effects are chronic after you have taken the drugs then no. If it fufills only the first condition then i will consider how bad the side effects are compared to actual illness i have and how long it will take to get rid of said illness on the drugs. So 6 weeks of excruciating pain to get rid of a chronic cough or something else rather minor for example is not a good trade off to be worth me doing it. Otherwise im for it

 

[AmayaOnnaOtaku]

So no not really unless the gains REALLY outweigh the risks.[/quo

However other side effects included cancer and hemophilia (If I can find a website for the drug I will post a link)

So my question is, would you use a drug with such severe side effects? Also would you want to know the side effects, or that it just works?

My girlfriend takes about 30 different medications, including some immuno-suppressants. The list of side-effects is huge. Fortunately, side-effects that are listed in medications either come with a percentage chance of them occurring or are just incredibly rare.

And the reason they have to list any and all side effects even the really rare ones is for protection from malpractice lawsuits. But with a chronic debilitating condition such as severe RA the chance of decrease is flare ups and the agony that goes along with them is worth the risk of side effects