[DaiCroParticipant]

When I was in hospital with an unknown infection last week I received 48 hours of IV Antibiotics. They were rather strong and I assume they did me some good (I was admitted with a temperature of 39.30 which was treated successfully with 2 Paracetamol). Somewhere between hours 24 & 36 I developed a case of diarrhoea.:-0

At first I thought my C: Difficule had flared up again and I was devastated. (I developed C: Diff last May and I have been under constant treatment for it ever since – the right treatment since last September – it is a debilitating and humiliating condition and it ruined what otherwise would have been a decent year). >:-(

I told the night Nurse that my C: Diff was back but she calmed me down and asked a few questions before stating that given the lack of the usual side-effects of C: Diff it was more than likely the IV antibiotics, which quite often produce the side-effect of diarrhoea… I produced a sample as requested but never got the result, so I assume the nurse was correct.:-)

Which brings me to the question of overdosing and compatibility.

For this last week I have been taking 5 different sorts of oral antibiotics. This is on top of my usual meds and my Dex and Thalidomide. I know that the pharmacists are good but several of these medicines have come from different sources at different times… as much as I'd like to think it was so I don't believe that a centralised Pharmacist is keeping an eye on my meds and their compatibility with each other. 😛

Yesterday I felt quite ill… I battled to keep my temperature down all day and half the night (hovering at 37.7ish throughout). Today I am back to normal, although still a bit hot and bothered with my DexDay tm to come on Thursday. Fortunately 3 of 5 of my antibiotics finish tomorrow, and my meds will be lighter by 8 tablets per day… but more importantly my body will have 3 less powerful antibiotics to deal with.:-)

From what I know these 3 antibiotics are given as 'just in case' medicines and not for any existing condition.

I take my meds at 8am – 2pm – 6pm – 8pm & 10pm. For example, my morning meds for the past week are as follows:

Ranitidine – Pyridoxine – Gabapentin – Bonefos – MST – Vancomycin – Aciclovir – Fluconazole & Calcichew (Calcium).

I don't know if there are any compatibility issues between any of the above… and if there are perhaps my consultant believes the good outweighs the harm… but in 5 years of treatment no-one has ever sat down with me and gone through my meds pointing out their benefits, what strength the meds should be and/or how long I should be taking them for. My GP has held a couple of reviews but these meetings have been to establish my current meds, not what they are for etc.:-/

Am I the only one? Have any of you had a sit down and chat about your meds, their compatibility and for how long you will be on them? I am interested because I believe that my quality of life could well be compromised by the very medications that are supposed to protect or bring relief.:-(

Small rant over.;-)

Dai.

[TinaParticipant]

Dear Dai,

I think you are right to be concerned about your cocktail of meds especially if they are coming from different sources. Your consultant however should be aware of all the drugs you are being given and should be available to explain everything you need to know, unfortunately it seems you don't get told unless you ask. I would be surprised if a centralized pharmacy was co-coordinating any drugs you take.
Patrick's GP was never involved in his treatment or meds, his consultant managed it all from the hospital.
I'm questioned absolutely everything Patrick was given as I felt it gave me a modicum of control.
Speak to your consultant asap.
Best Wishes
Tina X

[JentayParticipant]

Dai,
I have one rule: I don't take any meds that may be unnecessary. This means that I don't take any of the handful of pills doctors love to prescribe on a "just in case" basis.

I went through the list of meds when I started on Revlimid two years ago and told my consultant what I was willing to take and what I wasn't. I just take Dex for 4 days at the start of each cycle plus Revlimid and a low-dose aspirin. That's it. I won't take any prophylactic drugs as they often cause nasty side effects.

You should definitely have a word with your consultant and voice your concerns. Taking a cocktail of drugs which may conflict with one another is asking for trouble and let's face it, we have enough to contend with without making matters any worse.

Hope you are feeling loads better very soon,
Jen.

[jillsParticipant]

Thanks everyone, this is an issue which has often concerned my with regard to Mum's medications. When she wasfirst diagnosed she was on a range of meds including blood pressure tablets, statins etc. When she started CTD treatment these all stopped as her GP dropped out of her care. The only ones she carried on with were thyroxine and zopiclone. So maybe she was being overmedicated!
There is never any real review of medicines, when she has some new MM treatment I always ask about compatibility and this round I have told her to limit the prophylactic drugs to specific days rather than taking things everyday. The main worry is around an 83 year old being handed a carrier bag of toxic drugs and sent home to get on with it, I have no idea how that would work for someone that age without a carer or even with poor eyesight!
Jillx

[tomParticipant]

Hey Nice Post, I like most just take the drugs that am given ask Q's never felt the need ? But Dai you are correct too many drugs taken for a "Just In Case" :-/

It might be better to wait for the "Just In Case" symptoms to turn up???
I will ask if and when iback on the Tabs

Tom Onwards and Upwards

[andygParticipant]

Hi Tom.
I'm on just in case anti-virals because I've never had chickenpox! There's a lot of it about at the moment and its very dangerous, or so I've been led to believe, to us MMers. If I come into contact with anyone with the pox 😉 or anyone who's been in close contact with someone with it I have to get along to the hospital straight away. So I take my anti-virals as I'm told 😉 I need them as long as I'm on chemo.
As to antibiotics when I came back from Greece with my infections – all duty free – I was put on 3 different ones though one was changed almost straight away due to 2 not being compatible. Generally I take what I'm told to take unless I've had problems in the past which I highlight at the time of the prescribing.
Just my Dex fuelled observations.

Andy

[MicheleParticipant]

Before I was diagnosed with MM it was rare for me to even take a paracetamol let alone anything else. I had and still have the idea in my head that if the body can fight something off on its own, let it do it!

However, I'm not stupid and knew that I had no choice but to take all drugs prescribed to me when I was on CTD and during the SCT.

When I was discharged from hospital I was given a long list of drugs to take ranging from 6 months to a year post SCT.
At first I took them all but after a couple of months I began to question why and came to the conclusion that some were indeed "just in case" drugs rather than "definitely need" ones.

Rightly or wrongly I stopped taking those that I didn't think were essential (bearing in mind I made a very fast recovery) and stopped all at the 6 month stage.

It's not something I'd recommend to all but I knew it was the right thing to do for me.

Unlike when I was first diagnosed and blindly obeyed every instruction, I've got a mind of my own now and do question anything I'm not happy about. I feel far more in control of my own quality of life.

Dai, I would definitely query your cocktail of drugs. It does sound a bit OTP, but on the other hand it may be exactly what you need.
Go on……show them you've got a mind of your own too!!! 😀

[BADGERParticipant]

dia
I agree about IV anti'bs I certainly had an upset stomach when in Hospital a couple of weeks ago when on a high dose I thought I got a DOSE OF c diff oh no! but it was the meds so I think you are probably right, on my chemo at the moment i am on half doses of everything except Velcade and its working this is because of the renal failure so over dosing I think you have hit the nail on the head:-P
Regards Jo x

[tomParticipant]

Hi Andy

Well I had them twice 🙁 once as a child then next when i was late 30's went to Dr and he was looking at my body rash and I looked over my shoulder and said My wife says its Chicken Pox?? and he replied you should take more notice of your wife because she is correct :-0 so six weeks of work 🙁

Tom Onwards and Upwards 😎

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