How do I find out about side effects of a particular medication?

[KatyMac]

I don't really want to discuss the issue on-line; but I need to now where to look please

TIA

Go to Electronic Medicines Compendium and type in the medication name.

Thanks Zhen, but I can't seem to read the side effects on that; just that there were changes

Am I looking in the wrong place?

Sorry thanks Footle too

I'm very upset

The leaflet that comes with the medication will often list side effects.

OK found it

It's not on my medication list but it is on Xpil - medicines.org.uk & I want to find out how common it is

Why don't you just google the medecation name and "side effects"

I've only found this side effect on one website & I need to know how accurate it is

This is so frustrating

I can't find the info I need - is there anyone who is an expert at finding & interpreting these sorts of things?

Sorry not to reply sooner KatyMac if you click on the name of your medication once you have done a search on EMC (should come up with several made by different manafacturers or in different forms e.g. tablet, mg), then you should get a table of contents, if you scroll down it will give you undesirable effects and also special warnings, precautions, contraindications etc...

Sorry yes Zhen I found it & it says nothing about this side effect

This is so confusing

This is really playing on my mind; I'm not sure where to go with it

I am a pharmacist. If the side-effect is not listed in the medicine's Summary of Product Characteristics on eMC, then it is unlikely to be due to the medicine.

Have you looked on here?

I'm not sure if anyone can register to use it or just HCP's (been a while since I registered)
If you can't and if you wanted to you could pm me the drug name and I'll look it up for you?

Thanks justaminutemum - I PM'ed you

I might KabelFlowerBed, I suppose it depends how 'needy' I get (iyswim)

On the Electronic Medicines Compendium (linked to above), you can search for details of a medicine by either its brand name or the name of the active ingredient. The results list will give you two types of documents: SPCs and PILs. The PIL is the patient information leaflet ? should be the same as you had in the pack of your medicine. The SPC is the summary of product characteristics. This is the details of the drug, organised under standard headings. The contents of this document is approved by the MHRA (medicines regulator).

The side effects listed (in section 4.8) are either those that have been identified during clinical trials of the medicine or those that have been reported after the medicine received its marketing authorisation. If you think you have suffered a side effect that is not listed there are number of things you can do:

1. Talk to your GP.
2. Talk to a pharmacist
3. Phone the number given in the leaflet (usually at the end). This is the pharmaceuticals company?s helpline. It will be staffed by trained people who will be able to offer some advice on what you should do next. They also have a legal duty to record your report of the side effect.
4. Go here [http://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/] and report the reaction directly to the MHRA.

Please do one of these steps to report anything that worries you. It is only by getting the details of side effects recorded that a more accurate view of the safety of medicines can be gained.

Hope you find out what you need to and get some reassurance :)

Thanks