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t is an inescapable truth that more and more people – primarily the older population – are taking increasingly more over-the-counter and prescription medications. New drugs for all types of disorders – high blood pressure, stomach ulcers, diabetes, high cholesterol, etc. – are appearing in the medical marketplace on an almost daily basis. And there are more than 1800 new drugs in the pipeline at any one time. Unfortunately, more and more adverse drug reactions, primarily on the skin and hair, have been arising from many of these medications.
Who, for example, does not take aspirin? Tylenol? Advil or Motrin? Who is not treated with an antibiotic when suffering from some bacterial or viral infection? How many of you are being treated with a beta-blocker? An ACE-inhibitor? An antidepressant? A cholesterol-lowering drug? A nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug for arthritis or aches and pains? Celebrex? Vioxx? There is not a medication in the marketplace that cannot give rise to some form of drug reaction in certain unfortunate sensitive individuals.
The incidence of advance drug reactions increases with age. The chances of an adverse drug reaction is three times greater for older persons than for younger adults, and forty percent of people who suffer an adverse reaction are over age 60.
It has been documented that more than 100,000 hospitalized patients die from some adverse drug reaction every year. Nearly 3 billion prescriptions are filled each year; more than 300,000 over-the-counter medicines are also available; and over $77 billion dollars are spent each year as a result of drug reactions due to these medications.
The most common form of drug eruption is a measles-like form of rash called an exanthem. Exanthems can be a result of a myriad number of drugs, primarily aspirin, penicillin and its derivatives such as ampicillin and amoxicillin, and a host of other antibacterial agents such as sulfa drugs. Almost one-quarter of all drug reactions on the skin are the result of these antibacterial agents. It is not common knowledge that those people who are allergic to sulfa drugs may also be allergic to medications prescribed for high blood pressure almost all of which contain some form of thiazide. Thiazide contains sulfa! So do most oral antidiabetic medications. In addition, many common products are sulfa-based. Saccharin and cyclamates are sulfa drugs, so that if you are allergic to sulfa, you might break out in a rash from sweeteners containing saccharin or cyclamates. (Not, however, aspartame which is a constituent of Equal or Nutrasweet.) There are also many acne medications, vaginal creams, burn medicines, and eye drops (the newest is Trusopt) that are sulfa based. Celebrex, used for painful arthritis, is also a sulfa drug! Make sure that your doctor knows if you are allergic to sulfa drugs. (Not sulfur, which is an entirely different entity.)
Many people develop itchy rashes when, after having taken a medication, they had been exposed to the sun or to sunbeds. These are known as photosensitive reactions and are extremely common after taking sulfa drugs. Exanthems, hives, and severe itching can develop from the combination of these medications and the sun. Oral medications taken for fungous infections (griseofulvin) and those being prescribed for the treatment of many urinary tract infections (Gantrisin and Macrodantin to name a couple) are often responsible for severe, generalized itchy skin. So are the latest “floxin” drugs: Floxin, Levaquin, Zagam, Tequin, Avelox, Cipro, and other quinolone drugs can occasion very severe reactions, some leading to death. These reactions, by the way, can develop with or without exposure to the sun’s rays.
Have you been losing hair lately? Perhaps you have you been taking a beta-blocker or, if you are a woman, you might be taking hormones such as Provera or other progesterone-containing medication for PMS or for menopausal symptoms. These and other drugs, including Tylenol, Motrin, Advil, birth control pills, antidepressants and tranquilizers, anti-ulcer drugs (Tagamet and Zantac), can all bring about hair loss, particularly in women. So do Inderal and a few dozen other prescription and over-the-counter medications. In addition, almost all chemotherapeutic agents can cause reversible hair loss in both men and women.
Muscle pains and aches have been reported from taking any of the so-called “statins”: the lipid-lowering medications such as Lipitor, Pravachol, Zocor, Mevacor, Baycol, and others.
Many drugs cause metallic taste, dry mouth, itching, swollen gums, depression, ringing in the ears, and dozens of other symptoms.
Blisters on the skin or in the mouth are often adverse effects of various medications including phenobarbital, sulfa drugs, beta-blockers, ACE-inhibitors, and gold compounds. Many drugs are responsible for excessive pigmentation of the skin. Some of these are oral contraceptives, antibiotics (notably minocycline), and various chemotherapeutic drugs – those used to treat a variety of cancers.
If you are taking any type of medication, and if you find that you have either a rash or hair loss or itching or some other abnormal symptom, check with your physician. It may all be a result of the drug you have been taking.
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For further information about drug eruptions, log on to: www.aad.org 1-888-462-DERM x22 or www.familydoctor.org/handouts/231.html |
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