I actually have one med (Lomotil, to slow down my digestive tract) which says nothing about not stopping suddenly. The doctor never said it, the pharmacist never said it, no little sticker on the bottle, nothing. So one day I ran out of refills, and because it's technically a narcotic (in such a small dose that you'd have to take 40 million pills to get any kind of high), it's considered a controlled substance (I hadn't known that part either or I might have realized I'd have trouble getting any extra) and I wasn't able to get any for a few days. Cue the violent, and I mean VIOLENT, withdrawal. I have a whole new respect for people who manage to stop abusing narcotics, because I was sicker than I have ever been in my entire life. Sweating, shaking, dry-heaving, the works. I was indistinguishable from a dope-sick junkie. When I finally turned up at the pharmacy to get my refills, looking like day old puke, the pharmacist was all, "Oh yeah, you can't just stop taking that or you'll get sick." Well, DUH, thanks for the info.
But you should ask the pharmacist exactly how long you can miss a dose before the risk of side effects kicks in. If the drug has a long enough half-life, you may be safe if you miss only one dose. Of course, everyone metabolizes differently so that's not concrete, but it should give you some idea.
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regna
(no subject)
Date: 2011-01-28 01:50 am (UTC)But you should ask the pharmacist exactly how long you can miss a dose before the risk of side effects kicks in. If the drug has a long enough half-life, you may be safe if you miss only one dose. Of course, everyone metabolizes differently so that's not concrete, but it should give you some idea.