CAUTION! 5 Common Drugs You Should Never Take Together

If you’re like most people, your medicine cabinet probably contains a number of medications to treat everything from headaches to cold. These drugs can deliver immediate relief but they can be dangerous if misused or combined with other medicines.

Problems might arise when medications interact with each other, causing complications.

To avoid complications while trying to stay healthy, avoid combining the following drugs.

1. Tylenol and multi-symptom cold medicines: Many cough, cold, and flu combos contain acetaminophen to relieve sore throats, headaches, and fevers. Tylenol is also acetaminophen. So, mixing Tylenol with other cold combos, you might exceed the 4-gram (g) daily upper limit for this drug.

Risk involved: Liver damage that can ultimately require transplantation or even kill you. (The threat of severe overdose is greatest if you consume 7g or more a day, but even just one day of exceeding 4g can be dangerous.)

READ ALSO: Drinking Too Much Water Can Damage Your Health

2. Combination of ibuprofen, naproxen and aspirin: Because they work via the same underlying pathways, taking more than one boosts your risk of side effects.

Risk involved: These range from mild nausea to severe gastrointestinal bleeding.

3. Antihistamines and motion-sickness medications: Be cautious when combining antihistamine allergy meds like Benadryl with nausea-busting treatments like Dramamine. They both contain diphenhydramine to treat sniffles, red eyes, and sneezing, and dimenhydrinate to ease motion sickness.

Risk Involved: They can add up to excess drowsiness.

READ ALSO: Doctors Reveal The Dangers Of Paracetamol

4. Anti-diarrheal medicine and calcium supplements: Products containing loperamide, such as Imodium cans stop diarhea. But take them alongside a calcium supplement, and you risk the opposite problem. Calcium firms your stool, so combining it with an anti-diarrheal can mess up your system.

5. St. John’s Wort and cough medicine: The herbal supplement St. John’s wort claims to ease anxiety and depression. Dextromethorphan, a cough suppressant, quiets your hacking. But pairing them up may trigger a dangerous condition called serotonin syndrome.

Risk involved: Too much of the neurotransmitter serotonin builds up in your system, causing sweating, feelings of confusion and discomfort, trouble controlling your movements, and in rare cases, even death.

READ ALSO: The Hidden Dangers Of Taking Too Much Paracetamol

To be on the safe side, if you’re not sure whether a particular cold, cough, and flu formula combines with any other medicine or supplement you’re taking, ask a pharmacist, either in person or on the phone.

 

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