Your doctor prescribes yet another drug for you, this time it’s Beta Blockers.

Do you take it?

Is it responsible to question your doctor before swallowing?

It’s tough to feel confident enough to question your doctor, but if you don’t ask questions, do you know what you are risking?

First, let’s take a look at the side effects you might expect from taking Beta Blockers:

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) associated with the use of beta blockers include:

• nausea
• diarrhoea
• bronchospasm
• dyspnea
• cold extremities
• exacerbation of Raynaud’s syndrome
• bradycardia
• hypotension
• heart failure
• heart block
• fatigue
• dizziness
• abnormal vision
• decreased concentration
• hallucinations
• insomnia, nightmares
• clinical depression
• sexual dysfunction, erectile dysfunction
• alteration of glucose and lipid metabolism.

Clinical guidelines in Great Britain, but not in the United States, call for avoiding diuretics and beta-blockers as first-line treatment of hypertension due to the risk of diabetes.

(article originally published on News-Medical.net)

WOAH!  Hold the phone!  Is it worth risking all that? Continue reading article →