Last week I saw on the news that a bunch of blood pressure medications had been recalled by Health Canada due to contamination with a potential carcinogen. Wouldn't you know that mine is on the list. It is called Valsartan. I immediately called my pharmacist as advised. They had just been notified of the problem themselves. I was advised to keep taking the medicine for the time being until further notice. I also have the option of contacting my doctor to discuss alternate medications.
A few days later the pharmacist called, they said they were going to fax a request to my doctor to have the medicine changed. I called my doctor to ensure he didn't put me on a medicine called Coversyl which I had tried in 2006 when I was first getting on Blood pressure meds. It made me cough a lot as a side effect. The reason I remember the year is based on some old photos I had saved on Shutterfly of a vacation to Quebec City at the time. I remembered all the coughing at the time. The doctor's secretary was able to find the medicine in their records based on the year I gave her.
So my new medicine is called OLMESARTAN MEDOX which I have started on and am monitoring. The pharmacist says this one is in the same family of medicines as Valsartan and has been around for years.
Do you keep a file of your own medical records? It is a good idea, I started doing that about 5 years ago as it is so easy these days to forget things.
A few days later the pharmacist called, they said they were going to fax a request to my doctor to have the medicine changed. I called my doctor to ensure he didn't put me on a medicine called Coversyl which I had tried in 2006 when I was first getting on Blood pressure meds. It made me cough a lot as a side effect. The reason I remember the year is based on some old photos I had saved on Shutterfly of a vacation to Quebec City at the time. I remembered all the coughing at the time. The doctor's secretary was able to find the medicine in their records based on the year I gave her.
So my new medicine is called OLMESARTAN MEDOX which I have started on and am monitoring. The pharmacist says this one is in the same family of medicines as Valsartan and has been around for years.
Do you keep a file of your own medical records? It is a good idea, I started doing that about 5 years ago as it is so easy these days to forget things.
Hope the new medicine will help! Have a good week, hugs, Valerie
ReplyDeleteI should however I do not. I pretty much remember it but the way this mind works....I should keep a record.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad they were able to work out another medicine for you. These side effects always seem so strange when I see their warning on the TV.
ReplyDeletePraying for your good health.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Wishing you the best with your new medication Christine.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I are pretty good about keeping medical and health records.
It's always a good idea to be your own advocate and keep track of what's going on with your body.
ReplyDeleteIt's a good idea to keep on top of these things!
ReplyDeletehopefully the meds work for you and dont cause any serious side effects.
ReplyDeleteI usually am on a few different meds, hard to keep track sometimes but i remember the important ones that I cant take due to really bad side effects
Thanks Jennifer, I am just bummed that the old meds worked fine for so many years now I am forced to change.
Deletehate when that happens, better to be on the safe side with to stop taking the recalled meds, but you are then back to hoping nothing goes wrong with the new ones :/
Deletehope you do well with this. I've recorded things a few times when I had bad reactions that might not be true allergy reactions. Yes, it helps!
ReplyDeleteIn America, the FDA would of said "eh they'll be fine probably"
ReplyDeleteHaha
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