For many people living with chronic health conditions, medication isn’t optional — it’s essential…but, unfortunately, it often brings a few unwelcome side effects along with the benefits. Some settle once your body adjusts, while others like to linger. We can learn to live with them to an extent, but some are simply too hard to cope with and can make life feel utterly miserable. And of course, certain side effects can even be dangerous.
Below, I’ve listed a few possible side effects with suggestions that might help. Sometimes a small change can make a surprising difference. But if you’re struggling, please speak with your doctor. They might be able to adjust your medication and make things easier for you.
Serious Side Effects From Medication That Can Be Dangerous
As I mentioned in my post about medication, some side effects are serious. When something feels “off” with your medication, trust your instincts. You know your own body better than anyone. Most serious side effects are uncommon or rare, but if something worries you, it’s always worth speaking to a doctor.
Some symptoms can signal an allergic reaction or another serious problem. The medication might need to be changed or stopped — but don’t stop it on your own. Always get proper medical advice first.
See your doctor promptly if your medication causes:
- Unexplained bruising or bleeding
- Depression, anxiety, or sudden mood changes
- Frightening nightmares
- Itchy skin
- Low blood pressure
- Headaches that feel severe or different from your normal
- Dizziness or faintness
- Persistent nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea
- Swelling in your legs or ankles
- A very fast, slow, or irregular heartbeat
Seek emergency medical help if you experience:
- Swelling of the throat, mouth, or tongue
- A rash, especially a blistering or widespread rash
- Difficulty breathing, chest pain or pressure
- Suicidal thoughts or sudden, frightening changes in thinking
- Seizures, fainting or collapsing
- Signs of a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis), such as sudden difficulty swallowing or feeling like your throat is closing
More Common Medication Side Effects
The following side effects tend to be fairly common. You might not experience any of them, and if you do, they often improve as your body adjusts. Still, it’s helpful to know what to expect and what might ease things a little.
Dry Mouth or Dry Eyes
Dry mouth and dry eyes are extremely common side effects that can come with many medications. I’ve written more detailed advice in separate posts.
A dry mouth can affect eating, speaking, and even sleep. Simple changes like sipping water regularly, using sugar-free gum, and avoiding very salty foods can bring relief. In my full post, I’ve shared more tips that can help keep your mouth comfortable through the day – Coping With Dry Mouth.
Dry eyes can cause itching, burning, and blurry vision. Lubricating eye drops, warm compresses, and avoiding draughts or fans can ease the discomfort. My full post goes into more detail if dry eyes are something you struggle with – Coping With Dry Eyes
Tiredness and Fatigue
Living with a health condition is tiring, and when you add medication into the mix, the fatigue can sometimes feel overwhelming. It’s important to listen to your body and rest when you need to.
- Take short naps if needed. Even 20–30 minutes can give you an energy boost. Set an alarm if you don’t want to sleep too long.
- Prioritise quality sleep at night. Healthy adults usually need 7–9 hours, but people with chronic conditions may need more.
- Stay hydrated. Drinking enough water can make a big difference in energy levels.
- Eat well. Nutritious food helps your body cope better with both illness and medication.
- Try gentle exercise and fresh air. Even a short walk can improve energy and mood, though it doesn’t have to be strenuous.
- Check with your doctor. Ask if any blood tests are needed — fatigue can sometimes be caused by another underlying issue that’s easily treated.
Insomnia
Medication and health conditions can make sleep difficult. Establishing a routine and practising good sleep habits can help:
- Keep a regular sleep schedule. Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day.
- Limit daytime naps. If you do nap, keep it short and set an alarm so it doesn’t interfere with nighttime sleep.
- Wind down before bed. Reading, gentle music, or other calming activities can help you relax. Avoid screens, which can make it harder to fall asleep.
- Clear your mind. If worries are keeping you awake, jot them down and let them go until morning.
- Try relaxation techniques. Simple breathing exercises or gentle stretches can help signal your body that it’s time for sleep.
- Seek professional advice. Your doctor can help identify underlying causes and suggest safe treatments for insomnia.
The Medication Hangover Feeling in the Morning
Some medications can leave you feeling groggy or sluggish the next morning. These tips might help:
- Adjust the timing. If you take your meds at bedtime, try taking them an hour or two earlier. The effects may wear off sooner, helping you wake up feeling clearer.
- Have breakfast. Don’t skip your morning meal — it can help your body recover from grogginess.
- Stay hydrated. Drink plenty of water to help flush out lingering effects.
Brain Fog (Confusion, Low Concentration & Forgetfulness)
Some medications can affect your concentration and memory. A few strategies might help:
- Prioritise quality sleep. A rested brain functions much better.
- Eat well and stay hydrated. Your brain needs fuel and fluids to work efficiently.
- Keep your mind active. Puzzles, reading, crafts, or other hobbies can help maintain cognitive sharpness.
- Allow yourself to rest. Relaxation isn’t a weakness — it’s part of managing your health.
- Use notes and reminders. Jot down appointments and important tasks to reduce forgetfulness.
- Seek professional advice if needed. If brain fog is severe or affecting daily life, speak with your doctor.
You can also check out my more detailed post with additional tips on coping with brain fog.
Digestive Issues
Some medications might cause digestive problems.
Indigestion
- Try eating smaller, more frequent meals and avoid lying down immediately after eating.
- Gentle movement, like a short walk, can also help ease indigestion.
- Over-the-counter remedies may help, but always check the Patient Information Leaflet or ask a pharmacist first, as some treatments could interact with your medication.
- Consult your doctor if indigestion continues.
Nausea
- Stay hydrated. Sip water regularly.
- Take meds with food (if allowed).
- Eat small, light meals throughout the day.
- Try soothing teas. Ginger, fennel, or peppermint can help calm your stomach.
- Snack smart. Plain crackers or ginger snaps can reduce nausea.
- Breathe deeply. Long, slow breaths can help settle your stomach.
- Use aromatherapy. Oils like chamomile, lavender, rose, or lemon in a diffuser may ease nausea.
- Try an anti-nausea wristband (commonly used for motion sickness).
- Ask for professional advice. Your pharmacist or doctor can recommend safe medication to help if needed.
Constipation
- Stay hydrated. Sip water throughout the day.
- Eat more fibre. Include plenty of fruit, vegetables, and whole grains.
- Move your body. Gentle exercise, even just walking around the house, can stimulate your digestive system.
- Mind your position. Place a small step under your feet and lean slightly backwards when using the toilet — it can make bowel movements easier.
- Seek help early. Don’t let constipation become a serious problem. Your pharmacist or doctor can recommend safe remedies.
Diarrhoea
- Stay hydrated. Sip water regularly to prevent dehydration.
- Adjust your diet. Avoid caffeine, very spicy foods, or high-fibre foods until things settle.
- Ask for advice. Your pharmacist can recommend safe over-the-counter options to help.
- See your doctor if needed. If diarrhoea persists or is clearly caused by your medication, your doctor may need to adjust your treatment.
Weight Gain
Weight gain can be a concern for many people taking medication.
Why it happens
Some medications increase appetite, change the body’s metabolism and even change how the body stores fats and sugars. Others may cause fluid retention, which can also lead to weight gain. It’s important to discuss any sudden or noticeable changes with your doctor.
What can help:
- Be cautious with fad diets. Some may interfere with your medications or health, so always seek professional advice first.
- Balanced diet. Try to eat a nutritious, well-rounded diet.
- Professional advice. Speak to your doctor or a dietitian if you need guidance.
- Exercise if possible. Even gentle movement helps, but remember that pain or mobility issues may make this challenging. Ask your doctor or physiotherapist for support.
Weight Loss
Some medications can cause weight loss. For some people, that might seem desirable, but if you’re not intentionally trying to lose weight, it’s important to keep an eye on it.
- Make sure you’re eating a balanced diet with enough calories and plenty of foods rich in vitamins and minerals, to prevent nutrient deficiencies.
- Ask your doctor or a dietitian for advice if you’re struggling.
- If you’re losing weight unexpectedly or feeling unwell in a way that’s different from your usual symptoms, see your doctor.
Sun Sensitivity
Unfortunately, some medications can make your skin sensitive to sunlight, causing rashes or even severe sunburn.
- Avoid direct sunlight where possible.
- If you do go out, cover up with clothing.
- Use a high-factor sunscreen.
- Wear sunglasses to protect your eyes.
Track Your Medication Side Effects
Just as with pain, it’s helpful to track side effects using a diary or app. Recording when they happen, how severe they are, and any patterns—like time of day, meals, or activity—can help both you and your doctor understand their impact. This information may highlight small changes that make a big difference.
Reporting Side Effects From Your Medication
Always tell your doctor about any medication side effects, especially if they aren’t listed in the Patient Information Leaflet or are classified as rare or uncommon. You can also report them to your country’s official governing body:
In the UK, you can register for the Yellow Card Scheme to report here
In the USA, you can report to the FDA here
Every country has its own reporting system. Use a search engine to find yours by typing “how to report medication side effects in (your country)”
***
I really hope that some of these suggestions, together with the information in my last post, can help make life a wee bit easier.
Do you struggle with taking medications because of their side effects?
Do you have any other tips to share that might help other people cope with side effects from their medication? Please leave a comment below and share this post with your friends.
Thank you so much for reading.
If this post resonated with you, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
And feel free to share it with your friends or support groups.
Take care,
Liz.
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Necessary meds, unnecessary side effects
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Please remember that the posts on Despite Pain are written using my experience and knowledge as someone who lives with chronic pain. They are not intended as a substitute for medical advice from a health care professional.
Meds can really knock us about – this is a comprehensive list of suggestions to manage. Thank you.
They sure can. Thanks Trish.
I find it frustrating the medications to help us with one thing cause other problems of their own, so finding ways to better manage these and mitigate their impact is important. And yes, the hangover feeling when you’ve done nothing to deserve it is horrible (good excuse for that bacon sandwich though). Great tips!
Caz xx
Yes, it’s often a case of take a tablet to combat the effects of another tablet. I’m sure we rattle somedays! Who needs an excuse for a bacon sandwich? lol
Side effect to medicine can be scary!
Yes, side effects can be scary
These are all great tips. Learning how to combat side effects makes it more likely that you’ll stay on the medicines you’ll need, while also improving your quality of life. Thanks for sharing this valuable post!
Thanks, Beth. Hopefully it will helpful to people
Helpful and true! Medications are often times the double ended sword that we don’t acknowledge.
So very true. With the good, we often get bad.
Till today I never had any side effects from any medication. Touchwood! Also Dry mouth side effect is new to me. I never thought that it might be because of side effect.
Dry mouth is a very common side effect, so it could be due to your meds.
Side effects are one of the unfortunate bonuses of medications. The problem is they are different for everyone. Some experience what others do not. Stay on top of them and if they become too much see if there is another medication that can give you similar results with fewer side effects. Sometimes it’s trial and error. Great list of tips!
Thanks Scott. I think that’s my war cry in my support group – everyone’s experience is different.
I used to take Accutane for acne and the side effects included increased photo sensitivity and dry skin. To combat this I had to use so much moisturizer and sun screen, all while avoiding the sun if it’s possible.
It’s a side effect that a lot of people don’t know about. Sorry you had to deal with that.
This is a really good list of tips. Sometimes the side effects of the medicine can be just as bad as the symptoms your taking it for! I knew a few people on ADHD medicine, and they said it made them seriously depressed, which worried me because I was looking taking some to focus, but I don’t want it making me sad all day. Thanks for this write-up!
I’m glad you’ve found it helpful
Ugh, side effects! It’s amazing what getting enough fluids will help with though.
That’s true!
I love that you empower people to take charge of their own health! Side effects can be very difficult to manage and you’ve come up with a comprehensive list of ways to help manage. Great work!
Thank you. I think it’s important that we do – we can’t rely on being told everything
It is scary knowing and reading some of the side effects medications can give, but many of the health issues out weight the side effects so it is nice to know how to handle these issues should they arise.
Yes, meds are a necessity sometimes, so it’s good to learn these things.
i try not to take meds when i don’t absolutely need them because of the side effects it can give, but sometimes it’s not avoidable. my boyfriend literally just got out of back surgery yesterday so i will have to share this with him so he keeps your tips in mind when he takes his pain meds!
Oh, I’m sorry to hear about your boyfriend. Hope his recovery goes well.
I was recently diagnosed with mastitis, and I was placed on a couple of antibiotics and other meds in the last weeks. Apart from being excessively tired and fatigued, I’ve been bloating seriously. No gas, no bowel movements just a big shiny tummy that feels so heavy and tired. I thought this was abnormal at first. So I stopped the meds for a day, I noticed the bloating stopped and returned when I began taking the meds.
I’m yet to see my doctor on this though.
Thanks for the tips.
Oh, what a shame about both the mastitis and the bloating. Hope you feel better soon.
One thing to remember is that side effects can happen at any time–even if you’ve taken the medication before with no problems.
That’s correct. You can suddenly develop a problem.
Fatigue seems to be causing a lot of stress and sickness these days.A lot of adults hardly get quality sleep also.
Thank you for these life saving tips.
Hope they help.
This is exactly why I had to stop taking my anxiety medication. I had such terrible brain fog. I still feel like I lost several years of my life…but I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to feel that way.
Brain fog is horrendous and when you are dealing with another condition, it often puts a large burden on top.
I agree that meds are important but there are some sicknesses that can be cured naturally like common colds and flu. I think taking meds for this is too much.
Without a doubt, meds shouldn’t be used for just anything, but for many people they are a necessity.
I hope it will never come to it, but I’m bookmarking this in case I have to face any side effects.
Thank you. I hope you never have to use it!
I am so glad I don’t take any medications. I try to avoid even over the counter stuff like the plague. Lol. The side effects are ridiculous. My biggest issue with medications is that we take them to combat whatever is going on, then have side effects. We’re given meds to counteract the side effects, and suddenly find ourselves taking 7-15 prescriptions per day, and it is insane. This would be why I run from medications. Lol.
That is so true, we need meds to help the side effects of other meds. It’s crazy, I hope you can stay away from meds.
We’re currently going through trying to deal with side effects with two of my children and their medications for their conditions
I’m so sorry to hear that. It must be difficult dealing with health conditions in children.
It can be. My oldest has 4 conditions and each of my daughters have 1
Medication side effects are definitely worth considering when dealing with prescriptions. A lot of people will be helped by this article.
I hope so. Thanks Keshia.
Your list is really complete and empowering to help us reduce the side effects. I found also educating myself about the potential side effects helped me to prepare for them and minimize their effects a bit. Thanks!
You’re welcome. I hope it does help people.
These are great tips! If after trying all of the above, you still have bothersome side effects, talk to your pharmacist or doctor. Sometimes medications can be interacting with one another to make side effects worse or there may be another medication in the same class that has less issues with side effects that you could try. There is no one-size-fits-all medication regimen and it more art than science in many cases to find what will work for you.
That’s exactly right, there’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to medication
I’m currently experiencing insomnia, and I’m not sure what is causing it. After reading this post, I’m wondering if it could be a medication that I’m on. I’m going to try out your tips to see if they help, because this has been happening for weeks now and I’m exhausted!
Oh, that’s a shame. Insomnia is so exhausting. Hope you get relief soon.
i really find a lot of valuable information in this article and confirmation that I’ve been doing as well as I can.thanks
Thank you
This was a really helpful article, I’m sure many people will find value in it!
I hope so. Thank you
I hate how medicine that is supposed to help us often leaves us feeling worse than we did with the original problem! This is a great article!
It does that so often. Thank you!
This isn’t personally relevant for me but I know there’s tons of people that it is. Such an informative post for those that can benefit from it!
Thank you
I never paid attention to side effects before this. I just thought it comes with the medicine. I mean, there is no perfect medicine, so they are bound to have some drawbacks or side effects. Anyway, thanks for sharing ways to cope them.
Yes, most come with them unfortunately. The problem arises when you need to take them constantly.
I haven’t paid much attention for my medication side-effects. I already expecting that I would experience it and just hug it until I got healed.
Yes, but sometimes people need to take meds all the time, so it’s not so easy to just put up with them.
I’ve learned that keeping a medication/side effect/ pain/ mood diary is essential when going through illness or a shift. We think we’ll remember things but one day rolls into the next and you can’t keep it all tied down, which is no help when back at the doctors office. Sometimes you end up seeing new patterns which can make all the difference where your health is concerned. Great post!
Thanks, Elease. Yes, keeping a diary is one of the best things we can do for ourselves.
Some useful tips here thank you
Thanks, hope they can help people.
Wow didn’t know much about these types of medications. Thank you so much for this very important information!!!
Thanks for commenting
My worst side effects, luckily, are migraines. However, my migraines practically knock me out and along with the tiredness, I sleep so much and I feel like I lose days.
Oh migraines are a nightmare – you have my sympathy.
You are right, medications do have side effects too. Thanks for sharing such a great tips
Hope they help
I’ve been dealing with tiredness and fatigue lately, but it’s not from medication. My husband’s niece has complained about this lately. She’s on meds though.
Hope you can find out why you’re dealing with tiredness and fatigue
Really helpful article. Simple and effective tips. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for commenting.
I have found myself in almost everything – not in lost weight but gain. Uf! I have to fight pain and spasms all day and take medications and then I have side effects. Few meds almost cost me my life. Last one – propranolol – it was given to me for tremor and I and it up with heart pulse 45-50. I decided to keep tremor instead. Magic circle!
Oh no, that must have been so frightening. It can really be concerning sometimes how they react with our bodies.
Interesting read – it’s really strange the side effects medication can have on us!
Thank you
These are some great tips – thanks for sharing them! I take as little medication as possible, simply because I have a history of having very unusual side effects with medication. Of course, sometimes the benefits far outweigh the side effects and the meds are necessary. These tips are wonderful for those times… Pinning this!
Thanks
Terri, yes, sometimes the benefits outweigh the side effects. It’s just a shame that so many meds cause people problems. It’s amazing how many people have unusual side effects and need to avoid them altogether.
Excellent info to share, thank you.
Thanks Margie.