Side Effects

Jenny Smiechowski

The real reason statins cause muscle pain

If you’ve never taken statins, you might be thinking, what’s the big deal about a little muscle pain? But if you’ve experienced it, you know statin-related muscle pain can get pretty serious… But the bigger question here is why the heck are statin drugs so hard on your muscles? Researchers may have finally figured out an answer…

Jenny Smiechowski

The not-so-beautiful side effect of beauty supplements

Lots of factors affect the health of your hair, skin and nails… Thyroid issues, hormonal imbalances, medication, aging. But no matter what’s behind your issues, the result is the same: slipping self-confidence. A lot of people turn to beauty supplements. But one could affect the lab work at your next checkup…

Dr. Isaac Eliaz

What statins did to my patient

Jim was a patient of mine years back. He had come to me for holistic advice on heart health. His doctors were recommending statins to control his cholesterol. When Jim came to see me later in the year, I was struck by his decline. That’s when we discussed easing him off drugs and starting a recovery program…

Jenny Smiechowski

Are you taking a blood pressure medication linked to suicide?

Say you start taking a new blood pressure medication and suddenly feel nauseous and dizziness all the time. What would you do? Probably call your doctor. But if you’re suddenly feeling down or anxious, you may not immediately connect it to your blood pressure medication. Especially, if no one warned you…

Jenny Smiechowski

Tramadol users have a crazy high risk of hypoglycemia

Tramadol is far less addictive than some “big gun” drugs. In fact, when it was first released, it wasn’t even classified as an opioid (but that’s changed). Tramadol also has fewer side effects than other painkillers. Or so we thought… As more people turn to this “safe” pain reliever, risks are bubbling to the surface…

Dr. Michael Cutler

20+ medications that affect your thyroid

Thyroid hormone balancing is confusing for mainstream doctors including endocrinologists (but they may not admit it). That’s because they use only lab tests. The problem with that is there are many medications that affect your thyroid hormone and confound the interpretation of standard thyroid tests…