That label also appears on a drug that is prescribed pretty much exclusively for the purpose of preventing miscarriage.
When I started taking depression meds, I was warned that they could cause problems with dreams.
“Like nightmares?”
“No, just more vivid dreams.”
Who needs a warning–I’m enjoying that side-effect 
I haven’t had any nightmares, either. Just strange, strange so strange they are funny dreams. I can’t wait for the season to start so I can tell Tylor I tried to feed him to a plant.
Regarding the placebos, admittedly the “side effect” is determined by just saying if you felt any bad symptoms during your time taking the medication. I suspect a lot of people would report similar ailments if they took nothing at all.
And about the herbal “enhancements” - considering that some women have tried the standard prescription “male enhancement” pills to see what effect they might have on a woman, it’s probably not out of the question for a warning to be on the OTC herbals if they have herbs that are harmful to a fetus.
My doctor prescribed Meclizine for some dizzy spells I was having. Side effects? Dizziness.
For this and all of the similar comments (IANAD, so someone correct me if I’m wrong), many medications have the exact opposite of their intended effect in a small percentage of the population. I assume that this is why they list such things as possible side effects.
Decent (though not directly comparable*) examples are Ritalin and Adderall. They calm people who have ADD, but for non-afflicted users, they act as strong stimulants.
I was once prescribed Adderall for what a doctor thought could be adult ADD. When I took it and started bouncing off the walls, I realized that ADD must not have been my problem.
*Not directly comparable because in other cases people who legitimately do have the problems the drugs are supposed to help can still have an opposite reaction.
Funny, that’d be a boring night for me. Maybe this indicates I’m in no danger of RLS.
I have to say, “uncontrollable urge to gamble” takes the cake. It makes me chuckle every time I think of it.
Still, I have a contribution. When I had a miscarriage, the doc prescribed Misoprostol to make sure everything was cleared out. It was two pills, meant to be inserted vaginally. This is an off-label use, and nothing made that clearer than the bright neon warning label on the bottle: “Take with food” and a drawing of a sandwich. As dark as that day was, I was quite amused by the image of jamming a hoagie up there with the pill.
You know, I never dreamt I’d ever hear a miscarriage-related anecdote that would make me laugh out loud.
The commercials should say, “If you experience any of these side affects, contact your doctor immediately, if still alive.”
The medication is called “Requip”. Huh??
Kramer on Seinfeld once complained about a girlfriend that had the “jimmy-legs”, and that was the only time beofre I had ever heard of this syndrome.
Promethazine, is an antihistimine, used, mainly, for motion sickness these days. It isn’t the best drug to use with opiates, because it is mildly antagonistic to them.
Taking it with food doesn’t change its action. Nausea isn’t one of its common side effects.
I would find it humorous to see, WTF printed on the warning label of the medicine.
Still trying not to laugh about the hoagie. Too many people about.
Trying to remember the name of the old migrane med that had “may cause a false sense of well-being” listed as a side effect.
That was a serious WTF moment. Sort of: “We only want the pain to go away. If you’re happy, too, it’s not our fault.”
picunurse, I knew Phenergan was an antihistamine. I did not know it was antagonistic to opiates. It makes sense now, though. See, when I was in the ER about a month ago, the doc gave me a choice of anti-nausea drugs: Zofran or Phenergan. I picked Phenergan (I like it in the ER, because it makes me go to sleep, which is a good way to pass the time in the ER). He also prescribed 4mg of morphine. My ER trip on Saturday, the doc didn’t ask me what I wanted. He simply ordered 4mg of morphine and 4mg of Zofran, and the morphine did have more of a “high” with it than the previous time. I think from now on, I’ll specifically request Zofran.
Re: the “may cause a false sense of well-being” warning
I saw this on a Wellbutrin bottle, which is of course commonly prescribed for depression.
This is helping me??
Was it Talwin? It has a disassociative effect, that’s rather disconcerting.
Can’t remember, now. It was too long ago. I know that my major reaction was to fall asleep and sleep through the migraine, which was no help at all. By that time I could do that on my own. What I needed was something that would let me function. I had three kids, school, and a part time job at the time and didn’t need to loose 1-2 days every week or two.
We gave up on it after a couple of months and went on the to next med on the list. Eventually I read that some people had good luck with ‘chronic low doses’ of caffiene. Tried that and it worked. Or at least knocked it from every 1-2 weeks to every 2-3 months. And it improved from there.
I like to think that I can generate my own false sense of well-being, now. 
I read an ad for Lyrica recently that said:
Who should not take Lyrica:
- Anyone who is allergic to Lyrica
Gee, thanks. I’d have never thought that one myself.
I’m glad people got a chuckle out of it. I kind of hesitated to post it, since it’s such an unpleasant subject, but hey, it shows how having a morbid sense of humor can help get you through the tough spots. Plus, the sadness has faded, but I still find that WTF moment funny.
Personally, I’d kind of enjoy a false sense of well being. Isn’t that kind of what they say makes naturally happy people happy? They tend to define existence as more positive than is strictly factual.
Yeah! With a FSoWB you can have the bliss without the ignorance.
As a prescriber of a multitude of drugs to my patients, I agree that WTF should be printed on ALL prescriptions. The one thing to remember is that medications are quite simply, “controlled poisons”. Doesn’t matter where they are “natural products” or pharmaceutical grade pain meds, the bottom line is that they are chemicals that we are willing to put into our bodies. Everything comes with a price tag; it’s really just a matter of deciding whether the benefit outweighs the risk. Sometimes that’s an easy question to answer and sometimes not. The amazing thing to me, after over 20 yrs of practice, is how often people want a prescription even if I explain a medically rational argument against the medication. We all want quick fixes, and are willing to take the significant risk of bad outcome with meds in order to have a chance for the quick fix. I often joke about the perception that pts think that we doctors are really reluctant to prescribe the meds because we are trying to keep to good stuff for ourselves! Believe me, we are not - in my experience, most doctors, including me, are much less likely to take medications than we are to prescribe them.