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| Avandia- the Drug that Keeps on Giving "My doctor in Connecticut put me on Avandia to control my blood sugar levels. But instead, it seemed to make me feel worse. When I started taking Avandia I noticed that I began to feel sick, I literally felt nauseous all the time. And I was having pains in my chest." Vanessa thought it might be the Avandia, but her doctor hadn't warned her of any of these side effects. The side effects of Avandia are well known, and many people have suffered them, although few seemed to have been aware of the dangers associated with the medication until they ended up in hospital. The 'side effects' include shortness of breath, swelling of the extremities, chest pains and liver damage. More than just side effects really. And many people who think they are safe from a heart attack because they are taking the drug suffered massive heart attacks and heart failure stemming from heavily clogged arteries while they were taking the diabetes medication. "I ended up in emergency at one point. I was told I had a liver infection," she said. The doctors asked Vanessa what medications she was taking, but once again, no one said anything about Avandia. "I was doubled over in pain, and the people in the ER gave me a pain killer and sent me home. Every time I called the hospital back over the following two months to get the results, I was told they couldn't find them. I don't to this day know exactly what was wrong." In fact, a lot of things were going on that Vanessa didn't understand. "I pay attention to the way my body reacts when I start a new medication. I noticed that I was having night sweats, and great difficulty breathing," she said. "Recently, I moved from Connecticut to North Carolina, and I found a good doctor. I explained what was going on and he told me to stop taking Avandia. I had put on a lot of weight – more than 30 lbs. I had shortness of breath, and my legs were really swollen. Since coming off Avandia I have noticed that the swelling of my legs is gone. But I'm still having trouble breathing, and I haven't been on the drug since September 2007. In fact, about a month after I'd stopped taking the drug I had such bad chest pains, and trouble breathing I didn't think I was going to make it home, but I did. I called an ambulance and they took me to the hospital. They told me I was dehydrated. That didn't sound right to me." Vanessa does have some words of advice as a result of all of this. "Diabetes is not something to mess around with, and there's a lot of medication out there that affects diabetes and other illnesses bodily functions. It seems that drugs are just prescribed like candy," she said. "There should be more research into the drugs and better education around what the drugs do."
If you or a loved one have experienced an Avandia heart attack, or Avandia stroke, Avandia congestive heart failure, Avandia cardiovascular disease or if you have lost a loved one to an Avandia death you may be entitled to compensation. Contact the Avandia attorneys of Ennis & Ennis today for a free confidential case evaluation. Our on staff nurse and lawyers are standing by to answer any questions you may have regarding Avandia's side effects, a possible Avandia class action lawsuit, or any other type of Avandia litigation. |
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