So... why develop a website purely about drug side effects? Sounds kind of morbid doesn't it?

Picture it. You're sick, or maybe just feeling a bit under the weather. You try to be brave and "deal with it"... or wait for it to hopefully pass. It doesn't. Eventually you give in and go to see your healthcare provider of choice. At the end of it you come out at the other end with a prescription in hand. You proceed to the pharmacy to get your medication, either filled by the pharmacist or straight off the shelf. You know you're soon going to be feeling better... but wait... what if the medication doesn't agree with you? The questions start racing through your mind...

• am I allergic to this?
• are there any drug side effects I need to be aware of?
• Will I experience some, all or none of the drug side effects... how will I know?
• What is the probability that one will happen and not another?
• Did the pharmacist tell me about every possible drug side effect that I should be aware of?
• What if I forgot to ask something I should have?

Okay. You can calm down. This website is written by professional licensed clinical pharmacists who have been there and done that. We understand your concerns both as clinicians as well as patients.

• Yes, we have dispensed our fair share of medications in the past but we too have had to take medicine to feel better as well
• we know what information most patients usually want to know before taking any medication... and if they don't ask we also know what information they need to know before taking any medication and we are here to share it all with you

Well, not ALL the information... that would be overkill for this site... but we do know that lots of people have concerns about side effects, and rightly so, and that is primarily what we intend to focus on here....

...drug side effects facts and just drug side effects facts.

Sometimes closely tied to side effects are clinical trials. Yes, we would hope that before medications hit the market that the manufacturers would have found out everything there is to know about them.

The truth however, is that quite often, once medicines hit the open market and start being used by the general population they may (and should) still be in what is called phase 4 clinical trials (phase iv clinical trials)... more on this later... where adverse effect information is still being gathered. Therefore we will also address ongoing clinical drug trials as well as clinical trials related to some of the diseases discussed on the site. Don't worry, it's not as intimidating as it all seems.

How then, you might ask, is this site different from all the other drug information sites out there? Great question! How about...

• direct access to licensed clinical pharmacists who are ready, willing... and have the time :) to answer your side effect and clinical trial questions?
• private, personal, individual and confidential responses?

So... are you ready to embark on a pharmaceutical journey of information with your very own personal pharmacists? We hope so. We are going to go into detail about the side effects and it might seem like information overload but at least you'll have all the information!

We enjoy sharing the wealth of drug information we have, and again, if at any point you have any questions you are always more than welcome to contact us. Remember, there's no one standing in line behind you, no patient waiting outside the office to see us next, no need to hurry through the consultation.

Now, please note that there are lots and we do mean lots and lots of drugs out there, and we cannot promise to cover each and every one of them here on this site. We will aim for the big hitters and try to be as comprehensive as possible. We will also be glad to take some suggestions from you, our valued readers. If there is a particular medication you want us to address, drop us a line. We can either cover it here on the site or just respond to your specific request directly to you. So use that "Contact Us" form and don't be shy about it! Ready? Let's go!

This website is updated quite frequently (as things change so rapidly in the world of pharmaceuticals), so please subscribe to our monthly video newsletter, The Armchair Pharmacist. It tells you each month about the new information that we have added to the site as well additional news on the latest goings-on in the world of medications and all things pharma.

This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information:verify here.