Ask your doctor if he or she will monitor the effects of the medicine or medicines you are taking. Ask your doctor what side effects you might have. Any symptom, such as vomiting, breathing difficulties, headache, confusion, or drowsiness is severe or long- lasting. Symptoms develop soon after you have started taking a new medicine or after eating a certain food. Symptoms such as forgetfulness, depression, confusion, or fatigue develop slowly over a period of weeks or months.
Some adverse effects take a while to show up.
You suspect that a symptom is related to a combination of medicine and alcohol. The use of alcohol may worsen side effects of your medicines. A mild symptom, such as dry mouth, lessens your pleasure in life. If you are taking several medicines, be careful not to get confused and take too much of one or more medicines. Avoid taking a lower dosage of a medicine than is prescribed.