Yes. You should contact your doctor about any new or worsening side effect—especially if it could be serious, affects breathing, causes severe pain, or doesn’t improve.
When you should call your doctor right away
Seek urgent medical help if the side effect includes symptoms such as trouble breathing, swelling of the face/lips/tongue, fainting, chest pain, signs of a severe allergic reaction, severe or persistent vomiting, black/bloody stools, confusion, or rapidly worsening symptoms.
If it’s not urgent, what to do next
If the side effect is mild but new or ongoing, call your prescribing clinician (or the clinic nurse line) to ask:
- whether you should keep taking the medication,
- what warning signs to watch for,
- whether the dose should change or a different treatment is needed,
- how long the side effect might last.
What information to prepare
When you reach out, be ready with:
- the medication name, dose, and when you started,
- the side effect description (when it started, how severe, how often),
- any other symptoms,
- what you’ve tried so far (including other medicines or supplements).
If you want, tell me the side effect
Share the medication name and the side effect you’re experiencing (and how long it’s been happening), and I can help you draft a short message to your doctor and flag whether it sounds urgent.