Side Effects

• Possible side effects of hydrochlorothiazide include weakness, loss of appetite, nausea, constipation, stomach cramps, fevers, restlessness, dizziness, headaches, tingling in your extremities, temporary hair loss and impotence.
  
  

Time Frame

• Many of the common side effects of hydrochlorothiazide develop during your first few days of use and then gradually decrease in severity as your body becomes acclimated to the drug, according to the Mayo Clinic.
  
  

Drug Interactions

• When taken with corticosteroid medications, hydrochlorothiazide has the potential to cause a shortage of potassium in your bloodstream, leading to arrhythmia and muscle pain. Hydrochlorothiazide also increases the harmful side effects of the psychiatric drug lithium.
  
  

Risks

• Hydrochlorothiazide use contributes to the onset of diabetes or kidney disease in some patients, reports RxList. Use of the drug also has the potential to cause hyponatremia, a life-threatening sodium deficiency, particularly in hot weather.
  
  

Considerations

• Because the effects upon fetal development are not known, doctors restrict the use of hyponatremia in pregnant women to instances when there is no safe alternative. If you have a history of asthma, diabetes, gout, excessive blood calcium, electrolyte deficiency, lupus or kidney or liver disease, it may not be safe for you to take hydrochlorothiazide, cautions the Mayo Clinic.