Contents:
- Medical Video: Everything You Need to Know About the Keto Diet
- This is the result if you don't follow the rules for taking medicine from a doctor
- Rules for taking drugs that are often violated
- 1. Take leftover medicine
- 2. Reducing or increasing the dose of the drug
- 3. Stop taking medication
- 4. Take other people's medication
- Easy tips for obediently following the rules for taking medication according to the prescription
Medical Video: Everything You Need to Know About the Keto Diet
When you get sick, you need to take medication immediately to speed up the recovery process. In addition to seeing a doctor, some of you tend to choose to buy drugs at the pharmacy or more practically by taking the rest of the previous medicines that are considered effective in treating your disease. This is clearly done outside the supervision of the doctor. So, what are the consequences if you don't follow the rules for taking medicine from a doctor? Here's the full explanation.
This is the result if you don't follow the rules for taking medicine from a doctor
When you are recommended to take medicine, it means that you are obliged to follow the rules for taking the medication that has been suggested. This includes obeying the dosage, method, and time of taking medication. According to Kimberly DeFronzo, R.Ph., M.Sc., M.B.A. from the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, following the rules for taking medication from a doctor is very important. Especially for those of you who suffer from chronic diseases that should not miss routine medication though.
Simply put, taking medication that is not in accordance with the rules of the doctor can make your disease worse. If it continues, of course this can allow you to be hospitalized, or even end in death.
Forgot to take medication, increase or decrease doses, carelessly putting drugs including mistakes that need to be avoided. Reporting from the Food and Drug Administration in the United States, which is equivalent to the Indonesian Food and Drug Administration in Indonesia, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that careless taking medication causes 30-50 percent of treatment failures and 125,000 deaths per year.
For example, as many as 25-50 percent of patients who stop taking statins (cholesterol-lowering drugs) for one year increase their risk of death by 25 percent.
Rules for taking drugs that are often violated
1. Take leftover medicine
This is often done to treat mild health problems such as headaches, muscle aches, nausea, or flu. Usually, these drugs are left over because it really doesn't need to be spent if the symptoms of the disease have stopped or healed.
This habit may not be too dangerous or fatal, but sometimes it doesn't help. The reason is, you might actually have a disease that is different from the previous disease, except that the symptoms are similar. As a result, the remaining medicine you drink will not work.
2. Reducing or increasing the dose of the drug
Rules for taking medication from a doctor have been made in such a way that the results are effective for you. Reducing the dosage can make the efficacy of the drug less effective. If it continues to be allowed, this will be very dangerous and even make the disease worse.
In other cases, you may feel that the medication you are taking does not have a significant effect on reducing symptoms of the disease. This is why you are tempted to add a dose of the drug to get well soon. Remember, some drugs taken in high doses can cause overdoses that harm the body.
So, it is important to keep abiding by the rules for taking medication from a doctor. If you want to reduce or increase the dose, consult your doctor who prescribed medication for you.
3. Stop taking medication
Your doctor may allow you to stop taking certain medications if you feel healed. On the other hand, there are some drugs that should not stop being taken suddenly, such as anticonvulsant drugs, steroids, heart medications, and blood thinning drugs.
For example blood thinning drugs do not provide benefits in the short term, but can prevent the development of serious diseases such as strokes and heart attacks in the future. If you stop taking blood thinning medications because you feel there is no effect, this can be fatal to your health.
Another example is taking antibiotics. Yes, antibiotics are drugs that must be spent to prevent bacteria from becoming resistant in the body (not treated). If you ignore the rules for taking antibiotics, it is clear that this will make the bacteria in your body stronger and more difficult to fight.
4. Take other people's medication
This error is usually done if there are other family members who are sick with the same symptoms. Even though the symptoms of the disease are the same, your medical history and possible allergies may not be the same as other people.
For example, you take pain medication have your brother or sister to treat headaches, even though you have stomach acid reflux (GERD or ulcer). Some types of pain medication are not friendly in the stomach. So instead of treating headaches, these drugs actually cause symptoms of ulcer relapse.
Not necessarily the efficacy of the drug will have the same effect on your body. That's why you are not recommended to take other people's medication even though the symptoms of the disease are similar.
Easy tips for obediently following the rules for taking medication according to the prescription
Following the rules of taking medication from a doctor is very important to control the symptoms of chronic diseases and speed up the process of recovery of the disease. If you are still confused about how the rules for taking good and correct medicine, immediately visit the pharmacist or doctor to ask to be explained. Because only you alone can control compliance with medication.
Here are tips for easily following the rules of taking medicine so that you no longer miss:
- Install an alarm so you take medicine at the same time every day.
- Take medication between daily routines, such as after brushing your teeth or before going to bed. Make sure first whether the drug should be taken before or after meals.
- Use a special container to put medicine. This serves to make it easier for you to separate each drug with each dose and time to take the medicine, either in the morning, afternoon or evening.
- When traveling, always include your medicines in a bag that you always carry everywhere. If necessary, add the amount of medicine so you don't have to bother buying it again when the medicine runs out.
- When you get on a plane, make sure your medicines are in a bag that you carry everywhere. Avoid putting it in the trunk because hot temperatures can damage the drug.
