Reasons You Need To Be Extra Careful When Taking Any Medication
When you fall ill or get diagnosed with a certain medical problem, medication is one of the most convenient forms of treatment your doctor, pharmacist, or healthcare provider will recommend to you. While some medications are designed to provide a cure, some are meant to keep your health condition in control and reduce the severity of symptoms. Meds can be life-saving, especially if you use it right.
While some medications are made by mixing chemical compounds in the lab, some are developed from natural sources, including medicinal herbs, leaves, roots, stems, barks, and seeds. Some are even extracted from other living organisms. In most cases, meds are either prescribed or bought over-the-counter, depending on the condition being addressed. However, safety is always a major concern when taking medication. The effectiveness and safety of medication highly depend on what you take, how you take it, and how much of it you take, making it important to have a keen eye on any medication you take.
On this note, here are some reasons you need to be extra careful when taking any medication.
To avoid side effects
It's very important to recognize that while medicines can help to improve and maintain your health, any type of medication has the potential to cause unexpected and unwanted side effects. Side effects are undesirable effects caused by a drug or medical treatment, whether taken at the recommended dose or not. Medical treatment side effects can range from mild, severe to life-threatening, depending on the type of medication. Other factors that affect the development of drug side effects include body weight, maternity status, age, gender, allergies, and social factors such as alcoholism. Below are common causes of drug side effects and drug-induced injuries, they include:
Improper labeling
Mislabeling of medication can either happen at the pharmacy or even before the medicines leave the manufacturer. This means that the patient can end up receiving the wrong medicine or alternatively the wrong dosage and this can result in overdose or under dosage, leading to the drug’s adverse effects. When this happens, the manufacturer or the pharmacists could be liable for your drug prescription injuries. If you believe you’re a victim of improper labeling, a good drug side effects attorney can help you determine who was at fault and get you compensated for medical malpractice. They’ll carry out thorough investigations to determine whether it’s the manufacturer, healthcare provider or pharmacist that should be held accountable.
Make sure to be extra careful when buying drugs for heart-related issues. Use an authentic pharmacy like pharmacy where prescription meds like Xarelto are never mislabeled: https://www.90daymeds.com/product/xarelto/
Overprescribed medication
This is an all too familiar scenario where a pharmacist or a doctor prescribes you more than the required dosage. Again, this can lead to overdosing and you can end up experiencing drug side effects.
Using the wrong drugs
Treating a medical condition with the wrong medicine can cause various side effects. It's therefore important to ensure that before taking any medication to treat certain ailments, you've been tested and diagnosed.
Using defective drugs
It's wrong to use expired and defective drugs. Before taking any medication, it's important to check the date of manufacturing and the expiry date as expired or defective drugs could lead to adverse side effects.
To avoid allergic reactions
Another reason to be extra careful when taking medication is to avoid allergic reactions. It's important to ensure that your doctor, pharmacist, or other healthcare providers are aware of any drug allergies you might have. Various drugs can trigger an allergic reaction and some medications can cause these problems than others. In addition to this, how you take your drugs can also play a role in triggering your allergies. For instance, some people can be allergic to certain topical medications. Anyone can be allergic to any drugs, but some common drugs that tend to trigger allergies include:
Aspirin
Chemotherapy drugs
Insulin
Antibiotics like penicillin
Anti-inflammatory drugs
If you suspect that a certain medication is causing a reaction, it's important to go for a blood test or a skin test. You may also be required to take an oral drug test, which in all these cases, you'll be supervised by an experienced allergist in determining the cause of your allergies.
Safety for others
When taking medication, you also want to ensure the safety of those around you. While your pharmacist's greatest concern is to ensure your safety when taking medication, you also need to be mindful of anyone under your care. It's important to know the risks associated with your medications and how they can affect the people around you. Most people assume that kids are small adults and they'll not adhere to the strict instructions of keeping medications away from children's reach. Well, this should not be the case.
In addition to this, you also need to know about safe practices to dispose of unwanted medications. This is not only safe to humans, but it's kind to the environment. While drug storage can have an impact on their effectiveness, storing medicines poorly could also affect you or those around you. Let's take a look at various ways to store your medicines safely:
Store your medication in a cool, dry place
Keep medicines in their original containers
Keep the original labels on the containers
Medicines that require refrigeration must be kept at the required temperatures
If possible use childproof containers on your medicine
Keep your medicines out of sight, especially out of children's reach
Avoid taking your medication in front of your kids to prevent them from imitating you
Dosages and other instructions
It's very important that when prescribed certain medications, you follow your doctor's instructions to the letter. This is because the success of any medical treatment using prescription medication is highly dependent on how you follow the dosage and directions of use. Most people, perhaps out of having a busy schedule, may forget to take their medication, skip doses, or fail to observe dosage consistency. All these can be deleterious to your recovery and your overall health. If you fall into this category, using a seven-day pillbox will help you to stay on track.
It addition to helping you get better, following your doctor's instructions can also help in preventing side effects and overdosing. In case you have any questions regarding your prescribed medication, it’s of great essence to ensure that you've asked your doctor or pharmacist at any point in the treatment regimen. Additionally, it's best to let your doctor know beforehand if you have any allergies towards certain drugs or ingredients in the medicines. This can help prevent a lot of unpleasant consequences and you’ll have yourself to thank later.Medication adherence is an important factor in early recovery and it's imperative to observe safety practices when taking any kind of medication. Not taking your meds as prescribed or being careless with your medicines can land you into some serious problems. All the same, the above are a few reasons why you should be extremely keen about your meds.