REMEMBERING TO TAKE YOUR MEDICATIONS PROPERLY - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW AND MAKING IT EASIER TO REMEMBER
This article explains the importance of taking medications properly. Information on what you need to know about your medications, as well as tools to help you remember to take your medication are included.
(PRWEB) October 25, 2003
Have you ever forgotten to take your medication as instructed? Or skipped doses to save money? Or taken someone elseÂ’s medication?
If you do any of the above, then you could:
· Lose time at work from staying sick (over 20 million workdays are lost every year);
· Be one of the 10% who end up in the hospital;
· Be one of the 23% that end up in a nursing home because of a simple error; or even,
· Die. 125,000 people a year die from not taking their medications properly.
Imagine. Of over 3 billion prescriptions written every year, one third is taken completely as written, one third are filled but not finished as instructed, and one third are never even filled. It doesnÂ’t make much sense to go to the doctor and then not take his/her advice.
Your doctor prescribes these medications to control and/or cure your illness and disease. Taking your medications properly can prolong your life and/or improve the quality of your life.
By not taking your medications properly, your disease or illness can progress. Many times the symptoms are mild or unnoticeable, such as in high blood pressure or diabetes, until you are seriously ill. In the case of antibiotics, by not taking the full prescription, you are allowing the bacteria to become resistant to the medication. It then comes back harder and stronger— which means the doctor has to prescribe even ‘stronger’ antibiotics. Some of these ‘stronger’ antibiotics have possible serious side effects.
Not taking your medications properly is called medication noncompliance. This could be as simple as taking too much or too little, taking them erratically because we forget or just stopping because we feel better. Americans spend over $100 billion on medication noncompliance every year in increased emergency room visits, hospital and nursing home admissions, as well as doctor visits and outpatient testing. Since almost 50% of all prescriptions filled are not taken properly, it is no wonder that our medical costs are skyrocketing.
It is important to know as much as possible about your medication. Ask your doctor and your pharmacist to make sure you understand why you are taking the medication and what it will do for you. YouÂ’ll want to know how long it will take to work and how you will know it is working properly. Just as important, you need to know what the possible side effects are and if there are any alternatives.
Make sure you know the following about your medication:
· How much to take
· How often and the best times for you to take it
· How to take it— with water, with food or on an empty stomach
· Should it be kept in the refrigerator or is it okay to store at room temperature
· If you need a refill, when is it due
· If there is anything that would adversely affect you. Some medications will not work as well or can cause you to get sick if taken with certain foods, alcohol, certain herbal remedies and other medications (whether prescription or over the counter).
Thirty-two million of us take five or more medications a day, sometimes several times a day. This can get very confusing. Luckily, there are many tools—both low-tech and high-tech—
Available to help us remember. Some of the low-tech tools include the infamous pillboxes that we all use, divided by day, morning and evening, or by the week or the medication charts that are used with the pillboxes or alone for reference. Others are diaries or booklets.
Some of the tools to help us remember how to take our meds include:
Weekly Medication Charts by Easy Minder Reusable Lists. This great new product is a reusable, write-on, wipe-off medication chart. It comes in two formats – medication schedule by time of day (with 14 time slots) or all the information for each individual medication (up to 8 medications). Caregivers look this chart because it shows whether the medication has been taken. Visit www. easyminders. com or call (978) 681- 9969 for more information on these easy-to-use charts.
Does your medication speak to you? There are also pill bottles that “tell” you the information you need. A pharmacist designed the Talking Rx® for the visually impaired. Visit www. talkingrx. com or call (860) 426-0542 for more information.
Finally, there are even timers, pagers and watches with vibrating
Alarms and beeps to tell you what time to take your medications. These along with several types of dispensers can be found at www. epill. com.
Now you have it. There is no excuse any longer for forgetting to take your medications properly and as intended by your physician. Only you can impact the quality of your health for the better simply by following your doctorÂ’s advice and taking your medications properly
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