Medications: Love Them or Hate Them
I hear complaints from patients every day about how many pills they have to take.
I would like to comment on these almost universal complaints. American's enjoy increasingly longer life spans. Commonly people are living well into their eighties or nineties. Our increasing longevity is certainly not because of the American's healthy life styles! We eat more fat, sugar and salt than most other nations. Our obesity rates are rising and our activity level is shrinking. Childhood obesity and diabetes are sky rocketing. Plus, many Americans continue the ridiculous habit of smoking.
Quite simply, Americans owe increased longevity to good genes, some luck and yes, the medications we love to hate. Drug companies are putting out better products which treat more physical ailments and better manage chronic illnesses which give us the gift of more birthdays.
If you have a complaint or concern about a side affect or cost of a medication, ask the doctor if there are other options. New generations of medications are always more expensive and sometimes (not always) there are less expensive options. Doctors are not paying for their greens fees with your medication dollars and drug companies invest billions developing new medications. They are in the business of making profits. This isn't a bad thing and complaining about it won't treat your illness.
This is what every patient needs to do:
Be informed! Purchase a drug book. They are a bit expensive but are available at book stores and worth the cost. Or use the internet to review each medication you take. Be familiar with each medication you take, specifically what disease or symptom it treats. Do not spend tons of time on reviewing all the side affects! ALL drugs have LOTS of potential side affects. You doctor is well aware of these when he prescribes the drug and yet he did so anyway.
Notify your MD of ALL the medications you are taking. Different specialists prescribe different drugs. Doctors don't always know and can't be expected to know what other physicians are prescribing and sometimes combining certain medications can be dangerous.
Bring a list of your current medications to the ER or hospital if you are admitted. In fact, keep one in your wallet at all times. Keep it updated.
Use a mediset or med box to manage your medications. These boxes can be purchased at a drug store, cost about $10.00 and make it easier for patient's to take their meds. They have compartments for each day of the week and can be filled by a family member if opening pill bottles are difficult.
As pharmaceutical companies develop more meds for what ails us, we will probably be taking even more meds in the future. Some drug companies are combining two or three drugs into one tablet which decreases the number of pills swallowed. There are trade offs for everything in life. More meds ... more birthdays. Isn't it worth it?
