Forgetting To Take Your Medication Can Hurt You In The Long Run.
Prescription medicine adherence is a bigger problem than what one would expect. In fact, a high percent of people do not adhere to the prescription they receive from their doctor. The few that follow the prescription will only do so for a few days and then forget about it. Some of the causes of lack of prescription medicine adherence are:
- Forgetting to take the medicine.
This is common especially with the busy work schedules. If the ailment you are suffering from does not render you bed ridden, then your chances of forgetting to take the medication are very high. - Fear of Side Effects.
The fear of side effects of the medication is also a major cause of lack of adherence. Some of these side effects might be real while others are just fictional that you create in your head. - Lack of Patience.
If the drug is not working as quickly as expected then most people would choose to discontinue taking it. If also you feel well after the first few doses you may not see the need to complete the prescribed dose. - Complicated Instructions.
If the prescription involves taking the drug frequently or following complicated instructions and restrictions like no alcohol, then this will discourage some people from taking it.
These are just some of the reasons that people don’t adhere to prescription but whatever reason you may have there are effects of not adhering.
Effects of Medicine Non-Adherence
- Declining Health.
The most obvious effect of not adhering to prescription is that you will not get well. The symptoms of the ailment will not be relieved and the disorder will not be cured. - Decreased Chance of Success.
Some diseases can be properly managed or even completely cured when detected early e.g. some types of cancers. However at an advanced stage there is no known cure for them. Failure to adhere to your prescription may lead to the growth of the diseases beyond a curable state. - Transmission of Disease.
Lack of adherence can also lead to the transmission of the diseases from one person to another. For example sexually transmitted diseases can be passed from one person to another if medication is not properly taken to treat the infected person. - Increased Medical Costs.
The cost of treatment will shoot up if you don’t adhere to your medicine prescription. Failure to take simple medication that you would have been done with within a few days might result in you paying thousands of dollars for treatment when the ailment becomes more severe. - Making Future Treatments More Difficult.
Lack prescription medicine adherence might make your body drug resistant making it more difficult for treatment to be effective. A good example is when you fail to take antibiotics as prescribed. This will give room for the infection to flare up which is the perfect breeding ground for drug-resistant bacteria.
Ensuring you take you medication as per the doctors’ instructions cannot be overemphasized. Even if you feel better after the first few doses always ensure you finish the dose. Better communication with your doctor and our pharmasists at Rapps Pharmacy can help you adhere to your prescription. Our prescription packaging services can greatly simplify your daily routine in taking your prescribed medicine each day.
Do not take chances with the well being of your body as you don’t have many of them.