If you need steady state medications (dosages that last 24 hours around the clock), to effectively control your condition and you take it half the time or miss doses, guess what? You have caused your own treatment failure. Everything has been going well and then …Bam! You feel like crap and you don’t know why.
What has happened? Is your medication helping you, hurting you or just plain not working for you anymore?
How many of you have wondered if your medication is hurting you or if it is really helping you? Quite a few, I am sure. You are right to consider those possibilities, because it happens more than you think.
Can your body become used to the medication?
Your body becomes tolerant to the medication and you no longer get the same benefits or results. You may have added another medication that is interfering with the medication. You can be sure that something has changed. But what? That takes some digging.
It happens quite a lot in folks that are taking medications for depression, anxiety, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, chronic pain, fibromyalgia, asthma or COPD. What is happening? Why is it happening?
Do your regimen correctly
Well, one thing that happens is that folks with chronic health conditions get sloppy when using their regular medications. They do not take it as they are supposed to. Sometimes, it is defiance and sometimes they forget. Did you know that there is a proper way to use mouth and nasal inhalers to get the benefits of the medication? You cannot just squirt all willy-nilly.
Is it the right medication for your needs?
Another thing that happens is the medication is not the right medication for you. You either metabolize it too quickly, too slowly or not at all. This happens a lot with antidepressants, pain medications and antiseizure medications. If you have had a treatment failure with any of these types of medications, I would suggest getting a genetics test. Full discloser – I do offer those tests for $595.00. All I need is an order from your physician, physician’s assistant or nurse practitioner stating a treatment failure or multiple tries with their NPI number and I can order you a test. Contact me if you want more information. 865-684-8771 or pat@EmpoweringHealthOptions.com.
Your body may have become tolerant to the medication and you need a change.
What you eat and drink may alter the absorption
A new medication has been introduced that is causing the current medication to have problems. It may even be a food that is causing metabolism problems. A new health condition may be the culprit. Even your own lifestyle decisions may be impacting the medication. Lifestyle factors include your diet, alcohol intake, recreational drug use, physical activity or the lack of physical activity.
Even medication overload can be the culprit. Medication overload includes too many medications and too much of a dose.
Your chronic health condition has progressed and gotten worse.
Is it the appropriate medication for your needs?
Another thing to consider is – Are you on the appropriate medication to begin with? Do you have an appropriate diagnosis? Remember, it is the practice of medicine and there are not absolutes. We do see mistakes in diagnosing. It is not always the doctor’s fault. Some things act and look like other conditions and diseases. So, it is very important to rule out what can be ruled out as a cause.
Imagine you or someone that you love had an emergency which required a trip to the hospital. When you get there, you will be asked a lot of important questions. One of the most important is a CURRENT Medications List. What are you taking? What strength? How are you taking it? Hopefully, they will also ask you, Why are you taking that?
Why are you taking this medicine?
The “why” is important because sometimes medications are used for off-label or other than their intended indications. For example, Seroquel® (quetiapine) which has indications for Bipolar disorder and Schizophrenia, may be used for sleep.
Do you have a current medications list? Where is it? How easily can emergency personnel find it? Have a written or hard copy in your wallet that is updated every 6 months or every time your medications change.
I would also include your over-the-counter medications as well as supplements and herbal products.
Yes, I know. You think that you will remember all of that, but trust me you will not remember everything during a stressful situation. Cortisol will hijack your brain and you will be physiologically unable to recall everything that you are taking for 30 minutes to an hour or longer.
Medication misuse and abuse
Medication misuse and abuse happens all the time and it causes 1 in 5 Emergency department visits. The most commonly misused medications are Opioids (pain medications), Central Nervous System (CNS) depressants (used for tranquilizers, anxiety, sleep) and Stimulants (ADHD medications). These are not the only ones, just the most common.
Misuse
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- Taking a medicine that was prescribed for someone else
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- Taking a larger dose than you are supposed to
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- Taking the medicine in a different way than you are supposed to. This might be crushing tablets and then snorting or injecting them.
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- Using the medicine for another purpose, such as getting high
Abuse
Prescription drug abuse is the use of a prescription medication in a way not intended by the prescribing doctor. Prescription drug abuse or problematic use includes everything from taking a friend’s prescription painkiller for your backache to snorting or injecting ground-up pills to get high. Drug abuse may become ongoing and compulsive, despite the negative consequences.
When will you write out and place your list in your wallet? Write it on your calendar. What gets written down, gets done.
Pat
