Six Reasons Why Patients Stop Taking Medicines
Several patients stop taking life saving medicines within a month of having a heart attack, says a study published in Archives of Internal Medicine. This study did not examine why people stop taking medicines. As for why people stop taking medicines, here is what my sources tell me.
1. Most of the medicines are very expensive. Health is precious, but there are situations where our bills take precedence over health.
2. People look to conventional (allopathic) medicine for acute problems. But they do not seem to have as much trust in allopathic medicine for health maintenance or chronic conditions.
3. We are unable to give concrete reasons for taking the medicines that we prescribe. Many proponents of natural products are able to make a stronger case for their products. It is not uncommon to see patients using their limited dollars to buy natural medicines instead of allopathic medicines.
4. There are several patients who take up a vigorous and healthy life style after a medical event like heart attack. They work very hard on leaving a feeling of vulnerability behind. Taking a fist-full of medicines is a daily reminder that they are still very sick. Ignoring to take medicines is a declaration that they are not sick any more.
5. Side effects are an important reason for stopping medicines. The side effects like “not feeling well”, “feeling fatigued”, “feeling nauseous” may have a completely different significance for the person experiencing them as compared to the prescriber
6. And last but not the least, patients have a life too. They can forget taking medicines just because…
Munch on this while I work on the steps to prevent patients from stopping medicines.
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1. Most of the medicines are very expensive. Health is precious, but there are situations where our bills take precedence over health.
2. People look to conventional (allopathic) medicine for acute problems. But they do not seem to have as much trust in allopathic medicine for health maintenance or chronic conditions.
3. We are unable to give concrete reasons for taking the medicines that we prescribe. Many proponents of natural products are able to make a stronger case for their products. It is not uncommon to see patients using their limited dollars to buy natural medicines instead of allopathic medicines.
4. There are several patients who take up a vigorous and healthy life style after a medical event like heart attack. They work very hard on leaving a feeling of vulnerability behind. Taking a fist-full of medicines is a daily reminder that they are still very sick. Ignoring to take medicines is a declaration that they are not sick any more.
5. Side effects are an important reason for stopping medicines. The side effects like “not feeling well”, “feeling fatigued”, “feeling nauseous” may have a completely different significance for the person experiencing them as compared to the prescriber
6. And last but not the least, patients have a life too. They can forget taking medicines just because…
Munch on this while I work on the steps to prevent patients from stopping medicines.
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posted by kc at 4:53 PM
1 Comments:
I found this interesting and have to admit that there are a few examples that you used that can pertain to me and a few others out there.
I have a tendancy to stop taking medicine after I feel good and I don't think I need it anymore.... But then as time goes on I find that isn't true. Or the cost is so high. You have to decide what is more important and that's a shame when it comes to that or what medicine is more important and what you can live without.
It can be difficult at times though to understand how a medicine is helping when the side effects are miserable. There have been a few medicines I have taken where you wonder if it is worth taking the medicine if you are going to feel so bad taking it.
What would you tell someone in that situation?
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