Part of ensuring your recovery from an illness is taking medication to mitigate its symptoms or manage side effects from treatments. Your physician can prescribe you a particular drug or set of drugs that will prevent your body from experiencing discomfort while you heal. Following your doctor’s orders isn’t just about taking your pills at the assigned time intervals. For a successful recovery, you must also develop habits that will be beneficial to your well-being.
Following your doctor’s orders
Undergoing treatment for a sudden illness or chronic condition will require you to keep a routine habit of taking your medication regularly. Remember that any medicine will have short and long-term implications that can affect your lifestyle and daily routines. Besides observing your regular dosage at the right time frames, you should also go the extra mile to ensure a successful recovery.
If you want to make a successful recovery, here are three tips you should consider when taking your medication:
1. Note your body’s changes
A few days after maintaining your treatment, you will start to notice different changes to your body as the medication takes effect. The more doses of the medicine you have, the higher chances you can develop side effects. This is why you shouldn’t take your medication mindlessly, even if your physician prescribes it.
Consider if you’re developing any changes to your weight, sleep schedule, heart rate, or digestion. Some physical symptoms may also manifest, along with behavioral changes. Note any of these instances and remember to report them to your doctor. Although some minor side effects are generally harmless, they could be an indicator of a different illness or require an adjustment for your dosage.
2. Be mindful of over the counter medicine
People with experience handling different medical conditions over the years tend to overestimate their familiarity with illnesses and the right medicine they should take. Prescribing yourself with over-the-counter (OTC) medicine can seem like a simple solution to manage your drug’s side effects. However, it can lead to dangerous chemical reactions.
Even something as minor as aspirin or Ibuprofen can alter or disrupt your medication’s effect on your body. Remember to ask your doctor if your current treatment will be compromised by taking OTC drugs. If you should be expecting some minor side effects from your medication, ask if there are alternatives that you can take to relieve your potential discomfort.
3. Ask questions about your treatment
Besides knowing the potential conflict of OTC medicine with your prescription, you should also ask other questions about your medication. It’s best to get a complete list of your prescription’s potential side effects. Another recurring question for medication is asking whether you should take it before or after meals. Most importantly, you should know any possible complications your body will experience when you miss a dose.
The essential questions above can apply to all forms of medication. However, you may need to ask specific questions, depending on the drug you’ll have to take regularly. If you forgot to ask your doctor, you could consult with a pharmacist about general information they can answer.
Conclusion
Medication even for just one illness can require several prescriptions to manage a set of symptoms. This can be a more demanding task, especially for elderly patients. Thankfully, physicians and patients can have better monitoring and tracking for prescription pills through medication management apps. Using these modern solutions can prevent the consequences of missing your meds.
Developments in the healthcare industry allow patients and physicians to have more seamless outpatient interactions. Our medication log app can help patients observe their medication and keep track of their medical needs. Download our app and avoid having medication management issues starting today!