Family Education on Medications
Education on Medications
It was fun assessing two of my family member’s knowledge on the medications that they are currently taking. One of my family members has diabetes type 2 and he is currently taking metformin HCL 500mg one tab twice a day and glyburide 5 mg daily every morning. He only knew he had to be compliant with his medication or his glucose level would get higher and told me that the medication was used to lower glucose levels. He didn’t know about side effects so I educated him on that having used my Skyscape app. I told him that Metformin HCL tells the liver to decrease the production of glucose, decreases the ability of your intestines to absorb glucose and increases the sensitivity of insulin. Also, metformin can cause abdominal bloating, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, unpleasant metallic taste and hypoglycemia. Moreover, I told him that metformin helps control hyperglycemia but doe not cure diabetes. I also told him that if he experiences hypoglycemia to take a glass of orange juice or 2-3 tsp of sugar, honey, or corn syrup dissolved in water, and notify the health care professional.
The second medication he is taking is glyburide. The action of this drug is different than Metformin HCL, but its main goal also is to control hyperglycemia. Basically it lowers glucose levels by stimulating the release of insulin from the pancreas and increasing the sensitivity to insulin at receptor sites. Also, it tells the liver to decrease the production of glucose. Some of the side effects can be feeling dizzy, drowsy, feeling weak or having a headache. Moreover, it can cause constipation so I told him to drink lots of water and fiber rich foods like vegetables and fruits. It can also cause cramps, diarrhea, feeling of fullness, increases the appetite, photosensitivity so wear sunscreen when outdoors, hypoglycemia, and aplastic anemia (when the bone marrow does not make enough blood cells from the body such as RBCs that carry oxygen, WBCs to fight an infection, and platelets to control bleeding.
The second family member takes atenolol 50 mg once daily. Basically this drug decreases the BP, decreases frequency of attacks of angina pectoris (chest pain) and it prevent a heart attack (MI). Some of the side effects are fatigue, weakness, anxiety, depression, dizzy, insomnia, memory loss, blurred vision, stuffy nose, wheezing, decreases heart rate, constipation, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, urinary frequency, and either hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia. Also, I educated her on managing her high blood pressure by loosing weight; avoid too much sodium intake, and practice stress reduction such as meditation. Overall, they were both amazed as too the many side effects that a tiny pill can cause. I loved this assignment!
