Medication education
Medication Education
This is something that happened to me recently. My friend has IBS and told me she had to go for a cortisone injection and was going to the Doctor’s office to get the injection. I noticed my friend has ben exhibiting the signs and symptoms f a cold over the last couple of says. My first question was. Has anybody educated you on cortisone? Has anybody told you about the side effects and when not to take it?. At this point my friend said what most people say. No, my Doctor told me to take it so I will take it. At this point I brought Skyscape up on my phone and showed her. Cortisone suppress the immune system and care should be taken when exhibiting sign and symptoms of colds and flu. So when she read it she called her Doctor and told him what was happening and he noted that the injection could wait a couple of days until she felt better.
My wife’s grandfather had a stroke and was put on a medication regiment of 16 medications. As a result he ended up in assisted living. When he came to visit my wife’s mother she was responsible for giving him all this medication. I asked if anybody trained her on how to give all this medication and she said. I just read the labels and give it when it is due. This was shocking to me. We trust healthcare providers and just follow the instructions. But I feel we must be educated on how to take medications correctly. Especially when it comes to a multi-medication regiment. When I looked at the medication it was overwhelming. The only thing that was listed was when to take, how to take it, and whether or not to take with food. For the side-effects and interactions I had to go online to find the information. I used pocket pharmacist an Application on my phone to check the medications and was surprised that some of the medications did have interaction warnings. Granted your Doctor has training and education in this regard but we should not just blindly follow instructions and take medications. We should always be part of the conversation and ask question, we should do research and ask more questions. I know a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing but if your healthcare provider practices Holistic medicine they would be happy to have you ask questions
