Page 36 - Seniorstoday January 2022 Issue

Health
Remembering your
medication schedule
Oftentimes medication is the thin line between life and death,
making it imperative to follow up diligently with your prescription,
writes Dr Nandini Saini
Medications are an important, and
sometimes, annoying part of our lives.
For some, they’re just meds, but for a lot
of people, they could literally make the
difference between life and death. It should
be a good motivation to remember taking
them on schedule, as prescribed.
However, it is very common for people
to miss taking their medicines on time.
Though the reason given is usually, “I
forgot!!” there could actually be another
explanation for this.
Make sure you understand your medication properly cured, hence no medicine required.
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Some of the reasons people, especially
seniors forget their medications are:
1.Misunderstanding: They are prescribed
a whole lot of medicines, for various
ailments. It could be difficult for a person to
remember takin all.
2.Cost: At times, the medicines are very
expensive, and people just can’t fit them
into their budgets. They just let a few of
them slip through or stretch them for
longer.
3. Side effects: The side effects caused by
some medicines make people over cautious.
For example, a long time pain killer can
cause acidity…it might seem easier to just
skip it than go through the reflux, or add an
additional antacid.
4. Mistrust: “Do we really need so many
drugs?” It’s a very common question asked
by the patients.
5. Lack of symptoms: Reduction in
the severity of symptoms seems to be a
common excuse to skip or deliberately stop
medicines. Patients reason that they are