Here Is How Skipping Your Medication Can Cost You

Skipping medications or starting them without consulting the doctor is a standard practice amongst Indians. However, you should remember that self-medication is one of the biggest mistakes when you are living with a condition as serious as hypertension.

Suppose a drug administration lasts for a maximum of five days, and the patient in question fully recovers on the 3rd day. In that case, they don’t feel the necessity to continue with the medication according to the prescribed duration. So it’s not like skipping pills causes actual problems all the time. It is, however, dependent on the kind of medication.

In most cases, most of these pills fail to work when the duration prescribed by the doctor is not complete. Therefore, it also poses a risk factor for hypertension patients.

What Are the Obvious Risks of Skipping Medication?

You might seem alright while skipping your medications, but there is a risk involved. It can turn out to affect you in the least possible way you might expect. It might even turn out to be worse if the doses missed are much. But, on the other hand, it can also lead to health deterioration.

Possible Things That Will Happen When You Skip Your Medication

Here are the possible facts that could occur whenever you miss your medication:

• The Medication Might Lose Its Potency:

  Skipping medication might lead to loss of drug potency. This implies that if you’re skipping medications, BP medications especially, and you somehow fail to complete your dosage, it might cause the drugs to be ineffective, which will lead to an adverse effect.

• Skipping Medication Can Cause Adverse Effects:

  Various medications work in different ways. However, some medicines like antidepressants work by activating chemical shifts to the brain. Once there is a skip in medication, this medical skip might disturb the chemical shift in the brain. As a result, it could eventually cause symptoms like headaches, flu, insomnia, and anxiety.

• The Ailment Might Become Difficult To Cure:

  In cases of severe ailments such as HIV, skipping medication can weaken your body’s resistance against the virus. In addition, it could eventually cause the virus to gain complete control over the immune system.

• Increase Potassium

  Potassium eases tension in your blood vessels by reducing the effects of salt in your system. Foods that are naturally high in potassium include low-fat dairy foods like milk and yoghurt, fish, fruits like bananas, apricots, avocados, and oranges, vegetables like sweet potatoes, potatoes, tomatoes, greens, and spinach

• Health Complications:

  For instance, you happen to be taking medications to lower blood pressure. If you begin to skip your prescription, it will result in serious health complications. Some of these health complications might lead to heart failure. Even if you’re a stroke patient, not taking your complete dosage will only worsen the condition.

What Can I Do If I Skipped My Medication?

It is an essential question that many fail to get right. However, the answer to this question is dependent on the kind of medication in question. For instance, there are severe health conditions like diabetes and hypertension where skipping medication should be avoided. If you miss your hypertension medication, it’s okay to ask your doctor ASAP to prevent the risk factors of hypertension. Most physicians will advise you to continue from the next dosage, while others might notify you to wait till the next day.

Nonetheless, skipping medication shouldn’t be a habit. Never make personal decisions regarding your health. Instead, ensure you call your doctor regarding your medical prescriptions.

There is also an application guide that can help with skipped medication. The timing is the key to understanding the following action to take after missing your dosage. For instance, if your skipped dosage is still less than two hours, you could still take the dosage and continue with the subsequent dosages. So if you’re wondering what to do in high bp cases, you can also apply this guide. When the skipped dosage is over two hours, this will rely on how regularly you take your medication.

• If the medication has a once or twice a day prescription, you can still go ahead and take your skipped dosage since there is still a couple of hours between the next dosage. However, there are cases where this guide might not be applicable. For example, it’s not suitable for insulin.
• If the medication has a thrice or more daily prescription, it’s safer to wait till the actual time of the next dose.

Helping You Keep Track Of Your Medication

People conclude that forgetfulness is the primary reason for skipping medications. However, it could also be because of the medical potency of the drugs. Some drugs are quite problematic when they are in your system. They cause side effects that could lead to skipping your next dosage. There are also the pretty expensive medications that need to finish before refilling is guaranteed. We will help you with some essential guides that will help you follow your medical dosage accordingly:

Get The Right Variation:

So many medications come in variations. Some come in tablets and capsules. Go for one that is convenient with your body system.

Quit When You Feel Better:

Some medications are not for the long-term. They are specifically for a certain period. Once the dosage is over, stop taking it.

Conclusion

We hope this article has helped you understand why skipping medications isn’t good for your well-being. A doctor’s job is to help you get better, and this can only become a reality when you follow the doctor’s prescription.