A game of twister
Is this all we have to look forward to?
As we get older, many of us have a problem: We make errors when taking medication. And I’ll bet that if you aren’t having a hard time keeping track of yours, (hopefully you have none to track!) you probably have parents or friends who are.
This is serious, especially for those who are taking at least three different medications. Those folks are twice as likely to make an error, according to a study that followed 30,000 Medicare patients. Patients taking more than seven medications are three times more likely to make an error.
Sadly, the underlying causes that were connected to these errors were medical issues such as dementia, confusion and sensory problems. Here these patients are, trying to muddle through and take care of themselves, and the deck is stacked against them.
You take the blue pill after breakfast, the white pill on an empty stomach, and the yellow pill as soon as you wake up—but after a full glass of water! Also, be sure to take the blue pill twice a day, the white pill three times, and the yellow one once—but not with food.
I remember a scene similar to this from What’s Up, Doc?, a hilariously funny Barbara Streisand movie. A judge has lined up on his enormous desk a bunch of pill bottles. His bailiff asks why he has to take so many, and the dialogue was similar to the above, but was especially funny when he said that one of the pills was meant as a reminder for taking one of the other pills.
It may be funny in the movies, but sadly this is the type of absurdity that plays out in real life every single day for a good many folks.
Is it any wonder so many of our friends and family members are confused when taking their prescription medications?
And Big Pharma persists in turning every symptom into a disease that can only be treated by their increasingly expensive drugs. It’s gotten way out-of-hand. Exactly how many prescriptions can one person be expected to keep track of, with their variety of instructions? Then, they’re also expected to keep track of any changes to their medications and dosages?
I for one don’t want the rest of my years to play that tune. Don’t tell me to take pills to “improve” my health that will actually make me worse off than I started!
This all comes down to advice I’ve given over and over, but bears repeating: A healthy dialogue between you and your doctor is critical. If you have to be on a prescription drug—and I won’t flat-out deny that there are certain times and certain conditions where it just can’t be helped—it is better to make sure you are correctly taking your medication. Always confirm your dosage instructions.
And please, encourage your circle of family and friends to be their own best advocate when they go to see their doctor. You need to partner with your doctor and be an active participant in your own health if you want the medical system to work for you and do more than just throw you onto its conveyor belt!
