Have you come across someone who stopped taking their medicine just because they started feeling better?
As a healthcare professional, This is one of the most common mistake I come across.Many people believe if their symptoms improve,the illness is gone and they don’t need medicine any further.
But here is the reality-
Feeling better doesn’t always mean you have fully recovered.
People often stop medicines because they feel well,worrying about side affects,want to avoid taking more tablets or simply think they don’t need them anymore.Unfortunately, this decision can do more harm than good.
For example -A person with bacterial infection may stop the antibiotics after few days because the fever is gone.The symptoms may return , infection may become harder to treat them the only option left will be switching to harder antibiotics.
Here is what happens when different medicines are stopped too soon-
The duration of every medicine is prescribed for a reason.If you are feeling better it simply means that the treatment is working but not the time to stop the treatment.
Before continuing any medicine on your own as your doctor. A simple conversation may prevent complications, treatment failure and unnecessary health risk.
What’s the most common reason you have seen people stop their medicine before completion of prescribed course?
MBH/PS