Avoid These Mistakes When Taking a Prescription Medication
If your doctor has prescribed any type of medication for you, it's vital that you pay close attention to his or her instructions on how and when to take that medication and what to avoid while taking it. This will ensure that you get the most benefit from taking that pill or syrup or other prescription. Beyond his or her instructions, however, you might note a few mistakes that you will want to avoid when taking prescription medication, and ask your doctor about any concerns you have about what they've prescribed.
Not taking enough
Medications are prescribed in certain doses for a reason; if you don't take your dose as prescribed, you may then actually suffer serious health complications. Never think that you can take just part of your medication or can cut pills in half to make them last longer; this can mean not having enough of a medication in your system to do what it should do, which puts your health at risk. If you can't afford your medications, your doctor may be able to prescribe a generic brand or make other suggestions, but don't take it upon yourself to change your dosage in any way.
If you don't think you're getting the right dosage, you may need compounding services to perfect the medicine.
Not taking the medication on a full or empty stomach
You may notice that some medications are supposed to be taken with food, and others should be taken on an empty stomach. Never overlook these instructions or assume they're minor and unimportant, as this affects how easily the medication can break down in the stomach. Some medications need to be taken with food so that the body's digestive process will then help to break down that medication and allow it to be absorbed into the system. On the other hand, having food in the stomach might dilute some medications. Whatever the case, always take the medication as directed by your doctor or on the label of the medication itself.
Using expired medication
If prescribed medication has expired, it may not have a bad smell or change colour. However, even when expired pills or syrups or other such medications may look and smell fine, it may still be very dangerous to take. Their chemicals will typically break down over time so that they're either inactive or outright toxic after their expiration date. Avoid taking these, and instead, talk to your doctor about how to get your prescription refilled as needed.