The Risks of Self-Medication: Knowing When to Seek Professional Help


20240909_114756_0000.png

Many of us have been exposed to self-medication since we were young till we are now adults, our parents are doctors who specialise in giving us drugs without a prescription from the hospital and we are always fine after a few days, we see them as our gods and professionals when it comes to treating us from our sicknesses.

One of the reasons is due to a lack of finances to take us to the hospital. Most parents struggle to feed the family and when sicknesses show up, they prefer to perform one or two magic with these less expensive drugs being bought at the pharmacy to treat us hoping that they are effective in making us healthy because they will be like, "We are looking for money to feed, how do we raise money for the hospital?". For many of us, our parents rely so much on herbal concoctions which are very effective at some point but not for every sickness.


I will be sharing two scenarios where I believe going for self-medication can be risky even though it costs less money. Self-medication can work well with minor illnesses like headaches, colds, slight fevers, migraine etc but when actually can one visit the hospital and not rely on self-medication?

There was a time I was seriously sick; I never knew what caused it but the common cause is malaria. My friends made herbal concoctions for me and bought some malaria drugs to treat me but the case was getting severe day by day and I started questioning the professionalism of the pharmacist. I was all wrong because I was treating a sickness with the wrong drugs.

I went home to get proper treatment but when I got to my aunt's place, she took it to be a spiritual thing and was at home for two days while she went into intense prayer firing at the invincible demons who were minding their businesses on other cases 😆. Poverty is a killer truly. It was not until my uncle came around, saw how my condition was and forcefully took out money from his pocket to take me to the hospital. I got there and was given the first drip before other treatment commenced.

The doctor told my aunt that if they had waited another day before bringing me to the hospital that day, things would have gone worse because according to him, it was typhoid and malaria that caused the sickness and it has gone deep inside my body. I was given more than 2 drips that night and the next day, I was discharged but I was still not feeling well until I travelled to my parents who took me to another hospital and more drips were passed on to me, I was in the hospital for 3 days before I was discharged.



pexels-photo-4210617.jpeg

Another incident was my dad. A few months ago, he complained of a slight illness, we told him to get some drugs since we thought it was just a mild one. Just as he used to do, he bought some malaria drugs to treat himself but a few days later, he was still not feeling fine. We decided to send some money to visit the hospital but he was adamant and used the money for something else, bought another dose of malaria drugs but the case turned worse.

I was called some weeks later that he had been rushed to the hospital when he could not move his body on the bed. The cause was bacterial infection and we spent over 80k on him till he was discharged.


One thing about self-medication is that sometimes we don't know what we are treating as we might be using the wrong drug. The major cause of sickness is malaria and we quickly get the drugs over the canteen without visiting the hospital to know what is wrong.


pexels-photo-4058362.jpeg

The best way to know when to stop self-medication is after using a drug and the symptoms persist after a few days, then it is a warning to visit the hospital where you will be treated and the right drugs will be prescribed to you by a professional doctor or nurse. It is not every time one would rely on self-medication, I understand that money plays a big role in making sure we are healthy, but that shouldn't make us rely on prescribing drugs by ourselves because it's risky and the surest way to kill ourselves.

Sometimes, we might not be using the right drug for whatever is wrong with us, it's just an assumption but when you aren't feeling well after using the drugs, it is important to do it the right way to become better by being diagnosed to know what is wrong with you. Self-medication does not work for all sicknesses, especially in cases of diabetes, stroke, cancer etc. Health is wealth and we must do the necessary things instead of going our way.


Thumbnail image gotten and designed on Canva || Second image:Karolina || Third image:Castorly Stock

Thanks for your time reading. Looking forward to your interaction.

20240101_131050_0000.png

Posted Using InLeo Alpha



0
0
0.000
35 comments
avatar

she took it to be a spiritual thing and was at home for two days while she went into intense prayer firing at the invincible demons who were minding their businesses on other cases

Hahahaha.

i'm glad that you were treated. haha.

0
0
0.000
avatar

There are cases where self-medication is effective, but usually for simpler things. However, we cannot deny the risks involved in this practice, and caution is necessary

0
0
0.000
avatar

Yes. Self-medication is effective for minor illnesses but not all the time too. We just need to be careful.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Like seriously?? After your "herbalist" friends, it was your aunty 😂. She decided to cast and bind evil spirits that were on their own relaxing in their abode. Wahala be like bicycle 😂!
Thank God for your uncle that squeezed out money and took you to the hospital.

but he was adamant and used the money for something else,

This is one of the problems of self- medication. People tend to see it as a waste of money and would rather channel the money to something they deemed important. I'm glad you guys were able to save his life.
#Dreemerforlife.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Hahaha. Don't mind my aunt. She takes everything to be spiritual even when someone is dying. Lol
If not for my uncle who showed up at the right time.
Yes, they feel it's a waste of money and would go for self-medication but caution is necessary because not everything is self-medication as it can be risky.

0
0
0.000
avatar

We will be using paracetamol for headaches, how are we sure that it is the headache that is causing the hotness of the body, we never want to go to the hospital just because we are avoiding bad news but it is always good to seek help rather than giving an injection to ourselves at home. Nice post

0
0
0.000
avatar

Yes oo. Seeking help when we are sick is important so as to know what the actual cause of an illness is. We shouldn't always rely on self-medication all the time.

0
0
0.000
avatar

It's the spiritual approach for me😅.
To be very very very sincere, I hate that approach of attaching spirituality to sickness at first. No doubt, there are sicknesses that are spiritually behind but come on, treat the flesh first while you go about fighting the spirit

0
0
0.000
avatar

Even before going spiritual, you would have gone to hospital and when they can't do anything, then seeking help outside the hospital would be needed. Health is something we should not take with levity hands.

0
0
0.000
avatar

That's it.
I remember a time a sick man that was kept waiting for a pastor to return from a journey to come and pray for him, died.
F oo lishness

0
0
0.000
avatar

Imagine. Yes, we believe in prayer but at the same time, we need to visit the hospital while also praying that everything we use works effectively in us.

0
0
0.000
avatar

I need to talk to that your aunt and ask her something 😂. Spirituality got me rolling on the floor. Firing demons got me asleep.

Anyways I am awake now. So I think it was that time you sent me a picture of yourself on the sickbay and still writing a post 😂

0
0
0.000
avatar

🤣🤣🤣🤣 me that was still writing while receiving drip 😄😄😄
My aunt can be funny.

0
0
0.000
avatar

For many of us, our parents rely so much on herbal concoctions which are very effective at some point but not for every sickness.

Hmmmm, up till now my parents are still relying on herbal concoctions 😂😂😂😂😂 and it is very effective. My dad does and sometimes, he won't be able to walk again😂😂😂😂. It's funny she

For this GenZ season, it doesn't work that way. In fact, so many young people won't care to take all this herbal treatment; to them, it's dirty and barbaric.

Thank you for sharing with us.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Yes oo. This Gen z children prefer visiting the hospitals as they call these herbal concoctions useless, they never understood that was what we were brought up with and at the same time, it shouldn't be relied on totally.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Two days? Yeesh! The agony and weakness. Thank God for your uncle. I hope you never visited that pharmacist again.

Glad your dad got health care in time, too, but how many years ago was that, though?

0
0
0.000
avatar

Yes oo, two days before my uncle showed up. I felt this weakness and irritation all over me. It wasn't easy.
For my Dad, it happened just few weeks ago while mine was in year 2019/2020 can't remember the exact year vividly.

0
0
0.000
avatar

What happened to your dad is always happening to some of us who refused to hear. For us Africans we prefer self medication because of the cost of going to the hospital. Thank God he is okay now.
Thanks for sharing

0
0
0.000
avatar

Yes oo. Self-medication is seen as less expensive than going to the hospital but it is best we visit one to know the actual cause of an ailment.

0
0
0.000
avatar

I agree with you on this completely. Once drugs have been used but symptoms persist, then it is time to see a doctor pronto!

0
0
0.000
avatar

Yes oo. Some people still won't heed to such thing. They will keep using self-medication drugs and hurting themselves the more.

0
0
0.000
avatar

The reason why people do self-medication is because it's cheap and not expensive like going to the hospital for proper care. Also, we tend to use paracetamol for headaches and stomach pain which is not suppose to be, paracetamol will only relieve our pain not cure it.

0
0
0.000
avatar

You are right. Paracetamol is just to relieve pain and most times, it doesn't work until we visit an hospital.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Do you know what is our main problem? It's that we think of ourselves as doctors and we try to show our skills whenever we get the opportunity. For minor diseases, it can be effective but it mostly brings destruction for us. One-time mistakes even cost our life also. It's better to take the suggestions from professionals.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Even with this skill of treating ourselves, we still make mistakes in the dosage as we tend to overuse a drug than normal. A doctor will prescribe the exact dosage to use than when we self-medicate ourselves and killing ourselves in the process.

0
0
0.000