NOT JUST DRUGS /// PLAYING THE PHYSICIAN

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I hate drugs just in the same equal measure as I hate injections and all things medicine.

I fell ill about two weeks ago, back at my village where I had traveled to for a funeral. It just happened out of the blue and because I was too weak to move, my mum had to go to a pharmacist nearby, described what I told her that I was feeling and bought some drugs. That's usually how it happens around here. No much health checks. Just go to a pharmacy,/chemist(whichever is available near you) and let them prescribe. Don't ask me the difference between both. If you're Nigerian, I would assume that you already know.

We rarely see a doctor except it's a serious ailment. For tests, we only run that if the physician instructs. Otherwise, we do what we do.
They could be harmful, but that's what a lot of us resort to. I have had any bad experience from buying medicines over the counter, but I have had my own drug/medication incident, which was horrifying, by the way.

So, when I was younger, in primary school. I think I was in basic three, then I returned from school feeling sick. Lucky for me, my dad was home, and when he saw the state I was in, he took me to get medications, after which I ate, took them, and slept off. When I awoke later in the evening, I felt lighter, like someone whose head was clear of headache but whose body had come under so much weight. I have come to the realization that anti-malarial drugs make one weaker and sicker than he was before he took them. I don't know how that works, but I hope you've noticed that too

Anyway, the next day, a Saturday, I felt much okay. My parents both left for work, leaving me with my older siblings. After a while of running around and being a kid, I felt unease. I complained to one of my older siblings who told me to go lay down a little since it wasn't until much later before I would take my other dosage. I did as he instructed but when after minutes(which felt to me like hours), I didn't feel okay, I went and took the drugs as I had seen my dad give me the previous day.

By mid afternoon, my brother came around and gave me food and the medication that I ingested without letting him know that I had earlier taken some. I slept right after and woke up feeling okay.

As expected, I went out to join my friends and neighbors outside to jump from pillar to post, playing. Suddenly, I began to feel a headache from all the running around. I told one of my playmates, and he said something in the lines of, 'whenever we're sick or having headache, my mummy usually gives us paracetamol. If you people have, go and take.' It sounded so bright an idea. I wondered why I didn't think in that direction.

Good enough for me. There was paracetamol in my prescribed medication. This was the point where I acted stupid. Rather than take the usual one capsule as my mum would give, I took two. I thought to myself that if one could give me relief, then two would make me feel whole permanently. Drug abuse was only what we learned in school. It did not bearing on my reasoning as a child

Unfortunately, it wasn't until much longer before I started to feel this terrible stomach pain. My siblings could do nothing but call for my mum. She called the family nurse, who came over immediately. Somehow, they got me to talk about what I had taken, and I confessed to having taken the drug without supervision and to taking paracetamol. The pain that day was horrifying. Felt like my insides were tightening.

Good enough for me, there was a health practitioner on standby who helped. I think she gave me drip that day.
After then, no one told me to never go near drugs. I was too terrified of them. Important, I'm glad help came quickly. Could have been worse.

I hope this was interesting to read. Thank you for stopping by