When it comes to excessive self-medication, I think the pharmaceutical companies have a major role to play in this. With the way they market drugs, and rattle off their dosages just like that, they make it readily available for everyone to get. They run ads glorifying their products and talking about how the medication will beat the crap out of whatever illness you’re facing. Then, they make sure to end with; “If symptoms persist, please consult your doctor!”
I believe this style is what paved the way to what we’re experiencing today. For every small fever or headache that they feel, people already assume that it’s malaria. Someone once told me that he never gets headaches, except when he has malaria. I found that absurd because there were times when something as basic as tiredness could cause one headache. Hell, there was even a time when I was so hungry that I had serious headache and I was running a temperature. I didn’t suspect it was malaria at all, I recognized sapa for what it was. And when I finally ate food, both the fever and headache vanished.
Self-medication can be good because it helps you to curb sicknesses right in the bud before it progresses into something else. Once you see some symptoms that correlate with a certain sickness, you take drugs to that effect, hoping that it will wipe the sickness away. That’s how so many people are coping in this part of the world.
And can you blame them? We don’t have enough government hospitals, and the ones that we do have are short-staffed and lack adequate funds to make them meet up with the demands. When you go to a government hospital, the process you’d have to get through just before you actually see the doctor is overwhelming. You might be feeling sick today and go for a test, but you’d have to return in about a month or so just to get the result. That’s just how bad it can be.
The places are always crowded and even with your sickness, you’ll have to battle with other sick people just to get your time with the doctor. It’s sad and so painful. This is the reason many people just avoid it altogether, because if it’s malaria, then they can easily buy over-the-counter drugs and make it all go away. Simple as that.
You could say that private hospitals are a better option, but besides being ridiculously expensive, there’s no guarantee that they’re actually better. Yeah, you might be answered faster, and you could get your consultation faster, but it doesn’t mean that they have better doctors. As a matter of fact, some private hospitals are even quacks, at least with government hospitals, you can feel a bit more certain that they’re professionals. Not guaranteed, just a bit more certain.
As for me, I don’t really have a story when it comes to self-medication. It’s something I do from time to time when I see that I have malaria. However, I’m not one to simply start popping pills just because I have a headache or I fever comes up. I usually wait until I’m certain, which is usually when I start shivering due to the intense fever. Once I start taking the medication, it leaves almost immediately.
So far, I’ve not had any complications from this, although I make sure that I’m careful in my applications. Every once in a while, I go for a full body test to make sure that I don’t have any surprises hiding away in my body. I also ensure that I follow the required dosage, the last thing I want is to overdose or get addicted to drugs. I’ve seen the ruins such can bring to people.
Like everything else, we just have to be careful in what we do, because at this point, and with so many fake drugs in the market, one can never be too careful.
I agree that self-medication has some benefits but you are not an expert in that field and one single mistake may be enough to make you suffer in your whole life. So you need to be careful while practicing self-medication. I don't support it.
As in ehn... all it requires is for you to take the wrong pill or the wrong dosage and it could cause a scar for life. We really need to be careful.
I agree that the process of seeing a doctor in a private hospital is tedious but for my health sake I don't mind being patience. I don't really like taking pills because I always throw up when I do. Besides most symptoms are the same for different illness, so why risk it.
Although, I can't go to see the doctor in order to take vitamin c. Self-medication can be Good and bad in way.
Yeah... we can't always rely on self-medication. Every once in a while, we need the advice of a certified medical doctor. We really need to do better.
I do self medication too, there are times that I do home remedy especially if I saw some familiar symptoms. I don't really go to do the hospital immediately. I feel like sometimes some hospital just want us to be admitted even though it is really not a serious case. Home remedy which uses more organic ingredients is what I use in my self medication, at least it is must safer. They are effective most of the times.
Yeah... you're not the only one on this table. Sometimes, you just don't get why something simple will require you to get admitted into the hospital. It's something we all face.
The pharmaceutical industries did a good job(for themselves) of cutting off the doctors who are supposed to be middle men who prescribe their drugs to patients. With this, they make more money and put more lives at risk.
The horrible healthcare system in our country is what makes this so. People would rather put their trust in a retail drug seller for prescription than to go see a doctor. Then, those ones will prescribe drugs based on the patient's purse and the path that gets the seller to profit. With mounting problems in the country, it will only get worse because the drugs are even getting more expensive by the day.
As in ehn... that thing is funny. There are levels to the drugs. If your money can't afford this, they'll provide the one that you can afford. It's all a business to them. None of them cares about our health.
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Thank you for this.
Now I can officially call Sapa specialist 😅.
Never really thought of it but now it really does sound weird, I mean what is the point of publicly advertising the dosage of a drug and after all that they say "if symptoms persist, consult a doctor" something people shouldn't have taken in the first place without doctors prescription.
The situation in Nigeria is really unfortunate, especially now that the cost of medicine is more expensive than food. How many people can afford check up and diagnosis these days, which is why we mostly depend on self medication to survive.
Having medical check-ups is so difficult and expensive. Hospital consultations are also expensive with so many fees up and down. It's insane. That's why people will keep resorting to self-medication.
Self medication is legacy transferred from one age to next age and it is good if used in series way.
Yeah, and if it doesn't become a habit.