Self-medication: the harm that lurks in the corner

It is not unusual to walk into a pharmacy outlet or even the neighborhood chemist shops in Nigeria to purchase an over-the-counter medication and sometimes even those that are regulated with a prescription. The cost of hospital visits can be scary, and even to see a medical doctor can be a Herculean task, including the tertiary facilities. Would this be enough reason to hoard some easy-to-reach medications? It's common to have some drug labeled with the advice to consult the doctor after three days of usage without significant improvement. A good number of times, we prefer to limit such usage to drugs like paracetamol. Self-medication surely helps and could be a lifesaver. Sometimes, we ask patients what they have at home as a first aid support pending when they are able to present at the hospital.

Unfortunately, people take the self-medication as the complete treatment for what could be wrong and, a significant number of times, end up representing worsening symptoms. I remember wrongly sending a text with prescriptions to the wrong number, and just when I realized it was the wrong number, the number called me back. It was a lady on the other side of the phone, and even when I apologized for the wrongly sent message, she asked if she could also take the medication. Of course, I declined! Did she know exactly what the medications were for? I was equally pained because she may lack access to quality healthcare and thus be desirous to take the medication. Drugs are not food, but they could help us to maintain balance, prolong life, or even kill faster.

I have always had issues with unqualified attendants at a pharmacy store (I hardly walk up to any chemist shop) where wrong drugs would be given. My fight is always on behalf of other patients who do not know exactly what they are buying but trust that the dispensary is as prescribed. Blame the physician sometimes for his handwriting. It could be intentional or not intentional, and thankfully, qualified pharmacists are able to decipher the prescriptions. I heard of a scenario where a patient was rushed to the hospital unconscious, and what was the reason? He was given an oral hypoglycemic drug by mistake, which tilted him to hypoglycemia. And hypoglycemia kills faster than hyperglycemia. So, while taking that prescription from an unqualified or even qualified physician, it's good to go through what one is taking. Though we see as a burden some patients that come back to show the physician what was prescribed, one can never be too careful.

My most recent encounter was a lady that went to a pharmacy store for a post pill, and the common ones remain Postinor 1 and 2. Probably what she told them at the pharmacy was inaccurate or what was understood was wrong. Unfortunately for her, she snapped the drug after she had taken it and put it on view once. It was a branded drug, and we have the generic as misoprostol even though there are the combined oral contraceptive pills. I corrected her quickly, and she was appreciative. For our women, who are mostly sensitive, I am careful of hormonal medications, and she was just about to fall into the trap of misusing such.

SELF MEDICATIONS COULD BE LIFE SAVING YET DANGEROUS.