Cooperation/Teamwork

I have a question—maybe this belongs on a student forum, but I figured there might be more people here who actually deal with daily prescriptions. When you’re prescribed medication, do you actually follow the doctor's or pharmacist's orders to the letter? Are we talking strict schedules, finishing the entire course, being careful about food interactions, the whole nine yards? Or are you more the type to skip a dose here and there, stop taking them before they're supposed to be finished, forget to pick up the refill at CVS, or maybe just grab some random antibiotics from a neighbor? And why? Is it because you forgot, money is tight, the meds aren't doing anything, or maybe you don't want to miss out on a drink and figure skipping the pill is easier? There are probably 176 other reasons, right?

And who are you actually listening to when it comes to your health? Your doctor? A pharmacist? Your mom? Some random aunt? Random internet quotes? Or do you just assume the tiny little slip of paper inside the box tells you everything you need to know?

Thanks 👋

nimblesurfer20 said:I was wondering—and maybe this would be better suited for a student forum, though I suspect there might be more people here who actually deal with prescriptions—whether you all tend to follow your doctor's or pharmacist's instructions to the letter? Like, do you take everything at the exact right time, finish the full course, and really pay attention to what you’re eating or drinking while on them? Or is it more common for you to occasionally miss a dose, stop taking something before you really should, forget to pick up a prescription at CVS, or perhaps even take some leftover antibiotics from a neighbor? And if so, what's usually the reason? Maybe you just forgot, or things got too expensive, or the meds didn't seem to be working, or maybe you didn't want to skip your beer, so you decided to skip the pill instead... or some other hundred reasons like that.

Also, who is usually the one giving you advice when it comes to your medication? Is it your primary care physician, your pharmacist, your mom, an aunt like Bar, random stuff you find online, or do you just rely on whatever little instruction slip is tucked inside the box?

Thanks, 👋

I honestly always seem to forget, so my parents end up hovering over me around the house making sure I take my antibiotics.

As for why? Well, I just really don't want to have to constantly think about when it's time to take something; it's such a hassle.

My dad is usually the one looking out for me.

Is the doctor old?

BTW, what do you (and the rest of you) think about that Verizon/AT&T SMS medication service? Does anyone actually use it, or does it even work?

It’s been forever since I dealt with antibiotics, but I remember the drill—always at the same time, always finishing the whole bottle. Quitting halfway just because you feel better? Absolute rookie mistake. You’re basically just letting those bacteria hang on for dear life, waiting to come back even stronger... plus, you're just building up resistance to AB. Not even gonna get started on how people abuse AB in general, we could talk about that until next year.
Taking stuff on schedule matters too, just to keep levels steady in your system. Same goes for whether you eat first or take it with a massive glass of water. Everything’s got a reason.

And getting meds from some random neighbor? Peak stupidity. One time, thank god I caught it, my grandma was taking benzos someone from down the street gave her just to "help her sleep."😲 Like, hello??? Seriously, I wanted to go over there and lose it on that woman.🙂

Grace Flores85 said:I once realized, by some stroke of luck, that my grandmother was taking benzodiazepines handed to her by some neighbor just because she thought they’d help her "sleep better."😲 Excuse me, hello??? I honestly felt like hunting that woman down and strangling her right then and there. 🙂

And oh yeah, people pass that stuff around constantly... My great-aunt told me that specific medication worked wonders for her. She doesn't even have the same condition I do, but since she has a cough, she figured it might help me too.😉

nimblesurfer20 said:Is the doctor old?

By the way, I was wondering if anyone here—or maybe even people I don't know—has heard anything about that SMS medication alert service from Verizon or AT&T? Does anyone actually use it, or does anyone happen to know if it’s actually reliable in practice?

Yeah, my doctor is getting on in years.

To be honest, though, I’m not really sure what you mean by that last part. What exactly is that?

One way to actually remember to take your medication—which, let’s be honest, isn't exactly cheap; I think you're paying a premium just for the notification itself—is to have a text sent straight to your phone right when it's time for your dose check it out here for more

When I was a little kid, I used to think I could just stop taking antibiotics once I started feeling better, but I don't do that anymore...

Nowadays, whenever I actually have to take them—which hasn't happened in quite a while—I make sure to stick strictly to the schedule my doctor or the pharmacist at CVS sets for me. I don't really listen to any other advice out there. The only time I ever messed around with timing was back when I was on birth control pills, where I knew if I missed the window by just a few hours, it wouldn't work right. (Man, those days...)

I also have this habit where, no matter what medication I'm prescribed, I always read through the fine print on the instruction sheet first...

So, be honest: are those little instruction slips they give you actually clear enough?
And do you feel like the advice you get at the pharmacy is actually helpful? Or is it more like the pharmacist is too swamped to care—just scribbling some cryptic numbers on a pad—or maybe they just don't have a clue what they're talking about? Or, let's face it, maybe they just don't want to deal with the extra work of explaining things...

club delicious said:But honestly, sticking to the schedule when you take meds is huge if you want them to actually work properly within your system.

That’s a massive point right there, and I feel like you can apply that exact logic to how we handle nutrition and all those vitamin supplements too.

Your body just can't soak up everything all at once when you try to cram it all in, so I guess it makes sense that you need to get your portions regularly—whether we're talking about actual food, meds, or whatever else—so your system can actually absorb it and stay fueled up throughout the day, whether that's through regular meals (like, at least three times a day) or the vitamins you get from food or even just taking supplement pills.

In my opinion, anyone who’s just popping a single vitamin once a day, or someone who only eats one big meal a day, is basically just throwing money down the drain, and they might as well tell whoever gave them that advice to get lost. 😉 😁