Taking Medication: Rules

Whether a therapy with medication is successful depends on the extent to which medication is taken in the correct dosage, at the right time and for the prescribed duration. Studies show that this is not always the case: about half of elderly patients do not take medication or do not take it regularly.

5 guiding principles for taking medications correctly

You should always follow these five rules for taking medications:

  • You should comply with the doctor’s instructions regarding dosage and intervals between doses. Do not under any circumstances increase or decrease the dose on your own!
  • If your symptoms do not subside, worsen, or if side effects occur, please consult your doctor.
  • Your doctor also needs to know what other tablets you are taking. This will help him to clarify whether interactions between the different drugs are possible.
  • Before taking the medication, read the package insert carefully. Keep the outer packaging with the package insert until the end of treatment.
  • It is best to always store your medication in a cool and dry place, for example in your bedroom.

The right therapy

Medications are administered for a variety of reasons. A distinction is made between different types of therapy:

  • Causal therapy is a causal treatment and means eliminating the cause of the disease. An example is the antibiotic, which kills bacteria and thus eliminates the cause of infection.
  • The opposite is symptomatic therapy, for example, taking a painkiller for dental problems. Here, the cause – namely the damage to the tooth – is not eliminated, but the symptom of pain. Chronic diseases such as heart failure or high blood pressure are also treated symptomatically with success, since the cause of the disease cannot be eliminated. In the case of toothache, on the other hand, the causal therapy is a visit to the doctor. Therefore, it is always necessary to weigh which therapy makes the most sense.
  • In a substitution therapy, the body is supplied with substances that are missing or can no longer be produced, and which must be partially or completely replaced in this way, for example, insulin administration in diabetes mellitus or a blood donation.
  • A prophylactic therapy, that is, the precaution, is always used when the outbreak of a disease should be prevented, for example, a preventive vaccination or to prevent a deficiency, for example, vitamins.

The correct dosage form

Nowadays, medicines come in a wide variety of dosage forms, such as tablets, film-coated tablets, suppositories, coated tablets, drops, juice, ointments, patches and others. Here it is necessary to observe the following rules, among others:

  • Liquid medicines are many times to shake before use.
  • Tablets or capsules should not be swallowed lying down and with sufficient water – they could otherwise get stuck in the esophagus.
  • Do not open capsules or crush film-coated tablets under any circumstances. This can significantly affect the way the drugs work. For example, the ingredients of enteric-coated tablets can then no longer work, because they are destroyed by gastric juice.
  • Medicines should not be taken with fruit juices, coffee, tea or milk.
  • If you do not tolerate a medication well, inform your doctor. In this case, in most cases, you can resort to another dosage form.
  • People who are limited in their mobility, such as rheumatics, may have difficulty opening tablet doses; people whose fingers shake often have difficulty counting drops. Again, a different dosage form often helps to achieve therapeutic success.
  • Who suffers from swallowing difficulties, should be prescribed – if possible – only juices or drops.