Side Effects of Self-Medication

Self-medication is taking important decisions of minor illness by self. We have so many doctors to treat us, but with grandparents, parents, aunts, and uncles who needs one? We are regularly advised to have some random medicine for common problems like stomach ache, fever, etc and we never bother to consult a doctor. But this self-medication even for small health issues can lead to complications. People tend to take medicines for every small problem and unfortunately there is very little awareness about the disadvantages of self-medication.  So we tell you some side effects of self-medication.

•   Adverse Reaction: Popping pills might get you instant relief but what people don’t realize is, that it is not safe. At times a patient might be under some other prescribed medication for different health issues and self-medicating may lead to reactions. Taking medications without proper medical consultation can also lead to drug exchanges as some drugs react negatively when taken together with certain medicines.

•    Dosage: A major problem about self-medication is its dosage, we don’t know how much we should take. Especially when the dosage is based on the weight of an individual.

•    Health Problems: Self-medication can sometime worsen the health issue and eventually you might suffer from severe health problems.

•   Addiction: Self-medication also increases the potential for drug abuse and addiction. The physical dependence on medicines is possibly one of the most serious health implications of self-medication. A person might become addictive to certain pain killers.

•    Wrong Way: There is also the possibility of taking the wrong route for medicine. What if you are swallowing the medicine but it is supposed to be diluted with water.

Timings: Some medicines need to be taken at a given time like few hours post meal or before meal and in self medications we are not usually aware about.

•     The practice of self-medication for drugs like antibiotics can even cause misdiagnosis of a condition.

It is not a safe practice and can cause more harm than good to one’s health.