Why self medication is not advisable? What are its bad effects?

Answer 1

Self-medication is not advisable purely because you cannot check your health (your blood pressure, your blood for diabetes etc.).

Also because you are not a doctor or a pharmacist, you cannot know what drugs agree or disagree with each other. For instance, anti-depressants (serotonin-uptake inhibitors) such as Prozac (Fluoxetine) cannot be taken with obesity drug Reductil because they both work on the same area of the brain, and they would cancel each other out.

Secondly, there is no such thing as a safe medication. All medicines have side effects. For instance, some anti-depressants can make some people suicidal and make some elderly people lose balance/fall over and break their bones. Your doctor or a pharmacist have much more knowledge available to them in working out what drugs to recommend to you that would have the best desired effect and the absolute minimum of unwanted side effects.

Long-term taking of certain drugs could damage your internal organs (such as cause stomach ulcers, damage your heart or cause kidney failure), or make you hooked on drugs which would then not be effective at the moment when you really needed them.

We people are all different - one man's cure is another man's poison. So what works for your neighbour or friend may not work for you.

Lastly, many drugs purchased from dodgy sources (such as the internet) are basically fake drugs manufactured by criminal gangs. They are a little better than M&M sweets or Smarties, as they often contain too little of the active ingredients and mostly consist of potentially harmful bulking agents.

Whatever you do, always talk to your doctor first. If you do not trust your doctor, find another one or ask for second opinion. Always politely question your doctor and ask him/her to explain why he/she is suggesting this particular diagnosis/course of action. After all, it is what their job is and what they are there for.

Answer 2

Generally self-medication takes 2 forms - buying herbs and other alternative medicines or buying illegal drugs to mask symptoms. In the case of the alternative medicines, many of them have absolutely no real proof that they can do what they claim; but they do have effects. They are also not regulated, so the amount of the chemical that is having effects can be very different between brands, batches, and even individual doses from the same bottle. This can lead to a bad interaction with other medicines prescribed by a doctor, overdose, increase of other symptoms, allergic reactions, etc.
In the case of illegal drugs, which is what most mental health professionals are speaking of when they say self-medication, the problem is that illegal drugs have serious negative effects on the body and mind; that's why they're illegal.
The other type of illegal drugs is to get a drug that is prescribed for someone else - that is a bad idea because every person's body chemistry is different, and medicine that works for one person can kill another. You need a doctor and a pharmacist involved to help make sure the medication is right for you and your problem.
The other problem with all kinds of self-medication is that it will only mask the symptoms, not treat the underlying cause.

Answer 3

Ever heard of the "Right" rules for administering Medications?

The right Medication
The right Person
The right Dosage
The right Method
The right Time
The right Location
The right Up

It's a way nurses used to remember how not to give our patients the wrong medication.

The two worst things about self-medication are Forgetfulness Over-dose. People forget to take Their pills, which means that They are under medicated, or else They forget that They have taken Their pills, in which case They over dose.

Answer 4

You could buy a little bottle of smelling salts from the chemist shop and sniff it to cure a headache. What is in the bottle is amonia and if you try to concuct it yourself....some could go into your lungs.

Answer 5

you could screw up the whole system. before long other people would start. doctors would have to stop buying a new beemer every year. could wreck the entire economy.

Answer 6

the stomach hurt is one of the side effects. perhaps you have migraine or something like cancer. go and see a doctor please...