Medication Time

If you have COPD, like me, you probably have medications to take. As your COPD progresses, so does the amount of medications that are prescribed. Before being diagnosed, I didn’t even take aspirin unless I had a killer headache. Now, it seems like I take an abundance of meds.

Last week I went to visit family and I had my afternoon regimen of 4 pills to take. I take even more in the AM and PM.

While I was there, I heard the comment “All of the medications you take are probably why you are sick all of the time.”

She added “You should come to the woods with me and that would cleanse you of all of your medications”. I replied that I was living in the woods when I started taking notice of so many health issues. I'm sure some of you have experienced similar reactions from people. It’s hard to hear. Sometimes we get in the defensive mode when we hear this. Getting off these meds would be so much nicer for us too. That would mean that our health is improving, our pocketbooks too. That’s what I like to say.

Instead of getting frustrated over things like this, it is much nicer to feel that people actually do care enough to want us to feel better. They just don’t understand that many of the meds that we take, are lifelines for us. They make it possible for us to breathe, they reduce the fluid, even the vitamins are so important, because our diets aren’t always what they should be.

Looking at my meds, wow, there are a lot.

Just my breathing meds alone are a total of six: Advair, Spiriva, Singulair, Pro-Air, Albuterol, Duo-Neb. Mucinex as well. Some of these are taken as needed only. There are other meds and over the counters for the rest of this body as well. My med list has been approved by my pulmonologist, cardiologist, and general physician.

Because we take so many different medications, it’s so important for us to keep a list hanging on the refrigerator, in our purse or wallet, on a medic alert bracelet, etc. It’s also important to make sure that your medication list is gone over and updated at the doctor’s office too. Just because your doctor wrote you that new prescription, don’t assume that it’s been added to your medication list in the doctor’s office. Be sure to let the nurse know so she can add it if need be.

It’s dangerous to mix some medications so it’s so important that your doctor and even pharmacist know all meds that you take.

That includes over the counter meds and natural remedies. Because some aren’t FDA approved, it is not known exactly what kind or how much of an ingredient is in them.

We need to continue to educate people on the importance of our medications. Even the tv commercials help to bring awareness. My mom thinks of me every time she sees the Spiriva commercial on TV. What a treat to get a phone call that she’s thinking of me.