- The administration of many drugs at the same time.
Don't forget that the term drugs also
includes herbal remedies, vitamins, minerals, and other supplements.
Often they are referred to as dietary supplements, but they are still
drugs.
Normally this is a concern of the
elderly. However, last Friday, I was in the house of a friend as he was
sitting down for the evening meal. His wife was at the side table
with her back to us. I could not be sure what she was doing until
she seated herself at the table. She had one container for
herself and a slightly larger one for her husband, each containing many pills.
Both are in their early 40's and I
thought to myself, they are too young to be taking this many
medications. Sure, I take 9 pills at breakfast and the same at
bedtime and then insulin injections of two types. However, I am
about 30 years their senior.
After they had finished eating, he and
I headed for his workshop. Once there, I asked how many pills he
took in a day. He said they were not all medications and that only
eight were prescription. He said the rest are dietary supplements.
I asked if any of them were prescribed and he said only one –
vitamin D.
I helped him figure out the woodworking
project he was making and gave him alternatives for making it
stronger. We continued talking until he was satisfied and drawing
different diagrams for the needed joinery. Then we went inside to
his computer where I showed him where I had gotten my ideas and he
looked at the explanations for several and bookmarked the page.
Next, I asked if he would read
something that I had written about vitamin D. He moved over so I
could access the keyboard and mouse. First, I brought up this blog
and after he had read it, he called his wife and asked her to read
it. Her first question was why the doctor needed to prescribe it if
there was something less expensive. She went to the cabinet and
brought the bottle over. She said this is definitely D2.
Now she wanted more information and
went to her computer. I brought up the blog for her and when she
went to the bottom and clicked on the University of Oregon link, she
asked where to go. I told her to click on vitamins and she said they
have something on all of these. More of a question, but she went to
one other and was reading that. She bookmarked that and went to back
to find the minerals. Then she asked her husband if he has been
tested for selenium and he said no.
Now she said they had better do some
reading and check out the rest that they were taking. I suggested
that they also read the problems or cautions for use with
prescriptions. She said that was what she was concerned about. She
asked if I had any other suggestions and I gave her this blog, which
she quickly bookmarked.
Then she asked for my email address
saying she would probably have more questions. She sent me an email
with her and her husband's email so that I would have them. Then
she took time to read some of the other information on my blog page
and asked if that was why I blogged. I admitted that because of
diabetes and felt that it was important to pass on information to
others.
Then I was shocked when she said she
had just been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes the day before. I asked
her if she had gestational diabetes with their two children and she
said only the second one. She continued that the doctor had not
believed her plasma blood glucose level and did an A1c and even then
would not say she had diabetes. Next, she went through the oral
glucose tolerance test. After two hours of that, the doctor finally
said she had type 2 diabetes.
The husband said it was getting late
and his wife had some errands to take care of the next day. He asked
if I could come back after I took my wife to work. He said they
needed to learn more about using the computer. As it was, they
mostly used it for video and chatting with family and the children at
college. I agreed and said goodbye.
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