If your hands drop, your legs do not go, and the brain refuses to accept any information about work, then, despite the warnings of your relatives and the protests of your superiors, you are sick. How to get out of this situation with minimal damage to health, career and wallet? To do this, you need to be able to get sick properly! What measures should be taken, the Goodshapetips article will tell.
You can self-medicate only if your diploma says “doctor”. Although, as experience shows, even a doctor is better off using the services of colleagues than trusting his “hot” head during an illness.
Even if you read more books on this disease than for a doctoral dissertation, you should consult a doctor. “Those who are treated according to the manual risk dying from a typo.” (F. Goebbel)
Do I need to drink all the medicines prescribed by the doctor?
If you want to defeat the disease in record time, you need to start treatment from the first symptoms of the disease, not to endure on your feet what you need to fight in bed.
Of course, thoughts about unfinished business at work, a burning plan, penalties from superiors, and even a possible dismissal are unlikely to hasten recovery. However, consider what is more profitable: take once sick leave for a few days for shock treatment or then turn into a frequently and long-term ill employee who always heals complications and catches a cold in every draft?
So it’s best to stay at home, unless you’re hatching plans to “spit” on your boss and colleagues by sharing a cold with them.
If you stayed at home sick, this does not mean that you need to redo all the accumulated cases. During illness, the body needs a lot of strength to recover. You should not spend them on washing windows or ironing a month of accumulated linen. Rest and good sleep will speed up your recovery.
When choosing a treatment, you should not think that one head is good, but five is better. If you do not trust one doctor, look for another, third, fourth, until you find “your”. But never combine at your discretion drugs prescribed to you by different doctors.
Such a “patchwork” will not lead to anything good: the drugs you choose can neutralize each other’s effects, increase adverse reactions, or turn out to be the same medicine, but with different names and prices.
And in order to avoid hectic running around unknown doctors during an illness, it may be worthwhile to start looking for “your” doctor in advance, who you can always call if something happens.
Even if such a doctor cannot help you on his own, he will recommend competent colleagues, which will save you from unnecessary queues, searches and fortune-telling “believe it or not.”
Do not neglect the rules of admission!
In order for the prescribed treatment to best suit you, you need to know and be sure to tell the doctor when visiting him the following information:
Are you allergic to any drug. It is better to keep a note with the names of drugs that you do not tolerate well, indicating how this intolerance is expressed. Especially responsibly you need to treat injections or droppers.
Be sure to tell your doctor if you are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or breastfeeding.
Tell your doctor if you have recently had surgery, a stroke, or myocardial infarction.
List all chronic diseases, especially diseases of the heart, kidneys, stomach, and liver. List any medications you take regularly (including oral contraceptives, vitamins and supplements).
Try to follow the prescribed regimen and take the prescribed medications correctly. If for some reason you did not take your prescribed drugs or took not all of them, be honest about it. You should not force the doctor to puzzle over why the prescribed treatment does not help you, prescribe unnecessary examinations and more severe therapy regimens. It is better to immediately discuss the proposed treatment, explain what does not suit you.
It is better to buy medicines, especially expensive ones, in state pharmacies or in large commercial ones with a good reputation. In small pharmacies, the likelihood of “getting on a fake” is higher.
Be sure to check the expiration date, specify the dosage and form of release. After all, it’s the same medicine can be produced in the form of tablets, capsules, suppositories, suspensions, etc. If you buy a drug for a child, look in the annotation for what age it is designed for.
If the pharmacy does not have the medicine prescribed for you, do not rush to buy the analogue offered by the pharmacist. “Substitute” may have a slightly different effect, dosage, contraindications and, finally, cost. It is better to look for the drug in another pharmacy or check with the doctor what medicine can replace what he prescribed.
If you want to figure it out yourself, carefully study the packaging and instructions.
How to drink medicines?
When taking a pill, we don’t even think that before acting, it enters into thousands of interactions: with what we drink and eat, with digestive enzymes, with other drugs, etc.
All these chemical metamorphoses cannot be predicted by any specialist. However, some rules are still known. In order for the treatment to be beneficial, and not harmful, we must follow these rules as far as possible.
When you buy a medicine at a pharmacy, do not throw away the instructions for it. Read carefully the section “Method of administration and dosage” (or “Dosage regimen”, or “Special conditions”).
If the instructions indicate that the drug should be taken 3 times a day, you need to drink a pill every 8 hours. For example, at 7.00 – 15.00 – 23.00. If the intervals between doses of the medicine are not the same (for example, they drank before breakfast, lunch and dinner, and at night there is a long break), then the effectiveness of treatment can be greatly reduced.
It is especially important to observe the interval antibiotics. Otherwise, microbial resistance to this drug may develop and treatment will have to be started all over again.
Necessarily pay attention to the time of taking the medicine in relation to the meal.
Most medications are taken 30-60 minutes before a meal. On an empty stomach, they are better absorbed and act faster. However, there are exceptions.
For example, hydrochloric acid and enzyme preparations (“Pancreatin”, “Creon”, “Mezim”), fat-soluble vitamins (A, E, D) should be taken with meals.
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (“Aspirin”, “Askofen”, “Citramon”, “Voltaren”, “Ibuprofen”, “Indomethacin”, “Paracetamol”, etc.) are best taken after meals, especially with prolonged use. So they have a less irritating effect on the gastric mucosa. However, if there is a need to reduce the temperature or reduce pain, you can take these drugs on an empty stomach: the effect of the medicine will begin earlier.
Of the most common antiviral drugs, Arbidol is taken 30 minutes before meals, Remantadin (Rimantadine) after meals, Tamiflu is preferably taken with meals.
How to take tests correctly?
The universal liquid for drinking medicines is water. Usually 1/4 cup is sufficient. However, when treated with antibiotics from the group:
- fluoroquinolones (“Ciprofloxacin”, “Norfloxacin”, “Sparfloxacin”),
- lincosamides (“Lincomycin”),
- sulfonamides (“Streptocide”, “Sulfasalazine”, “Ftalazol”),
- tetracyclines
drink at least a glass of water.
In the case of treatment with “Erythromycin”, sulfanilamide drugs, antipyretics and painkillers (“Aspirin”, “Paracetamol”, “Ibuprofen”), it is recommended to drink tablets with alkaline mineral water.
- preparations containing herbal ingredients (“Papaverine”, “Platifillin”, “Belastezin”, “Codelac”, “Terpinkod”, etc.),
- oral contraceptives,
- sedatives,
- medicines to lower blood pressure and treat the heart,
- medicines for the treatment of gastric and duodenal ulcers,
- antibiotics,
- iron preparations.
When combined with tea, these drugs can change their effect: from a decrease or complete absence of it to an increase in side effects and intoxication.
You can drink non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs with tea: Paracetamol, Ibuprofen, Citramon, Aspirin, etc.
Milk slows down the absorption of many drugs and sometimes inactivates them. For example, the absorption of antibiotics is reduced by 80% if they are washed down with milk, they pass through the digestive tract in transit without having an effect.
Milk is recommended to drink only some hormonal drugs (“Prednisolone”, “Dexamethasone”) and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (“Paracetamol”, “Aspirin”, “Indomethacin”, etc.).
Never drink coffee, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, or juices with medicines. Grapefruit juice is especially “not friendly” with medicines. Juices delay the excretion of toxic metabolic products of drugs from the body. As a result of such combinations, a significant increase in the side effects of therapy is possible. Caffeinated drinks also increase the frequency and severity of side effects.
It is especially harmful to use drugs together with alcohol (even beer). For example, the usual therapeutic dose of “Paracetamol” in combination with small amounts of alcohol causes liver failure.
Often, to establish an accurate diagnosis and the right choice of treatment, it is not enough for a doctor to look, listen, tap. More research is needed. Also, the need for additional diagnostics arises if the treatment does not have the desired effect.
Blood tests are taken in the morning (preferably from 8 to 11 am) strictly on an empty stomach (12-14 hours should pass from the last meal). In the morning you can only drink clean water. Juice, tea, and even more so an “orphan” sausage sandwich are also foods that can greatly distort the results.
The only exception is a general blood test from a finger. In this case, a light (low-fat and unsweetened) breakfast is allowed at least one hour before the procedure.
On the eve of the study, refrain from food and sports exploits. An excess of fatty, sweet and meat can change your blood beyond recognition, and increased physical activity can overestimate Alat, Asat and blood LDH.
It is also advisable to give up alcohol. Do not smoke one hour before the test.
In order to properly collect material for a general urine test, it is necessary to show restraint and dexterity. It is important to get the very first urine sample in the morning, as well as to avoid other secretions from entering the test tube.
To get the right results on the first try, it is advisable to wake up half an hour earlier than usual, conduct a thorough hygienic treatment of the genitals, and only then collect the urine. Moreover, the first 1-2 seconds you need to urinate into the toilet, and only then into a jar. The jar does not need to be sterilized. And on the eve you can not eat beets, carrots and other foods that can change the color of urine. It is not recommended to give urine during menstruation, so that blood does not get into the material.
If you need to retake tests, it is better to use the services of the same laboratory, since the results of studies in different laboratories can vary greatly. If you are taking any medications, be sure to tell your doctor ahead of time as they may interfere with the test results.
If you started taking antibiotics before the tests, any cultures will be indicative.
Before contacting a dermatologist, do not smear anything with brilliant green, iodine and other means. Even the most experienced specialist will not always be able to diagnose a carefully smeared or shaded rash or sore, and the results of laboratory tests will be obviously incorrect.
Before visiting the gynecologist for taking smears, you should not wash with soap and other antiseptics.
Any disease (be it a common cold, pneumonia, a stomach ulcer or high blood pressure) is a real test for the body. And sometimes we just try to brush off a sudden malaise: “It will pass by itself!” Often the only feat in the name of recovery is a drunk pill. Like, I did my job: I drank the medicine, everything else does not depend on me.
However, absolutely everything matters for a speedy recovery: daily routine, food and drink, physical activity, mood, and even “the power of thought.” Your health is in your hands!
Natalia DOLGOPOLOVA,
general practitioner
