Talk to Your Doctor: Dangerous Secrets

On your medical consultation, you might not be giving all the necessary information your doctor needs to know. If you think some information is embarrassing or irrelevant to your medical condition, be forewarned. Keeping your doctor in the dark may prove fatal.

Alarmingly, many doctors admit that patients don't always divulge key important information about their health care like foods and supplements they take, medication, symptoms, medical conditions, activities, and even the doctors they have consulted with. Medical experts also say that, sometimes, they still have to struggle to get their patients to tell them the truth about their habits.

The top secret among patients is their medications. Recent research reveals that patients underuse or, worse, don't take their medicines. According to a survey published in the Archives of Internal Medicine in September 13, 2004, two-thirds of patients who stopped or reduced their dose size of medication did not disclose the information to their doctors. More than one in three never even discussed it at all. This is dangerous especially for chronic conditions like heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and depression.

There could be a number of factors as to why patients keep mum about their non-compliance with the prescription. They may have not fully understood the prescription, don't have confidence in the effectiveness of the medicine, disagree with the diagnosis or treatment, or may be cutting costs. Remember though that if the patients are aware of the value or importance of their medications, they will follow the prescription.

Below are tips on how to stick with the doctor's advice and let him know everything that he needs to know:

1. Arm yourself with knowledge. Know everything that you can about your condition and your medicines or treatment.

2. Be open to your doctor on matters about financial limitations. Generic drugs, which are cheaper, might be as effective as the branded ones.

3. Ask your doctor for simpler and easy-to-follow medications

4. Use a compartmentalized pillbox. It's an effective way to remind you which and how many medicines to take daily.

5. Make a calendar that shows the dosage times and medicine for complex medication schedule.

6. Place your medicines where it would be easy for you to spot them, like on your breakfast table or next to your toothbrush.

7. Ask help from your family and friends. Tell them that you need constant reminder from them about your health condition/

8. Report any side effect. Don't wait until your next check up or until your doctor asks you for updates before you report any side effect. If you feel sometime is not right, go tell your doctor right away!

9. During group sessions for patients, take note of the experiences of others with the same medical condition as you are.

Source:
Devon Herrick, "Savvy Consumerism Is Antidote to High Drug Costs", The Heartland Institute