It is very important that you take the medicines exactly as your doctor has prescribed each time. If you do not take the medicines properly, you are less protected and you have a greater chance of a heart attack!
What happens if you stop taking medicine?
More than half of the patients who are chronically prescribed drugs for conditions such as osteoporosis (bone loss), lung diseases or, for example, lowering their cholesterol levels, stop taking those drugs within a year.
If there is insufficient adherence to treatment, medicines do not work or work less well. Patients sometimes get the side effects. In addition, they are sometimes wrongly prescribed other drugs because it seems that the chosen drugs are not working. In fact, the treatments for those patients are largely wasted money.
Medicines reduce the chance that something will go wrong
You could compare your heart and blood vessels to a fluid system with a pump. The higher the pressure in the system, the greater the chance that something will go wrong. So it is important to keep the pressure in the system under control. That can be done in different ways:
- make the pump (the heart) work less hard;
- make sure that the pipes (the blood vessels) do not clog;
- widen the ducts (the blood vessels);
- make the fluid (blood) thinner.
The medicines you receive can help with this. They are prescribed to prevent a heart attack caused by a blood clot and to combat symptoms of angina pectoris, arrhythmias or heart failure.
To reduce the risk of a (new) heart attack, it is very important that the medicines are taken faithfully every day. That means not only that they are taken on time, but also that this is done according to the doctor’s prescription. You can also get prescribed medicines from Canada Drugs.
Effects of drugs
When you take a drug, it gets into the blood through your stomach and intestines. The blood takes the medicine where it should work. When the drug has done its job, the active ingredient leaves the body again via the liver and kidneys.
You should never change the dosage of the medication or stop the treatment without consulting the practitioner, even if you experience side effects. Just changing the dose or stopping treatment can have unwanted effects. Consult the attending physician for advice if side effects occur or in other matters concerning the use of medicine that you and/or your loved one are concerned about.
In addition to the effect for which you take them, almost all medicines also have an unintended effect. This is called a side effect. In the patient information leaflet you can read which side effects a medicine can cause. However, this does not mean that these side effects always occur. With careful use, the chance of side effects is reduced. Some side effects occur because your body needs to get used to a new medicine and they lessen or disappear over time.
If you get a lot of side effects or if you have a side effect that is not listed in the package leaflet, please contact your healthcare provider.
TIP: Choose a fixed time when you take the medicines. This reduces the chance of forgetting
