Self-medication is never a bad idea unless the illness is more than what prescription can cure, I remember when I was young and living with my parents, anytime I was suffering from headache my mother would ask me to use paracetamol, I know this is common among the African parents, some parent will even go as far as giving their children herbal medicine.
Using herbal medicine is what most of our parents believe in, all this medicine surfaces with civilization, we started using drugs when technology advanced, so most Africans do not believe in using medicine.
The time I knew that self-medication could lead to death was when my neighbor had an abortion, we were still in the university and my neighbor got pregnant, we advised her to keep the pregnancy but she insisted that she was going to abort it, her reasons were truly genuine.
Her father is a pastor and someone who is very strict, he preaches against premarital sex, how will such a person feel if he hears that his precious daughter got pregnant out of wedlock, I understand her reason because if I were in her shoes I can do the same.
When she told me about the pregnancy, I advised her about it, I wanted her to give birth to the child but her education would be at stake, and the father would never pay her school fees, she explained everything to me and we decided to find a solution to her problem meanwhile I was not an accomplice just a neighbor who turned friend, the guy that impregnated her was so supportive and I respected him for that.
One evening she called me after class that she had searched online and saw some pills that could be used for abortion, I had never done one before so I did not know if she was right or wrong, she showed me and we read it together, the next day she went to a pharmacy and got the drugs, I told her to ask the pharmacist before using the drugs and know how it works, unfortunately, she met the shop attendant and not the pharmacist, she got the drugs and left without asking how it works or if the drugs will work for her.
She came back home and used the drug, and she felt pain all through the night, she told me the next day because we were not sleeping in the same room, the next day she started having cramps and blood started flowing from her private part, we thought the drugs were working not knowing that the drug is endangering her life.
She started bleeding seriously and she had to change the sanitary pad every five minutes, at this point, I know we had fucked up, she started groaning in pain, and rolling on the floor and this got some of the neighbors suspecting that something is not right with her, I called the boyfriend and he rushed to our compound because he lives three streets away from ours, everyone is panicking because we do not want her to die.
We gave her some pain killer and her body was calm for some days, after three days blood started coming out again, this time it was doubled, I think I had to find a way to escape from the situation but no way because if anything should happen to her I would be the first suspect, I told her that I would inform her parent about her condition, I do not have any money to take her to the hospital, she agreed that I should call her mother which I did.
The parents came the next day and rushed her to the hospital, I had to follow them too because we were close, the parents got to know that she had an abortion, the father nearly slapped me but I defended myself, the doctor said the drugs she took isn't the one she supposes to use and this had caused some damages which lead to the bleeding, the situation was corrected by surgery because the pregnancy is three months plus before aborting it.
This is when I learned that self-medication can endanger people's lives, It is not advisable at all, it is better to find out what the problem is than to just prescribe drugs without a proper check-up, had it been my friend consulted the right person, she wouldn't have been in that critical Condition.
This is my response to hivelearners community prompt of #hl-w130e1 which the topic is tagged Self-Medication Is Important
