The first time I read that drug abuse is much more than taking illicit or overdose of drugs, I was flabbergasted. All my life I have tagged drug abusers as basically to be those guys sniffing, smoking and getting injected with all sorts of narcotics. In some ways, I also accepted those taking overdose of counter drugs to be some kind of mild abusers. Like, I have a friend that takes three tablets of paracetamol to ease his headaches. He claimed it works faster than the normal two tablets he should've taken.
The day I was faced with a new form of drug abuse, I felt guilty. Since I was little I've known one or two things about self-medication. If one has a mild headache, panadol or paracetamol is the answer. If it is stomach pain, Gelucine or Mist Mag solves it. If one is injured and has an open wound, massage it with hot water and put a copious amount of white capsule on the wound.
If one is feeling feverish, then it is malaria - get a malaria drug from the counter. And if it cranks up a notch, where the fever is accompanied with persistent stomach pain, it's definitely typhoid. Ciprotab or any Ciprofloxacin tablet will do. These were the usuals, and it mostly works.
So what was it I read about drug abuse that left me restless and stunned?
It is that most of the things I discussed up there as self-meditation is none other than drug abuse. In short, self-medication is a form of drug abuse. Any medication taken without the doctor's prescription is simply a form of drug abuse. The very line between self-medication and drug abuse is very thin and easy to overlook.
Though the intention of self-medication may be to relieve anxiety, pain or serve as a cheaper alternative to maintaining good health, it can easily lead one down a dark, dangerous hole one may not be able to get out of. Also, self-medication is much more than prescribing oneself drugs to relieve fever and pain. It may also include:
. Taking anxiety medications to improve sleep.
. Eating food with high sugar or fat content to improve mood.
. Taking illicit drugs like opioids, cocaine or heroin to manage anxiety, depression or stress.
. Drinking alcohol as a form of relaxation and social enabler.
. Using the internet or social media excessively so as to escape or distract from feelings of sadness or stress.
So, when does self-medication become dangerous?
When it leads to addiction: I once worked at a factory in Lagos. There I met this guy who takes some tablets of Tramadol before work. He said it gives him the "ginger" to work relentlessly. At some point, the guy became so reliant on Tramadol that he was always restless on days when he couldn't get a dose of it. It ruined his health. Now, he struggles to focus and concentrate on things.
When it masks underlying conditions: Typhoid and malaria fever have very similar symptoms. I've heard people die of typhoid fever despite taking medications. That shouldn't happen except that the medication they took was for malaria, not typhoid. Malaria drugs have no effect on typhoid fever.
When unsupervised medication use leads to side effects: When I was little I had malaria fever. My mom rushed to a drug store and got me Chloroquine. It worked, but with punishing side effects - for three days every part of my body itched. The punishment was so much that I had to skip school for those days.
After some years, word on the street was that combining Chloroquine with Prednisolone stops the itching. When I was down with malaria again, I did just that. Well, it worked, no itching. But then, I slept uncontrollably like a pillow - another side effect!
When it leads to delayed medical attention: A lot of people are dead simply because they didn't give the right treatment to their ailment on time. In this part of the world, public hospitals are a nightmare; private hospitals are too expensive for the common man. Thus, people find alternatives to healthcare without seeing a doctor. For chronic diseases like diabetes, inflammation of internal organs and cancer, immediate medical attention is needed. By the time people get diagnosed for these ailments, it's mostly already too late.
When it leads to misuse of medications: Just recently, a man died due to misuse of drugs. He wanted a cure for premature ejaculation and was told Tramadol works wonders for it. Well, he popped the damn pill and didn't live to tell the story. He died during the romp. Cause of death? Heart failure.
Also, a mother once killed her child by giving him too much cough syrup. The baby boy was coughing so vigorously at night that the uninformed mother emptied the whole contents of the bottle in his mouth to ease the cough. The little baby od'd and died in his sleep.
Considering the terrible healthcare service available in this part of the world, self medication is a huge part of our lives. People only go to the hospital when their sickness gets out of hand. Does that make it right? No, it doesn't. Self medication isn't totally right. And a lot of loved ones have been lost to it. However, in this game of life we play, we can only play the card we are dealt. It is painful, but it is the absolute truth.
Image is mine.