Written By: Satata Karmakar | Published : February 19, 2021 11:16 AM IST
What happens if you miss your diabetes medicine?
India is known as the capital of diabetes and there is a reason why. One in six people suffering from diabetes in the world is from India. According to the reports, India is home to almost 77-78 million diabetics, the second-highest in the world after China which tops the graph with 116 million diabetics. Diabetes is caused when there is a high level of sugar in the blood - high blood sugar. And the disease can wreak havoc on several body parts including the eye, heart, kidney, and majorly the skin. What exactly triggers the blood sugar level in the body to go up? Experts say it's all about how a person lives his life - the lifestyle, the amount of alcohol consumption and a lot depends on the age and gender as well. Health complications get doubled with the age. And thus there are several tips to manage this condition and its symptoms. One can adopt a healthy lifestyle, avoid consuming too much alcohol and keep a check on the body's behaviour. Apart from all these, there is one more way in which a person can manage diabetes - medicines. Yes, there are different types of medicines that a person - depending on the type of diabetes is asked to take. Now, in today's article, we will have a look at what happens to a diabetic when the person forgets to take medicines.
Medications are one of the main tools to fight off the complications that diabetes can offer a person. It is also very important for a diabetic to follow the instructions of the doctor and the medicinal dosages. However, there are times you may slip up and miss a dose. Here's what happens inside you when you do so!
Unlike other health complications, when a diabetic skips medications, the effects don't show up immediately. It is not like knee or back pain which can get triggered with skipping medicines. But, in the long run, skipping your diabetes medicinal dosages can harm your body and can invite several other health complications.
One of the first ones is missing several doses of diabetes can trigger and increase your body's blood glucose level. But, this only when you miss your diabetes medicines and not compromise with your healthy lifestyle. When you do fail to do both, the body may suffer from a sudden spike in blood sugar level.
According to the experts, when a diabetic patient misses doses, the effect on blood sugar becomes more significant and gets worse with time.
"Diabetes medications are intended to be taken daily at around the same time every day. To achieve maximal efficacy it is important not to forget to take these medications," Dr Samuel Grossman, BS Pharm, Pharm.D, CDE, was quoted as saying.
When diabetes medicines are not taken on time and skipped, the patients become more vulnerable to severe and chronic long-term health complications. Some of these may include - 1. The patient can suffer from an increased risk of blindness
2. Skipping medicines for long can also damage the kidneys.
3. The person may suffer from severe heart or cardiovascular diseases.
4. Not taking medicines can also lead to severe sexual health complications.
"It actually completely depends on the severity of a person's diabetes and the type of medicines the patient is advised to take. For example, if the patient's diabetes has reached the point where medication is the only way to keep the blood sugar level under control, not taking the medicines can lead to deadly health complications," Dr Juhi Rajwani told TheHealthSite.
One of the other serious effects of skipping diabetes doses can be feet problems. When a diabetic patient misses the medicinal doses for a long time, the patient becomes more prone to suffer from severe nerve damage issues. This nerve damage can create serious problems for the person's foot. The foot loses its sense and thus the person may not even realise if there is a cut or something. The cut or injury which they don't feel can then turn into serious skin infections and this can then force the doctors to amputate the infected body part.
According to the doctors, nerve damage is one of the most serious impacts of skipping diabetes medicines. Why so? It is because nerve damage can never be reversed and thus can be fatal.
However, the doctors also suggested not take extra medication when someone misses one or two doses. It can lead to other severe health complications and it is not at all recommended.
"A diabetes medicine only works better when it is taken on time and when the patients follow a healthy lifestyle along with it," a medical expert was quoted as saying.
The above mentioned are the heart complications that a person may face by missing or skipping the diabetes medications. These are extremely serious but what if you have already missed your medicine?
As discussed above, never take extra medicines when you skip one or many medicinal doses. Rather, when you realize that you have already missed your doses, try and make sure to take the next doses on time.
Also, apart from medicines, what matters more is your lifestyle. It is extremely important to maintain a good and sustainable lifestyle which should include a good diet, a healthy exercise routine, and proper weight management.
Experts also suggest that following a healthy and nutritious diet can alter the negative health impacts of high blood sugar. Therefore one should always make sure that not just the medicines, one must also follow a good lifestyle to beat diabetes and its health complications.
