Written By: Bhavyajyoti Chilukoti | Published : June 16, 2016 4:48 PM IST
While most people take medications as recommended by the doctor, sometimes you can forget a dose or two. Not taking your medication regularly can have serious effects, says Dr Santosh Kumar Dora, Consultant cardiology and electrophysiology, Asian Heart Institute, Mumbai. While it is okay to stop taking medications for gastritis, infections, headache, cough and cold without consulting a doctor, medications for blood pressure, diabetes, blood thinners and cholesterol control have to be taken lifelong or as recommended by the doctor without missing a dose. Here s more on why you need to take medications for heart problems religiously.
Whenever you are prescribed a medication, know fully well what the medication is about and the repercussions if you fail to take it. Also, keep in mind that most medications like blood pressure, cholesterol and blood thinners are to be taken lifelong. If you forget taking blood pressure medications when your blood pressure surges, it can lead to intracranial haemorrhage, kidney damage, eye problems or heart failure (in worst case scenario). If you stop taking blood thinners, which is recommended for people with heart block and high cholesterol, then you can even suffer from heart attack. That is why one should not stop taking medications unless the doctor advices so.Suffering from a heart disease? Here are expert tips to stay healthy.
Medications and side effects
It goes without saying that following your doctor s advice of taking medications for heart disease is mandatory to deal with the condition. But this doesn t mean that you do not consult the doctor about the side-effects. Some medications cause side-effects such as gastritis and bleeding, which should not be ignored. In such cases, you can stop taking the medications for a few days but don t forget to inform the doctor about the same. Also, consult your doctor as he might change your medications or recommend alternatives with fewer side-effects. Make sure you discuss with the physician about the continuation or discontinuation of medications and no matter what, ensure that your doctor is well informed all the time about side-effects of the drugs (if any). Here are unusual symptoms of heart disease (this could save your life!).
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