Take Your Medicine!

One step ahead and I will pass the bachelor degree of pharmacy. I have learnt a lot of things correlated to medicine. Start from learning how to dispense medicine through pharmaceutics theories and practices. Learning the relation between physics phenomenon and pharmaceutical dosage form through physics pharmaceutics theories and practices. Learning about the fate of the medicine in the body and how the medicine gives biology activities through pharmacokinetics and pharmacology. Learning how to develop new medicine from plant, mineral, or other potential things through pharmacognosy, phytochemistry, pharmacochemistry, medicinal chemistry, and basic of design and synthesis of medicine. All of the subjects that I have mentioned is only some of subjects that I have got, there are still much more subjects I have got during this 7 semesters but I can't mention all of them. The point is I am enough understand about medicine as a final year student of pharmacy faculty and have been writing about my final paper. 

I am not "Mrs-Know-It-All", I just want my mother to take all the medicines as the schedule because I know the impact if she didn't do it. I am garrulous because I want her always be healthy. One day, she complained that the medicine was too big to swallow, I couldn't do anything better, I just said that, "later, let's go to the doctor and complain about that". I realized it, it's too big, but it's a relief that my mother could handle it. It's antibiotics for her chronic bacteria infection. She only needed to take it for a week, after that, she didn't need it. Besides that, actually, she has type 2 diabetes so she need to take the medicine in her whole life time. Seventeen years as diabetics, didn't make her bored to take the medicine. I always remind her to take it although sometimes she is procrastinator. At least, finally she always do it. Glybenclamide is not her problem, because the tablet is enough small to swallow. 

One day, she had bad condition, we took her to the doctor and the doctor said it's the time to add Metformine for the her diabetes medication. Glybenclamide was not enough for her. It should be combination Glybenclamide and Metformine to give her better condition. The problem was my mother dislike Metformine because once again, the tablet was too big to swallow. I couldn't do anything, I had complained to the doctor, but the doctor couldn't give alternative medicine. Finally, my mother just accepted for what it is. 

In the beginning of 2014, in January, I got sick. For the first time I got typhoid infection, a bacteria that attacks the gastrointestinal tract. I took the medicines and it spent two weeks to make me completely healed. I didn't remember there was a problem with the medicine. I was enough obedient to take the medicine. But a year later, in 2015, at the same time, the beginning of the year, in January, I got sick again. Again the doctor said I had the symptoms of typhoid infection. "Noooo..." I said in my head, "I won't repeat all the medication I have got a year before, it's too hurting." The doctor told me, if my condition was not better, I should come back and he will take my blood to be tested. I was determined that my condition in two days later should be better, so I didn't need to come back and felt the damn hurting syringe. 

The antibiotics that I got was the same antibiotics with my mother had gotten. It was too big. Since I was child, I have been seriously difficult to swallow medicine. I hate medicine! This condition was really embarrassing. I learnt a lot about medicine but I hate to take medicine. Every time I need to take the medicine, it spends more than 30 minutes to finish it. I spend the time by thinking, what will happen if the medicine goes wrong tracts (I am afraid if the medicine goes to respiratory tracts) and what will happen if the medicine gets stuck in the esophagus, how do I handle it then? Too much thinking and sometimes end with not smooth way. The medicine hurt my esophagus because I took it worriedly. 

Hmm...

I complained to my mother why the doctor so mean by giving this medicine. My mother just gave back what I had said when she had ever complained about this too. "That's the feeling when you need to swallow the big tablet, now you feel it!"

Now, I am ashamed of myself. I was too garrulous to my mother about taking medicine. I talked too much at that time without feeling what my mother felt when she swallowed the medicine. At this time, I felt it. I was like swallowing my own vomit. I felt sorry to my beloved mother.

Hmm...

I'm just able to mumble. Nowadays, there are a lot of advance pharmaceutical dosage form that aims to increase the comfort of the patient every time they need to take the medicine. Tablet is the problem for them who can't swallow well. So, for the alternative medicine, there are inhaler and patch. Using inhaler, you don't need to take medicine orally, just need to breath and the medicine will be absorbed in mucous membrane and distributed in circulating system, and finally will give biology activities. Or by using patch, you just need to adhere the patch in your skin, and the medicine will be absorbed and distributed in circulating system, and finally will give biology activities. Same medicine, but different way to achieve the target. Same thing with tablet, it will goes into gastrointestinal tracks, absorbed in mucous membrane, distributed in circulating system, and finally will give biology activities. 

Hmm...

But those advance pharmaceutical dosage form are still too expensive. To heal the patient with the medicine doesn't need to hurt them while taking the medicine. They just need comfort medicine. If the medicine make them comfort, they will absolutely obey the schedule of taking the medicine. This is the role of future pharmacist, including me, to develop this, become affordable, and give comfort for all people. Viva la pharmacie!

Picture Source: www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk