Often the doctor's recommendations are supplemented with the tips and recommendations of the pharmacist in the pharmacy. This is how complementarity of treatment is achieved, which consists in taking care of all aspects of the therapy and acting on all symptoms of the disease. Why is it worth consulting a pharmacist?

No advertisement or newspaper article will provide such proven and accurate news as a conversation with a pharmacist. Painful flatulence? It is best to add drotaverine to the simethicone. Need a magnesium supplement? It is best absorbed together with vitamin B6. Cukrzyk uses metformin? It is necessary to supplement vitamin B12. Problem with hyperhidrosis? In addition to the use of antiperspirant, it is worth drinking sage … Examples of such "pharmaceutical secrets" could be multiplied. There is no one cure for all diseases, just as there is no one cure with just one medicine. To achieve a therapeutic effect, a complementary action is often needed.

Complementary recommendation

Its sole purpose is to help the patient. Treatment is a very complex process. It's not just about taking and following your doctor's prescribed medication. The pharmacist has a significant role to play here. Satisfying the actual needs of the patient and having the appropriate knowledge, he can propose products that will facilitate or accelerate the treatment. Often this means the use of a preparation that was not in the medical prescription, but supporting its effectiveness. Often, the pharmacist's recommendations may seem surprising and unbelievable to patients - in such situations it is always worth asking for an explanation of the use of the product recommended in the pharmacy.

The drug heals, the drug is harmful …

No drug is without side effects. they are actually doomed to their occurrence - this is the price they have to pay for the ultimate effectiveness of the therapy. Very often, however, side effects can be avoided. This is where pharmacists' recommendations and complementary treatments come in handy.

One of the most popular examples of this is offering a probiotic in a pharmacy when the patient is prescribed only an antibiotic. Such a combination allows to avoid a significant side effect, which in this case is diarrhea after antibiotic use, resulting from the reduction of the physiological floraintestinal bacterial growth. The use of a probiotic allows you to maintain the proper level of bacteria in the intestines that are beneficial for the body. Of course, doctors very often add probiotic preparations to the antibiotic on the prescription. Some of them, however, do not do it, only instructing patients to rely on the pharmacist's recommendation when choosing such a product. Naturally, there are also situations when doctors forget to inform the patient about the need to use a probiotic - then there is a pharmacist on the alert who, every time he sees an antibiotic on the prescription, should suggest the best probiotic preparation to the patient.

Another example where a pharmacist may recommend a product to a patient to protect him / her from the side effects of a medication prescribed by a doctor concerns pharmaceuticals that are toxic to the liver. There is a whole group of drugs that damage the liver cells and, with prolonged use, may lead to its failure. A pharmacist, seeing such a drug on the patient's prescription, may recommend preparations to protect the liver. Most often, these will be products containing phospholipids, ornithine or milk thistle extracts. On the one hand, they support the processes taking place in the liver, accelerating the removal of toxic metabolic products from it. On the other hand, they provide ingredients that enable it to regenerate faster. Such a procedure is especially important in the case of long-term therapy with antifungal and antiviral drugs, paracetamol or immunosuppressants (i.e. used after transplantation).

The pharmacist's recommendation for chronic use of anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs is equally important. The mechanism of their action makes the patient more prone to stomach problems - reflux, heartburn, peptic ulcer disease. In such situations, it is recommended to use the so-called protective drugs. These are preparations from the group of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), which, when taken on an empty stomach, reduce the secretion of hydrochloric acid in the stomach. These preparations are normally prescribed to all patients taking therapy with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (e.g. in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis). It happens, however, that the patient tries to treat chronic pain on his own by using this type of medication without the doctor's knowledge. Then the pharmacist's recommendation is practically the only way to avoid undesirable symptoms from the digestive system.

Self-medication under the supervision of a pharmacist

In many cases, it is possible to heal with over-the-counter drugs in pharmacies and without visiting a doctor's office.Unfortunately, the problem is that the main source of patient knowledge about self-medication is advertising for medicinal products and dietary supplements. These, on the other hand, perpetuate the misconception that over-the-counter drugs are safe, and one tablet can combat all symptoms of the disease (e.g. colds). None of these are true, so any attempt to self-medicate should only be made after talking to a pharmacist.

When you have hemorrhoids

Their treatment should be based on the use of both topical preparations (suppositories, ointments, creams) and oral preparations (e.g. preparations with diosmin). All this should be supported by appropriate prophylaxis, consisting in the application of preparations to facilitate defecation, i.e. to relax the stool (e.g. lactulose), and hygiene (there are intimate hygiene cosmetics especially for patients with hemorrhoids). Meanwhile, TV commercials argue that one ointment is enough to treat this ailment … As a result, pharmacists recommend so many different preparations to a patient with hemorrhoids is often treated as an attempt to increase the "shopping basket" or even stretch him for additional purchases. And yet this is what complementary treatment is all about, which significantly increases the chances of cure and the shape of which is the result of the pharmacist's knowledge and experience.

How to deal with a cold

This is one of the most common problems that patients try to deal with without visiting a doctor. Fever, cough, runny nose, sore throat, chills … is there one cure for these symptoms? By analyzing the content of advertisements for cold remedies, you can come to the conclusion that each of them can combat all these symptoms. Unfortunately, in general, advertisements of these preparations do not say anything about the need to differentiate the type of runny nose (thick or watery), cough (wet or dry) or sore throat (mild, severe, hoarseness). However, it will be done by a pharmacist who, depending on the collected information, will recommend appropriate drugs - necessarily in the plural. Contrary to advertising messages, even the most common cold cannot be cured with one preparation, even if it has several active substances. The use of appropriate medications for specific symptoms of the disease while maintaining prophylaxis and minimizing side effects - this is what complementary treatment is.

Check what a pharmacist can do for you!

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