The Hidden Long-Term Risk of Medications (4 Questions to Take Control)

What if a medication you stopped more than six years ago left something behind that is waiting for a small trigger in order to cause big problems for you?

It looks like that seems to be the case for Dr. Jordan.

Michaela was strong enough to provide us with an update.

And it looks like he used to take medications in the past as a common treatment in order to help the things that he’s working through.

And it’s kind of easy to point fingers and say, “Oh, well, you took that kind of medication. I don’t take those medications. Therefore, it’s not going to happen to me.”

And the reality is that every single medication has some sort of side effect, even if it’s unexpected.

So, I want to make a quick article to walk through what a conversation with the doctor looks like, so that you can be well informed when your doctor recommends a medication for you.

Again, this is not to demonize any particular medication.

This is not to point fingers at a particular disease.

There are all kinds of diseases that are very common and there are all kinds of treatment options that are very common.

How to Have an Informed Conversation with Your Doctor About Medications

And so the question becomes, how do you make sure that you’re well educated on the medication that your doctor is recommending for you?

Basically, the bottom line is: How do you go in with your eyes wide open?

And to do that, you have to ask the right questions.

Based on what I’ve seen, probably the questions that make the most sense to me are:

Question 1: What is the purpose of this medication?

So, for example, what does it do? What are you treating with it?

You would be surprised at how many people don’t know what the medication is supposed to treat.

They’re just taking it because the doctor prescribed it.

And this is not to point fingers at anybody’s intellect either because I have seen many well educated people be easily confused by what medications they’re taking and what it’s supposed to do for them.

My point is, don’t be afraid to talk to your doctor and ask about what this medication is for.

Even if you’ve been taking this medication for years, you should still take a minute to stop and say,

“Hey, you know what? I’ve been taking this medication for a long time. I don’t know what it does. Can you please tell me?”

Ask your doctor.

And medicine can be very hard to wrap your mind around.

Don’t be ashamed if that’s the case.

It takes a lot of study in order to actually understand the field in general, let alone one medication.

This is why medical students take four years before they graduate.

And on top of that, they also have to do residency training before they’re considered relatively okay to start treating patients on their own without any supervision.

Bottom line, if you don’t know something, don’t worry about it.

Speak up and talk to your doctor.

So, after you figure out what the medication actually does and how it’s supposed to help you, the next question is going to be:

Question 2: What are the side effects?

At this point, everybody has seen a pharmaceutical commercial which lists a whole laundry list of side effects and you need to be aware of those side effects, particularly with regards to your personal medical history.

So the commercials can report a whole bunch of side effects that they have found in the studies, but the real question is:

How does it impact you?

So you need to ask your doctor particularly who knows your medical history:

How does this medication help me?

And then how does this medication impact my other conditions?

Warning Signs to Watch Out For

What specifically should I be looking out for?

Should I be on the lookout for certain signs or symptoms or feelings in my body?

Should I be on the lookout for any headaches or vision changes or chest pain or shortness of breath?

What does an allergic reaction look like?

Because some medications can cause allergic reactions.

And if you pay attention to those pharmaceutical ads, you’ll notice that they started including that in their list of things to talk about with your doctor.

So, you need to know basically the pros and the cons.

This much is obvious.

And at the baseline, you need to know what it does for you and how to recognize if something is not going according to plan.

And so the next question is:

Question 3: How do you track these changes?

How do you make sure that things are going according to plan?

For example, if you’re taking a blood pressure medication, how do you make sure that your blood pressure is actually going in the right direction?

And then how do you make sure that your liver and your kidneys are doing okay at the same time?

For another example, in case you’re taking a medication for cholesterol, you need to be able to track if your cholesterol is going in the right direction and also if your liver is doing okay.

Lab Work and Follow-Up

So the questions you need to be asking your doctor include things like:

How do we monitor this?

Do we do lab work on a consistent basis?

How often should we check my cholesterol levels?

And how often should we check the health of my liver?

You’re going to first of all find out what you need to look out for from the previous questions about side effects.

And then you’re going to use that as kindling for your next questions as far as how you’re going to monitor all of these issues that can potentially come up.

Question 4: What Are the Long-Term Health Risks of Staying on This Medication?

Now, let’s say we figured out what this medication is supposed to do for us and we figured out what are the side effects that we need to look out for, particularly with our own medical history.

And we found out how to track everything appropriately to make sure that we’re on the right track and we’re getting the benefits while at the same time minimizing risk of issues coming up.

Now, we need to look at the long-term of things because if we’re going to be taking these medications for a long time, we need to be able to figure out where is this going and are there any long-term health consequences by taking this medication.

There are many times where it is just required.

You need to get something under control fast and then you can take the time to discuss further options with your doctor.

But in the case of chronic conditions, where you have high blood pressure for a really long time or you have high cholesterol levels or those things run in the family or a number of other things, then you probably have the opportunity to talk to your doctor about how long a medication has been in existence.

New vs. Established Medications: How to Choose What’s Right for You

There are all kinds of new and old medications out there.

And so you have to talk to your doctor about what is the ideal medication for you and for your medical history because basically a new medication might be the best thing for you.

But maybe we don’t need to go that route and we can use something that’s been tried and true.

So you can ask your doctor:

How long has this medication been around?

Have there been any long-term effects that you’ve noticed?

And you can ask your doctor specifically if they noticed anything from their patients over the years.

For example, metformin has been around a really long time and its safety profile has been studied and documented over many many decades.

So, for someone who has been recently diagnosed with diabetes and you’re not really sure what to ask, then you can ask,

“How long has this medication been around?

Have you noticed any issues?

And what can I expect from taking this medication over the years?”

What Dr. Peterson’s Experience Can Teach Us All About Medication Awareness

So, let’s learn something from Dr. Peterson’s experience that will be useful to us all.

We can improve our awareness.

I know the medical world can feel very confusing.

You’re not really sure what the doctor just told you.

You walk out of that exam room and you’re thinking,

“What on earth just happened? I was just diagnosed with something and given a prescription for 20 different medications and somehow this is supposed to help me.”

And that diagnosis can be extremely overwhelming and very frightening when you’re just living your own life and you don’t even realize there’s a problem until it slaps you in the face.

It can be very confusing when the doctor basically tells you,

“Hey, there’s a problem here. Here’s a bunch of medications to fix that problem and come back and see me in a month or 3 months” or whenever.

How to Advocate for Yourself After a New Diagnosis

After the initial emergency has been resolved and you can take some time to think about things, this is the opportunity to ask these kinds of questions.

This is where you align yourself with the doctor’s plan to get you back on track towards health because sometimes you just need someone else to drive.

Sometimes you just need someone to carry you through a particular situation.

And that’s okay long as you’re able to get through the problem.

Asking these questions can help you be more aware of things and collaborate more effectively with your doctor.

So, the next time you’re prescribed a new medication or you’re curious about what medications you’re currently taking, take this checklist of questions and see what you can find out.

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