Why Family Caregivers Need to Know About Medication Side Effects

As you oversee the care needs of a sick or elderly loved one at home, their medication is one of the many factors that you have to seriously pay attention to. When they’re unable to take their medicines, their health condition can get complicated. When they have taken the medication, you have to ensure it’s at the right dosage and schedule, else, you put them at risk for the side effects.

Being a key provider of Personal Care Service in San Antonio, Texas, we also advocate proper medication adherence to our clients. We recognize that when medication is not properly administered to your loved one, side effects can bring complications or even worse.

It’s important to remember that all medicines can bring side effects. It can be a minor effect; others are making the patient dizzy, while still others can be life-threatening. Here are important aspects of medication side effects that you need to know as a family caregiver.

• The most common side effect of oral medicine is the upset stomach
  Since most of the medicines are taken orally, the immediate organ that reacts to it is the stomach. The gastrointestinal system is the first receiver of medication side effects, causing the patient to feel upset stomach and nausea.
• The most common side effect of topical medicines is an irritation
  When the medicine is administered on the skin, patients normally get irritated with manifestations of rashes, redness, and hotness of the surface.
• Side effects can be managed with sufficient information
  As a family caregiver, it’s part of your responsibility to inspect the medicine’s container or label for instructions about the side effects. This information can give you a list of side effects that you can expect so you will know what to do when it does happen. To be more certain, remember to talk with the pharmacist or doctor about the possibility of side effects and what you can do.
• The common appearances of medication side effects are allergic reactions, which can be anaphylactic when untreated immediately, upset stomach, drowsiness, and dry mouth
  For some blood-clotting medicines, they can result in serious side effects as internal bleeding.
• Most of the side effects occur when the drug the patient is taking is mixed with other elements, such as another medicine or alcoholic beverage
  In the instance of drug-to-drug interaction, the side effect can even be fatal, such as an accidental overdose.
• Some side effects don’t show up in the medicine’s testing phase that passed the FDA’s approval
  Because of this, the FDA will continue to receive complaints or reports on side effects of medicines, especially if these are severe reactions.

As your partner in providing quality Senior Care Services, we hope that you find these reminders helpful in your role as the family caregiver. Know that when you need further assistance in caring for your loved one, our team at Above and Beyond Caregiving, Inc., can provide you the extra hands.