Over-Medicated and Prostate Cancer

My father has had prostate cancer for over 10 years and throat cancer for 30 years. He is 84 and takes a series of medications daily. Prostate cancer is a cancer that often leads to pain. It can be very painful as you progress through different stages of this disease. You can have pain with urination, back and thigh pain. I remember my father’s doctors used the words rescue medication because he was in so much pain. I didn’t understand at the time what that meant but did some research and found out this. This is a pain medicine that works quickly to relieve pain for a short period of time.

Medication precautions

I often wonder what happens to the body when taking too much medication? Well, you could overdose because the body can’t take it anymore. It can also affect the kidneys and the liver because you can’t process medications efficiently. This can sometimes lead to toxicity. Toxicity is commonly referred to as a toxin that is found too much in the bloodstream.

Of course, caution is the key to taking any medications. It is crucial to be mindful of not taking too much. I know so many people who have diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and must take medicine for a chronic illness. With the hustle and bustle of a busy life, dealing with cancer diagnosis and other illness can be hard. It could be easy to over medicate if you're taking different medications for different diseases.

Keep track of your dosages

As a caretaker, I keep a journal of my father’s dosage and medication times. He is very independent doesn’t think I need to do this, but suppose he forgets to take his medications or I forget. I write down times and medications. This is very important so that I don’t accidentally over medicate him. Even though he has really bad pain at times, it’s important to take medications the way it was prescribed. If what he is taking is not enough; I just consult with his doctors for changes. We should never take it upon ourselves to give extra medication. I’ve heard that those with prostate cancer say such things as; you have no clue of the pain I’m dealing with. I will just take an extra pill. This is never wise. We want to be safe and wise. Always ask your doctor.

It is always wise to keep paper and pen near you. Write down any symptoms of what the medication is doing. If you’re hallucinating or having bad nightmares due to medication; call your doctor immediately. They will want to know. They are the ones that can prescribe you something to lessen or alleviate these unwanted symptoms.

I spoke with a lady who had cancer and she was hallucinating real bad due to her medication. She had got to the point where she couldn’t sleep at night. Her doctors had to adjust her medication and her life changed one hundred percent. Let’s not suffer if we don’t have too and be responsible for your medical needs.

Be your own advocate

It’s one thing to live with prostate cancer but we need to know information that can be lifesaving to our loved ones. We must be our own best advocate on this journey. Ask questions, probe, research and know the side effects of medications that you are asked to take. We owe it to ourselves to know everything about our diagnosis. Ask the doctors to make copies of your MRI, scans, and blood work. Look over it and write down any concerns. Share this with your loved ones to have handy. Over medicating yourself won’t be an issue because you have a factual record of each dosage. It’s your health that really matters; take charge of it.