Day 5 of the What Did I Learn Today challenge?

I learned a really important lesson today about medications.

I may have heard this before but it never stuck because I don't take any prescription drugs.

We all know that too many Americans are over medicated.

But a friend of mine was recently diagnosed with stage 4 kidney disease. His kidneys were failing at a rapid rate.

When the nephrologist (kidney doctor) looked over all of his medications he discovered one that has a side effect that causes kidney failure!!

It was a medication prescribed by a different doctor for a joint issue.

The nephrologist order my friend to immediately stop taking the medication, which he did.

Within 2 weeks, his kidney was back to normal!

Had this doctor not looked at all of the medications my friend was taking, he may not have caught it in time.

While I do believe that most doctors are reliable in what they prescribe, what I learned was that you can take your medications to a pharmacist to have them reviewed.

How simple is that!!

It's best to stay healthy so you don't fall into the rat race of being wrongly or over medicated.

Of course there are illnesses where we absolutely can benefit from medication. But when you start taking multiple chemical compounds, get advice from a pharmacist who knows what each medication does.