Not taking medication

[flyingninja123]

I have a friend, who refuses to take any kind of medication. I was wondering what I should do for him. Should I follow his wishes, and continue allowing him to not take it, or should I strongly encourage him to take it. I really don't know what to do.

 

[SlimBlue]

Think about it in reverse. Would you have a problem getting him to stop taking heroin even though he was adamant it was doing him no harm?

I can understand you wanting to respect your friend's wishes, but if he is having a lot of seizures, and his meds help if he takes them, please try to convince him to, or at least tell someone like his doctor that he isn't taking them.

I know that sounds bad, but if he really does need them, then you'll be doing him a favour in the long run.

If it's the case where he has extremely few, minor seizures, then it's not quite so cut and dried though

 

[notime]

This is difficult, on one hand it would be annoying on the other he really does need to take his medicine if he have seizures. How often does he have them? Does he drive? Or anything like that? I would try encouraging him to take his medicine, and perhaps down the road he can drive and be seizure free? Usually the side effects goes away after some time though.

All I can say is just be there for him and try to encourage him to take it. You shouldn't try to force which would just cause you two to fight perhaps, but at least try to encourage him? That's the least you can do, in the end if somebody doesn't want to do something they won't.

 

[arnie]

Like the others are saying, you can only encourage him and try to educate him on what may happen if he doesn't take his meds. You can't "allow" him not to take them any more force him to take them, since you're not in control of what he does. Just try to be supportive. Best of luck!

 

[masterjen]

First of all, try to find out where he is coming from with his decision to not take the medication (side effects? too expensive? not working?), and start from here in your efforts to help him. If his issues are with side effects, for example, encourage him to speak to his doctor about a dosage change or new medication. If it is the expense, help him find sources of financial assistance. If his reasoning is along the lines of his seizures are not bad enough or frequent enough to need it, or that he just doesn't "feel like" taking it, then this is where you can help him understand the importance of continuing to take it.
Bottom line is that it is your friend's decision whether or not to take the medication. Once you've determined the reason he is not taking it and have made suggestions on what he can do to make taking the medication more acceptable, then all you can do is support him and hope in the end he takes the best course of action.

 

[Belinda5000]

so far I've gone without 2 doses of medicine and nothing has happened to me.

 

[N Sperlo]

You can't force your friend to take the meds. A little encouragement won't hurt. I know when I stopped taking the meds, the results weren't good, so I would always encourage taking meds as directed. I wouldn't go so far as to talk to his doc, though. You can only make so much your business.

 

[marika853]

Flying Ninja,
Welcome and what a good friend you are! My son who is 41 has bipolar disorder and will not take medication. He has been thru hell and back but will not relent on that decision.
We can only control ourselves and no one else. No matter how much we love them. Believe me I KNOW!
It is so difficult to watch but you just have to be there for them when they ask. Maybe, big Maybe they will listen, maybe not. WE CAN'T CHANGE OTHER PEOPLE only ourselves.
Good Luck
M