As the saying goes, "Illness comes like a mountain, and goes like a strand of silk." Many people stop taking medication as soon as their illness starts to improve. Doctors often hear patients ask, "My illness is cured, why do I still need to take medicine?" Little do patients know, some diseases may seem to disappear and the symptoms may improve after a period of treatment, but they have not truly recovered. Certain chronic and functional diseases, such as hepatitis, nephritis, and neurasthenia, may still have abnormal indicators even if the clinical symptoms disappear. Below are three aspects to consider when stopping medication.
(1) Long-term medication should not be stopped
Many diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes, arrhythmias, and mental illnesses, do not have specific medications that can cure the root cause. The medications for these diseases can only control the symptoms. Most of these diseases require long-term medication, and some even require lifelong medication. Even if the condition improves, patients should not make their own decisions and stop taking medication. Otherwise, the symptoms may rebound and become more severe than before taking the medication.
(2) Immediate discontinuation of medication is not allowed
For certain diseases, such as influenza, viral hepatitis, and tonsillitis, although there are no specific medications, the purpose of medication is not to directly treat the disease, but to alleviate the symptoms and enhance the body's own resistance to eliminate the virus. For these types of diseases, medication can be immediately discontinued once the symptoms disappear.
(3) Gradual discontinuation of medication is not allowed
Some diseases have complex conditions and are prone to relapse after being cured, such as gastric and duodenal ulcers, epilepsy, tuberculosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and certain chronic diseases. After these diseases are cured with medication, maintenance treatment is generally required to consolidate the therapeutic effect and prevent relapse.
Because various chronic diseases have a longer course and require long-term adjustment, if medication is discontinued too early and treatment is interrupted, the disease often relapses. For example, acute pyelonephritis commonly seen in clinical practice is accompanied by symptoms such as frequent urination, urgency, and pain. After 3-5 days of medication, the symptoms basically disappear. If the patient stops taking the medication at this time, the symptoms will recur in a few days; if the medication is continued, it will quickly take effect. Such repeated medication leads to repeated attacks.
Over time, bacteria gradually develop drug resistance, and the disease changes from acute to chronic. If the medication is taken according to the doctor's instructions and discontinued only after the urine analysis is normal for 3-7 days, the above phenomenon will not occur again. Another example is acute rheumatic fever. Controlling the clinical symptoms with medication is relatively easy, but it should not be assumed that stopping the medication is possible once the symptoms disappear because the bacteria causing rheumatic fever have not been completely controlled, and the damage to the heart valves caused by the disease is still ongoing. Therefore, the general treatment period should be 3-6 months, followed by observation for 5 years until there is no recurrence. Stopping the medication too early may cause permanent damage to the heart and lead to rheumatic heart disease.
Therefore, the duration of medication must be strictly followed according to the doctor's instructions. Patients should never make their own decisions and stop taking medication too early, in order to avoid irreversible damage.
