MISUSE OF OTC MEDICATION

 MISUSE OF OTC MEDICATION.

(OVER-THE-COUNTER)

OTC or nonprescription medicine is another term for over-the-counter medicine. All of these words allude to drugs that can be purchased without a prescription. When you follow the guidelines on the label which is being advised by your health care expert,then they are both safe and effective.

Individuals can self-manage symptoms by purchasing over-the-counter (OTC) drugs from pharmacies. Some OTC drugs, on the other hand, may be abused, and addiction and hazards are becoming more widely recognised. The present state of knowledge and awareness of OTC medicine abuse is described in this BLOG

People have a tendency to believe that drugs purchased without a prescription are completely safe to take. You wouldn't be able to acquire them at your local retail establishment if they were unsafe. The vast majority of individuals, on the other hand, do not take the instructions seriously, believing that if a product is available to absolutely everyone without any restrictions or constraints, then there is nothing to be concerned about. Unfortunately, the reality is that many over-the-counter medications can lead to addiction if they are overused. To make matters worse, it can happen in an instant

     

Despite the very fact that over-the-counter drugs appear to be completely innocuous initially appearance, their misuse constitutes a severe health risk and regularly results in addiction. Addiction may be a disease which will quickly destroy your life and price you dearly in every meaning of the term.

OTC Drugs That Are Most Frequently Abused

The list of medications overused by Americans is long, which is unsurprising considering the large number of people who would gladly forego costly doctor visits, especially if they have the “common” flu. People are frequently astonished to learn that the medicines they take without thinking can be very addictive, according to doctors at CoastlineBehavioralHealth.com. On the other hand, many of them say that they enjoy the “side effect” of certain medications, which makes them feel better, more carefree, or even happier. Let's look at some of the most widely overused over-the-counter medications.

Dextromethorphan – 

 Dextromethorphan that's widely used for the relief of cough triggered by the cold. Syrups that contain Dextromethorphan are really at  cheaper cost, which makes them popular among teenagers. Dextromethorphan is usually mixed with alcohol and marijuana.  many  side effects like hallucinations, impaired judgment, slurred speech,  dizziness, vomiting, and seizures. 

   

                                             

Ephedrine –

Epihedrine is the drug Banned in 2004 by the FDA, Ephedrine still finds its thanks to consumers as an ingredient of weight loss pills and certain asthma medications. it's known for getting you high and being addictive.

                 

                             

 Caffeine – 

Caffeine is something that the bulk of individuals consume a day within the sort of a steaming cup of aromatic coffee or fizzy drink, caffeine are often extremely dangerous when taken or consumed in large doses. Although energy beverages that contain higher amounts of caffeine are advertised as brain boosters that assist you stay up and alert, the results of consuming large doses within a brief period of your time are often fatal.

       

                                       

 Loperamide – 

Loperamide is an artificial opioid intended to alleviate the  diarrhea, Loperamide causes euphoria when taken or consumed in large doses. 

       

                                      

laxatives 

Laxatives – these are contrary to Loperamide, they are a good range of medicine that help your body get obviate the food you've got eaten during cravings or eye-catching dinner enhanced with multi-course meals. The misuse of laxatives is always extremely dangerous for your health because it may cause dehydration, coronary failure, and even it causes  carcinoma. 

       

                                     

Motion Sickness Pills – 

Motion sickness pills are an excellent invention that helps many people that can’t stand longer car rides or get sick on the plane, these pills are absolutely safer when used for the aim. However, if you're taking a significantly higher dose, you'll feel extra relaxed and euphoric. In most serious cases, people may have some side effects such as hallucinations, blurred vision, irregular heartbeat, asystole, also as amnesia.

       

                                        

Why Is Over-the-Counter Drug Abuse So Dangerous?

People are generally hesitant to acknowledge that they are dependent on a medicine. But the major issue isn't that they don't want to say or express their addiction to others; it's that they don't want to admit it to themselves in the first place. They tend to blame everything on financial difficulties or troubled relationships, ignoring the true culprit: OTC drug misuse. If left untreated, addiction grows stronger and stronger, causing major health problems and utterly destroying the abuser's life.

OTC medications, while typically harmless, can be extremely addicting if used incorrectly. Do not hesitate to get help if you believe you or a loved one has developed an addiction to a specific prescription. Otc medication while using should be taken care. 

Several OTC drugs have the potential to be abused or misused. Drugs like Antihistamines, sleeping pills, caffeine, ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, antitussives and expectorants, dextromethorphan, laxatives, anabolic steroids, and sildenafil  all these are  oftenly  abused drugs. For weight loss, laxatives are overused, and high antihistamine doses are utilised for euphoria. Opiate-based combination medications including cough/cold products containing dextromethorphan, sleep aids, antihistamines, analgesics, hypnotics, and laxatives have all been identified as having abuse potential in research conducted around the world. The most commonly misused pharmaceuticals are cough syrups and pain relievers. Codeine or other opiate-containing products sold over the counter.

Increased access to drugs is one of the most likely causes of OTC addiction. Because of the prescription-to-over-the-counter (Rx-to-OTC) conversion, drugs for common ailments are now available. The majority of changes are prompted by the expiration of a company's patent. However, Blue Cross and its parent business petitioned the US Food and Drug Administration to switch prescription antihistamines including Claritin, Zyrtec, and Allegra (FDA). Patients' autonomy, diagnosis based on the patient's judgement, and the lack of a physician can all lead to incorrect self-diagnosis. Treatment for dyspepsia, for example, can conceal the presence of a serious gastrointestinal condition.

                           

Role of pharmacist in OTC medications 

Patients have the  easy and free access towards seeking advice from a pharmacist. Many issues faced by a patient are often easily solved by pharmacists,and pharmacists are always a helping hands in this cases including things like product selection, OTC name confusion, appropriate product use, and when to use  medications. Thus, pharmacists exercise a robust influence on OTC medication purchase and merchandise selection. Many patients find product selection confusing thanks to marketing strategies by manufacturers. a standard marketing technique by pharmaceutical manufacturers is line extension. an outsized % of revenue is spent on OTC medication advertisements and line extensions. Once a manufacturer has a longtime name, other products are sold under the extension of an equivalent brand. the first and foremost brand Tylenol has many more line extensions including Tylenol PM, and Tylenol Cold and Cough. This often results in confusion among the minds of patients. repeatedly these line extensions have multiple ingredients causing more confusion. A patient and pharmacist interaction would help patients in the decision-making process during these instances. Over the counter drug advertisements are often the dangerous about OTC medication selection by the patients. If the advertisements are misleading, a patient could also be misinformed. The advertisements will have focus upon the beneficial effects of the medication with basic  information on the contraindications and safety concern in this regard, a pharmacist also can provide insight into all aspects of the drug, also as information on the safe use of OTC medications.

During the purchasing of over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, pharmacists are the initial point of contact. They are essential to track the practice of over-the-counter medications in a specified group. Pharmacists, for example, should be more careful in the case of elderly patients who take various prescriptions. Patients who come in with requests for frequent refills, especially OTC drugs, must also be monitored. By employing their clinical abilities, giving oral and written drug information, and building trust among patients, pharmacists can be more proactive in controlling OTC medicine addiction. Prescription drug monitoring programmes keep path of information on a patient's prescription drug refills.

In the past, several approaches used by pharmacists to decrease OTC medicine addiction have been proposed. Pharmacists' top three tactics for preventing OTC medicine abuse were keeping the implicated products out of sight, asking pharmacists about their purchases, and refusing to sell the implicated product. It was shown that 62% percent of pharmacists reported taking steps to prevent OTC medication abuse, such as not displaying medicines, refusing sales, and other rules such as pharmacists conducting patient interviews.

             

                  

Obstacles for pharmacists in preventing the misuse of over-the-counter medications Pharmacists and their pharmacies have a spread of issues when it involves monitoring OTC usage. Identification of drug-related complaints could also be and  thanks to a scarcity of consistent data with OTC drugs. Pharmacists rarely keep track of or monitor patient medication profiles for over-the-counter medications, leaving a niche within the data needed to form proper counselling decisions      

An individual seeking to abuse an OTC medicine might presumably obtain it from an equivalent pharmacy at different times or from different pharmacies. the US federal has passed the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005 in response to the likelihood for misuse of medicine, particularly pseudoephedrine (CMEA). This law was enacted to manage the quantity of pseudoephedrine which will be purchased during a pharmacy within the us.  The goal of this law was to scale back illegal methamphetamine consumption, which can be mass synthesised using pharmaceuticals like ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, which are routinely found in over-the-counter cough and cold remedies a sale order has been placed by the CMEA.

Furthermore, the lack of proactive pharmacist measures to monitor patients' OTC medicine use has resulted in several potential for abuse. Pharmacists are frequently overworked, and the high-stress prescription processing workload limits the capacity for pharmacovigilant behaviour. Furthermore, the legal standards for pharmaceutical distribution have not kept pace with the potential for abuse, nor have the rules governing pharmacy practise been changed or updated to meet the needs of patients or pharmacists.                         

                               

                                                                                    M.MEGHANA GOUD,                                           Pharm D 4rth YEAR                                      JOGINPALLY B R PHARMACY COLLEGE