Karen: Taking complementary medicines – Evidence of effectiveness
Listen to patients and health professionals speak about their experience with taking multiple medicines.
Karen
Female
Age at interview: 37
Number of medicines: 8
Cultural background: Anglo-Australian
Karen has ‘tested’ her complementary medicines to see if she really needs them by stopping them temporarily. She has reintroduced some and ceased taking others depending on what she experienced.
When the prescription medication has been relatively stable, I've then kind of checked to see if they're actually having an effect, so I stopped taking the fish oil for a little while, but then realised I was having a lot more pain after about a month. So I realised, ‘OK. That's actually having an effect, so I'll keep taking that.’ I had been taking magnesium, but stopped taking that and it didn't seem to change anything. They were all recommended by my acupuncturist. The garlic and horseradish, I've been taking on and off for years, because of hay fever and sinus and stuff … I find I still get sinusitis, but not as severely if I'm taking that.
The Elivit was mainly for iron levels and stuff. But the joint formula ... and as I was taking calcium, but when I had the flare-up with the nerve pain, I had another MRI done and it showed that the fusion had gone really well and had fused nicely and I'm having yoghurts and cheeses and stuff every day, so I figured I was probably getting enough calcium and didn't need to continue with that, so I cut that one out. So, yeah ... yeah, it changes as my pain levels change and I'm keen not to take any more than I have to.
The Living with multiple medicines project was developed in collaboration with Healthtalk Australia.