Niall: Messages to others – Think positively
Listen to patients and health professionals speak about their experience with taking multiple medicines.
Niall
Male
Age at interview: 45
Number of medicines: 7
Cultural background: British (Caucasian)
Niall found that the problems he initially had with his medicines were resolved and were worth working through because of the benefits gained by continuing with them.
Jacqueline:
If you met someone who was about to start one or more of the medicines that you're currently taking and they wanted to talk about it and asked you about it, what would you say to them?
Niall:
I would point out that some of them do have, for me, initial side effects and with some of these, that's very well known, but in my experience, they passed quickly. Looking at my blood test results and my lack of symptoms I used to have, it's been worth doing and also, again, I have the experience of what my father's been through ... is going through, as a salutary lesson, if you like. It can be challenging to go from, if you like, not having a chronic disease and regarding yourself as a healthy individual to someone living with chronic disease, because most of my medications are for chronic disease, so someone going onto these probably has similar conditions. It is a change. You are changing, but you're ageing and it's not unnatural. For some of us, it's just our genetics. You deal with it. You live with it.
The Living with multiple medicines project was developed in collaboration with Healthtalk Australia.