If there is one good/bad thing African parents are really good at, it is always being on alert when their children fall ill making sure to give the right drugs, so they think, to counter the symptoms of the illness, mostly from the part of the world, malaria is always the first thought about culprit, so they don't waste time to get us antimalarial, paracetamol and the likes, while some parents just move straight to herbal remedies, they so much believe in rendering self-medication not only to their children but to themselves as well.
We can't deny that this action actually stems from a place of care, wanting to see us get better, and most of the time, the fear of hospital bills makes them choose the route, it is only when the illness gets severe that they begin to panic and run to the hospital and sometimes it ends up being an emergency case, that is when you would most likely hear the doctors query about why the child or they wasn't brought to the hospital before it got worst, one answer - Self Medication
Does self-medication work, yes it does, but there is a but, I think these self-prescribed drugs are supposed to be a form of home remedies for minor pain, cold, or flu the reason you would always see the warning boldly written on the medicine bottle that If the symptom persists after two days, please consult your doctor. because minor symptoms are not supposed to last longer, but when they do, there is an underlying illness causing the symptoms which can only be diagnosed by the right doctor, so I hope we learn from this.
I was also a victim of self-medication and almost lost my first child due to this very reason, as a first-time mum, there are so many things we are ignorant of about taking care of a child, so when older mothers and other experienced mum advice us, we tend to heed to their advice, believing they know better, forgetting that every child is unique, even though they often get similar symptoms, especially during the teething period. During this period, my daughter was ill and was losing weight so much that she wouldn't eat like she used to, instead, she was vomiting every time she ate. My mum and other mums would tell me it was normal and was just teething symptoms, and advised I keep giving one syrup that was supposed to calm the teething discomfort, worst still, even the nurse that I met during an immunization appointment said the same thing, but my instinct as a mum, I knew this wasn't normal, I kept getting frustrated as she wasn't improving till I decided to take her to a better government hospital, that was when I realized that my daughter had a serious infection that was even draining her blood, the reason for her weight loss and pale look, of course the doctor asked why I didn't bring her earlier, I felt very bad that I didn't follow my guts and just listen to others instruction to self medicate, thankfully, my daughter was attended to and treated with the right medications, with time, she recovered, and I learned the hard lesson never to self medicate and always trust my instinct as a mother with my children and myself included.
It Is better to face the hospital bills and save a life as no amount is worth us losing our lives, I got lucky with my child, a lot of mums out there didn't, so when symptoms persist, please visit the hospital.
