Self-medication is never a good thing because it could cost someone his or her life when they take the wrong drugs. Here in Africa, some of us must have grown up seeing our parents doing it for us instead of taking us to the clinic or hospital for proper treatment.
Especially mothers here in Nigeria; they always thought they knew their children better than anyone, or let me just say any doctor, so for that reason, they would have boxes of drugs at home for their children.
I grew up seeing my mom doing self-medication for herself, including us, since she knows the signs each and every one of us gives whenever we are feeling sick, and her self-medication always works.
She was in a medical line before she gave birth to our lastborn, and I guess that was why we never doubted her medications because ever since she had been doing it, she had never gotten it wrong, so I always look at whatever she gives me whenever I have malaria.
I grew up doing self-medication as well because ever since my mother gave birth to me, I haven't been admitted to the hospital since I don't get sick, and whenever I am sick, it is always malaria, so I know what to use instead of going to the clinic, even though we have one close to us. I know it is bad, but since I get better after taking the usual drugs, I just ignore going to the clinic.
The image is mine
Then I did self-medication for someone, and it went wrong because I thought what worked for me would actually work for someone else.
My boyfriend then, who is now my husband, got sick at school, so I quickly rushed down home to get my medicine box. I got back to school and gave him some medicine because I noticed he had malaria.
He asked what drug it was, and I explained that it was what I use for malaria. I thought he should spend the night in my place so that I could watch over him overnight, and my sister quickly helped me cook some food while I was trying to calm his temperature.
After eating, he slept off, and my sister went to work, so I was left alone with him while he was sleeping.
The next morning, I woke up early to get him a pap, and I noticed his face looked somehow, but I thought maybe because I was still feeling sleepy, so I went outside to wait for the pap seller.
The image is mine
He was awake before I got back inside, and he made use of a blanket to cover his head, so I quickly removed the blanket, and I got so scared at what I saw.
His face, mouth, ear, and nose were swollen, and I was confused, then I started crying because I hadn't seen such a thing before. He managed to calm me down, and then he made me understand that his body reacts to any drugs that have aspirin, and he doesn't take any drugs except for paracetamol.
I didn't know when I shouted at him, "Then why did you take it from me when you knew this was going to happen?" he replied, "I don't have a choice.".
I sat with him crying because I thought the swollen face was something big, but after some hours, his face came back to normal, and ever since then, I have never tried to give him drugs; instead, I will call a nurse to come to check him at home if it's a minor thing.
Self-medication is a dangerous thing to do because it might go wrong and nobody would be able to place a finger at what went wrong. We all don't share the same body system, and it is better to go to the clinic and get proper treatment than doing self-medication at home, which might go wrong at any time.
To control self-medication, I think the government should put a restriction on how drugs are sold without doctors prescriptions.