When Should I Discontinue Medications Due To Acute Illness?
The discontinuation of your medical prescriptions during acute illness is always a dangerous proposition. However, it does happen especially when patients are acutely ill. And if they are nausea, they're vomiting, or if they have acute flu.
Often patients come into the office and say "Well I haven't taken my medication because I've been really sick."
When you discontinue these medications especially if you're on medications for control of your blood pressure, of your diabetes, this becomes dangerous. So discontinuing them when you make that decision as a patient, I would immediately consult with your health care provider and pharmacist for tips on whether or not it's okay to skip a dose.
Generally, it can be okay, but it's not recommended that patients make that decision on their own. They should make the decision in conjunction with this physician and/or pharmacist for better outcomes of discontinuation of medication and prescriptions.
Dr. Joseph Mosquera
Dr. Joseph Mosquera has over 35 years of experience as an integrative general practitioner in Newark, NJ. Mosquera is a graduate of Rutgers Medical School (now UMDNJ). He studied neurology at George Washington University Hospital and completed his residency and training in Internal Medicine at Hackensack University Medical Center. He then went on to graduate from the University of Arizona Medical School’s Program in Integrative Medicine in 2004. Dr. Mosquera is also a Harvard Medical School Fellowship graduate in Structural Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine and is certified in Ericksonian Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy. He has served as the Clinical Director of Integrative Medicine at St. Michael’s Medical Center (Newark, NJ), an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Arizona Medical School, an Instructor at UMDNJ in “The Art of Medicine”, and a Lecturer of Integrative Medicine at both Harvard and Georgetown University Medical Schools. He has held a Board Certification in Internal Medicine since 1984 and is licensed to practice medicine in five states (NY, NJ, MA, NH, FL). Since 2003, Dr. Mosquera has been a regular Medical/Health expert and contributor to Univision, Telemundo, as well as CNN and NBC’s the “Today Show.” He has served as a Medical and Health expert for Consumer Reports Health since 2008. He is currently a medical expert for RxSaver.
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