Which of these women pops 16 pills a day — and why?
As a new report reveals many of us take at least FIVE different types of medication . . .
BRITAIN, it seems, is a nation of pill poppers. Almost half of over-65s are taking at least five different medicines a day, according to recent studies, including one by the University of Cambridge. And women are taking more medication than men.
A report in 2014 by the Health and Social Care Information Centre found that half of women (compared to 43 per cent of men) are taking a drug prescribed by their doctor.
So, why is this happening? The rising incidence of obesity, as well as the development of ground-breaking treatments — and the fact that people are living longer — have all helped make us more pill-dependent.
Yet appearances can be deceptive, since there are countless reasons why medication is a part of daily life for so many people.
Here, five women reveal the prescription drugs they take each day — but can you guess who pops the most, and who none at all?
MY PASSIONS ARE SPORT AND EXERCISE
I’M SOMEONE who has always been in good health and love to be active — I play netball and go running.
My only vice has always been smoking (I smoke around ten cigarettes a day), but it never seemed to affect my health.
That was until about four years ago, when I started to feel tired all the time.
Over a few months, I also began putting on several pounds and — to my absolute horror — my hair started to fall out. I was feeling quite low, too, which was very out of character.
My GP carried out various blood tests and told me that I had Hashimoto’s disease. I had never heard of it, but it is caused by the immune system attacking the thyroid gland. As a result, it becomes underactive, meaning it wasn’t producing enough of the hormone thyroxine.
I was prescribed a drug called levothyroxine, which I take every morning. I have to be careful about what I eat — I’ve been told to avoid gluten because it can aggravate symptoms such as tiredness.
Around three years ago, I also started suffering with awful heartburn if I went to bed a couple of hours after eating.
The pain could be so bad that it would wake me up and, sometimes, make me sick.
On one horrendous occasion, I was sick in my sleep and woke up choking. My husband Pedro was frantic and called an ambulance.
Tests revealed I have gastrooesophageal reflux disease — a form of heartburn — so I was prescribed the drug omeprazole, to reduce stomach acid levels.
I take one in the morning and one in the evening.
I never imagined being a pill popper at such a young age — the only time I’d choose to take medication is a paracetamol for occasional period pains — but at least the prescription medications let me get on with my life.
EXPERT COMMENT: ‘Hashimoto’s is not something that can be cured and the thyroid gland isn’t going to recover from the damage done to it,’ says John Monson, an emeritus professor of clinical endocrinology at Queen Mary, University of London, ‘so Sarah is likely to be on levothyroxine — a chemical replica of the thryoxine hormone produced naturally by the body — for life.’
Consultant gastroenterologist Steven Mann, from the Royal Free Hospital in London, says that some patients will take omeprazole when they need it.
‘But if Sarah has symptoms on a daily basis, then it may well be lifelong,’ he adds.
I TURNED MY BACK ON A STRESSFUL JOB
I WAS first prescribed blood pressure pills ten years ago, aged 36. I saw my GP about some other minor issue and, while I was there, he suggested doing some general medical checks, such as taking my blood pressure.
I was horrified to discover that my reading was 140/96 (the normal range is between 120/80 and 140/90).
I wasn’t a smoker or overweight (I’m 5ft 3in and weigh about 10st 5lb).
The only thing to explain the reading was stress — I had a very demanding job in advertising at the time. Some days, I could be in the office at 5.30am and not leave work until 9pm.
I was prescribed beta-blockers — which reduce production of the stress hormone adrenaline — and it seemed to control the problem.
Within a few months, my readings were back to normal and, after that, I stopped taking the drugs. I just saw the episode as a blip and carried on with my life.
However, when I had my blood pressure checked again in 2011, as part of a routine medical, I was horrified to be told it had shot up again — it was so high that the doctor thought I was at risk of an imminent heart attack and I was referred to hospital.
I was terrified. Fortunately, after tests, the doctors agreed that my heart was fine.
But I did have seriously high blood pressure.
And since, by then, I was no longer in a stressful job, they concluded that I must just have a genetic predisposition to it.
I was prescribed a drug called ramipril, which I take once a day. (This relaxes the blood vessels and lowers blood pressure and increases the supply of blood and oxygen to the heart.)
I really try hard to look after myself — I now run my own business, which I find to be far less stressful.
I go to the gym and take Ceroc dance classes. My other hobby is the ball game pétanque, a form of boules, which is very restful.
I’m religious about taking my medication. The pill is there every morning in the packet right next to my bed.
I take my blood pressure regularly and, if I have ever forgotten the medication, my blood pressure shoots up.
What I’ve learned is that you can be slim, healthy and think you’re doing all the right things in life and still need to take pills.
EXPERT COMMENT: ‘There is no doubt that stress has an impact on blood pressure,’ says Dr Glyn Thomas, a consultant cardiologist at the Bristol Heart Institute, ‘since it raises levels of the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline.
‘However, since Giselle is no longer suffering with stress and is slim, it is more likely that, as for many people, high blood pressure is genetic.
‘ For people in this category, lifestyle changes and losing weight can help, but normally not enough to go without any medication.’
IF I GET A HEADACHE, I SIMPLY GO TO BED
I’VE never been a pill popper — even today, I wouldn’t take a paracetamol unless I was dying in pain. If I get a headache, I will just go to bed until it has passed. Unfortunately, I have had to go against my anti- drug ethos ever since being diagnosed with Crohn’s, a form of inflammatory bowel disease.
I developed the condition out of the blue around 20 years ago.
I had been feeling tired and lethargic and, sometimes after eating, I’d find myself in the awful situation of needing to rush to the loo with a bad tummy.
I had a whole raft of tests until, eventually, the condition was diagnosed. I didn’t know anything about Crohn’s disease and was really surprised — no one else in my family has it.
What I didn’t expect was the massive number of pills I’d have to take to keep it all in check.
I take two sulfasalazine tablets, to reduce diarrhoea. I also take steroid tablets called budesonide three times a day, to reduce inflammation, as well as another drug called loperamide — one in the morning and two at night — which treats diarrhoea. (Although, if I’m having a bad day, I might take up to four in between.)
Despite all this medication, I have also had to make other changes to my life.
I don’t eat pulses or spicy food, because these may give me pain or a bad stomach, and the only fruit I can tolerate is bananas.
Taking so many pills can be an issue. The steroids can make me moody and also put on weight — I’m currently 13st (I’m 5ft 6in).
I carry my medications around in a make-up bag and, if I forget to take them, the results can be catastrophic — I’ll get pain and really bad diarrhoea — which is why I’m never far from a loo.
I seem to know where every pub and restaurant with a handy toilet is in Greater Manchester. It does impact on my life.
My husband Matthew loves jazz and would like to go to festivals with me, but that would be difficult because I wouldn’t know where the toilets would be!
EXPERT COMMENT: ‘It’s quite common to be on this kind of cocktail of drugs for Crohn’s,’ says Dr Mann.
‘How many you take depends on how much the condition needs to be controlled — I know Crohn’s patients who take even more pills than this a day.’
KIDNEY DISEASE HIT ME OUT OF THE BLUE
I SOMETIMES joke to myself that I’m surprised I don’t rattle when I walk, with all the pills I take.
They are — in no particular order — amlodipine and irbesartan for high blood pressure; atorvastatin for high cholesterol; cinacalcet, to stop the parathyroid glands becoming overactive, which often happens in those with kidney disease; lansoprazole to inhibit stomach acid; mycophenolate and tacrolimus, which are anti-organ rejection drugs; gliclazide, which lowers blood sugar levels; and sodium bicarbonate, to maintain kidney health.
They all relate to the fact that I had a kidney transplant 14 years ago. This followed a lightning-bolt diagnosis of polycystic kidney disease, when multiple cysts form on the kidneys, in 1996 — something I hadn’t even heard of.
The only clue had been the fact I had no energy and it felt like I had constant indigestion. I had young children and a busy job selling advertising in commercial radio so, at first, I put it down to that.
But, over a few months, the symptoms didn’t go away, so I saw my GP, who sent me to hospital for a scan, which identified the cysts.
I was told they would stop the kidneys from functioning properly. And there was no cure.
I was shocked. The doctor referred me to a kidney consultant, who suggested it might be controlled by diet, such as eating lots of fruit and vegetables.
But, in 1999, blood tests revealed I had 10 per cent kidney function. I was devastated. I had to be put on dialysis three times a week and go on the transplant list.
Finally, in 2004, I was given the wonderful and overwhelming news that a kidney was available, and I had the transplant operation.
It took me three or four months to get my strength back. Straight away, I was put on all this medication. It took some getting used to, but what choice did I have?
So that I don’t forget, I take them in two lots, 12 hours apart — at 10am and 10pm.
I was just so grateful to have had the transplant. Once I’d recovered, I was determined not to let anything hold me back. I went on trips to places such as South Africa and Canada, clinging on to this new lease of life. The pills took up most of the room in my suitcase!
Since the transplant, I have had to watch my blood pressure and I eat healthily. I also try to keep really fit by walking as much as I can and doing aqua aerobics.
EXPERT COMMENT: ‘Patients who have had a transplant will often then have to take a cocktail of medication to avoid organ rejection,’ says Bhaskar Somani, a consultant urological surgeon and honorary senior lecturer in urology at University Hospital Southampton.
‘That doesn’t just mean taking organ-rejection drugs, but other medication to keep the body’s immune system well modulated — for example, by maintaining healthy levels of blood pressure.’