Enjoying life on a dozen pills each day
TOM Waters, 8 , takes up to 1 medicines every day, one of which is simply to help him stomach the other pills.
These include naproxen, for arthritic pain, ramipril, to control blood pressure, and amitriptyline, to relax his muscles at night so he can go to sleep.
The retired electrician from Appledore in North Devon is able to lead an active life, going to a fitness club every week and walking a mile every day.
Mr Waters said the medicine made him confident to live his life fully, which he said was important after the loss of his wife Liz, 80, in August this year, to vascular dementia. The pills, he said, allow him to get out of the house and eat and drink as he likes.
But Mr Waters, who has three daughters and five grandchildren, agrees that doctors too readily prescribe new medicines. The majority of his 1 different tablets are for routine ailments associated with old age, such as high blood pressure, pain from arthritis and chest pain.
He said: ‘Getting the medicine gives you confidence. If you’ve gone through the
day and forgotten to take your medicine that really registers. I would say we do take too many medicines. You go up to the surgery and they would find you a new tablet you’re not currently taking.
‘They say take paracetamol every three hours, maybe if I say I’ve got a dodgy shoulder, but that is fobbing you off.
‘The medicines have steadily increased as I’ve got older. I was going quite well until I retired aged 7 . You do lose strength in your body.’
He also takes paracetamol (for arthritis), amlodipine (blood pressure), aspirin (blood thinner), Chemydur (angina), Monomax (angina), benzydamine (mouth ulcers), allopurinol (gout), hydroxycarbamide (platelet disorder) and omeprazole (stomach acid).