It is hard to believe that it has been over a month since I have been adhering to all my medications consistently. That must be a record in all the six years of living on my own. There has certainly been a difference since being totally adherent. It is finally understanding in my own terms the necessity of adhering to the regimen and the dangers that not being adherent can result in.

The past year has been quite educational in the realm of the dangers of the consequences and more so the feelings that can result in not being adherent to my medication regimen. I do understand that medication is not the solution for everyone, and it affects others in different ways, but for me it is a necessity and has been proven to be the catalyst that provides me with a better quality of life.

Yes, there are the side effects that result in taking the medication. One of the hardest things to manage is the weight gain. Now realizing that it is an issue, it is up to me to start to make better decisions as far as possible in realizing that there needs to be healthy choices as far to make life successful.

My weight was a topic of discussion in my routine visit with my family doctor last week. They believed medicine or not, I do hold the power to make the right decisions as far as my weight loss is concerned to do the right thing. I know how to best address my needs. It may be hard to find the motivation to do what I need to do, but there is nothing short of the ways that I find motivation to do what I want and need to do.

There are other side effects that are apparent, but they do not affect my quality of life. I could be down and out about them, but they have no bearing on doing what I need to do in life and in fact the medicine helps stop the negative unhealthy behavior that results in the other opportunities being available to me. While having things being able to function in my body made me feel prouder of myself, it is just not a necessity. Those that need to know about it know and they appreciate me more because I am well compared to being the person that I was.

And I understand the necessity of being well. It is regaining that sense of trust that I did not have when there was a great deal of uncertainty as what to expect of me. It resulted in me hiding a lot of secrets from everyone and it took until it is much better to be honest about what I am doing along with listening to authority figures that I value deeper than others to fully understand the necessity of having to care for myself because of their value of providing opportunities to me through all the challenges of the past six years.

Life is what it is, and I am learning how to responsibly manage myself with the medicine as time evolves. There have been instances before where I fall off course or I felt disgusted when it would get to be time to take my medication because I thought it in a negative light, but through trial and error over the past year, I totally understand the dangers of not adhering to my medication while learning to manage the side effects.

It is now learning to work at combatting the side effects that can result in consequential changes, accepting things as they were and knowing that I have the power to make changes for the better. While there are challenges to taking my medicine, it is knowing that there is a better quality of life and I have the tools and abilities to make better decisions towards an even healthier life.