A lot of people are self-medicating these days, esp. since hospitals and even regular outpatient staff have become so overwhelmed and sometimes not available as often as they should. Many others are avoiding hospital and doctor settings, so as to stay safe from the coronavirus and other pathogens during a pandemic.

That said, if you have ongoing medical issues, you should get them checked out. First, make sure that if you do take over-the-counter medications, you clear it with your physician(s) first. Both your primary care and psychiatrist (if you take psychotropic meds) should be aware of any and everything you're taking, even if they are over-the-counter, because there could be dangerous interactions with different medications, including mixing over-the-counter stuff. It depends on your physical and mental diagnoses, too, sometimes.

It's dangerous to try to self-medicate without contacting a licensed physician first.

Do this:

1. Make a journal of the things you consume - including vitamins, herbal supplements (including pills, gummies, food items with herbal supplements, and/or teas), over-the-counter meds, any diet-based drinks or pills, any laxatives or TUMS, anything. Also list the vaccines you've had recently (including boosters), the prescriptions you're currently taking, and any legal or illicit alcohol or drugs you're consuming. List everything that could possibly interact with your medications and otherwise.

2. Also write down why you consume those things and what they were for. For instance, if you were feeling a headache, you took or ate this. If you were having insomnia or anxiety, you took or ate this. If you were feeling X, you took or ate this.

3. Then list your reaction to the things you took. You could say that it relieved this but made X worse, or it helped you numb out, etc. Those are your reasons for self-medicating, and also for reinforcing the need to repeat such behaviors.

4. Write it in either chronological order (best) or categorical order (okay, too), so that you can list as much information that will help your therapist, psychiatrist, primary care, and perhaps other specialists be aware of what you've done to self-care, self-medicate, and alleviate your symptoms. This will alert them to the need for you to get the medical labs necessary to find out what is going on, and to really fix some possible interactions you may have had recently coupled with any ongoing chronic or acute medical issues that are bringing about these symptoms in the first place plus what's making some symptoms worse.

5. Send or give or show your treatment team (therapist, psychiatrist, primary care, and other doctors you are seeing) your list. Ask them to help you figure out what is safe to take, what is not, and what tests they can do to figure out what is going on with you. This is the time when you need to get labs done and to get checked out. You don't want your symptoms to get worse, and you certainly don't want to have liver, GI, kidney, or other organ problems during this time. It's hard enough to get elective surgery these days, even when there's no crisis standards of care initiated. You want to do as much as you can to prevent you from getting sick from anything. The best way to do this is to ask your licensed professionals that you're seeing, or to find new ones within your healthcare network.

6. Call 211 or 311 to figure out an after-hours nurse hotline or your local emergency room number to explain your symptoms if you are worried and concerned about what you are feeling, and when it is necessary to make it into either Urgent Care or an Emergency Room. See if you can wait until the next day or a couple of days before you can see a physician in person or get labs done. 211 or 311 are typical non-emergency lines in many states and jurisdictions, which free up the 911 lines for strict emergencies.

7. If it is during business hours where you are, then do call your primary care and your psychiatrist for appointments. You could elect to see them via telehealth or video instead of in person, but they are likely going to want to see you in person at some point, especially to run some lab tests. Make sure you follow their guidance and instructions.

8. Do reach out to crisis lines and other lines to help you if things get drastically worse or painful, if you are feeling like you are losing consciousness or energy, if you are feeling super lightheaded or having vastly different psychological changes, etc. You can also call 911 to get an ambulance ride to the ER if things are really bad. They tend to be safe if everyone is masked, but there's still a risk there, too.

9. Nothing the Internet says or others say will be able to help you with the symptoms you've stated. You really do need to see a physician immediately.