My father’s medication efficiency denial
My dad (+60 M) has a couple of health conditions, some of which are chronic. Cardiac insufficiency/failure, sleep apnea, obesity being some of them.
Started him some months ago on Tirzepatide, after discussing it at length with our GP. First 2 months on 2.5mg, 3 months now on 5mg.
He obviously started to feel better, inflammation came down, his joints ache lesser. His VERY sedentary lifestyle became slightly less sedentary in the sense that he actually started sporadically going to a swimming pool (he swam in his teenage years). Last time he did any kind of physical activity until now I think it was 12-15 years ago. He obviously subconsciously started to eat less and even managed to lose 8 kgs (17lbs) in this time without having any nutrition and food knowledge or will to learn. He actually thinks “fruit juices are healthy because they’re fruit” ffs. So he gulps store bought “100% orange juice” like its water. Absolutely no point in debating these kind of things with him.
Now at the point of this lengthy post. He refuses to acknowledge the merit and the efficacy of the drug I’m paying out of pocket for him and personally administer every week when I go visit my parents. He just thinks he managed to lose that weight, feel less painful, sleep better, feel slightly more joyful and actually swim on his own. He just told me he could just refuse a second portion of food without the drug. He obviously cannot, he’s been obese for the last 30 years.
A lot of times when we have an argue, he threatens to stop the medication like it’s something that will hurt me instead of him. He’d back and above where he started in no time because of his absolutely zero self control when it comes to food. But what scares me is that all the cardiac benefits will stop and that’s bad in his condition.
How do I reason with him on this matter? Anyone with a similar situation where you genuinely want to help one of your parents but they’re just ungrateful and don’t see the benefits of it?
