Why do people stop their medication?

It's very frustrating to review lab work for someone and recommend treatment for either their cholesterol or sugars, start them down the correct path to health and find out months or even years later that they never did most, if not all, of what you told them they should do. I've read several studies stating that half of all prescriptions from a doctors office ever get filled and I thought that was ridiculous at the time, but now have come to the stark conclusion that is probably pretty accurate.
We took up a new initiative a couple of years ago to review a patient's medication list every time they come into the office. A lot of times people are annoyed that we don't know everything they are doing and state all their medications are the "same as the last time I was in." In reality, the list we have seldom reflects what the person is actually doing. They've stopped some medications because "they read somewhere that one was bad for them" or a well meaning friend or family member told them "not to take that one."
Sometimes, they "don't like to take so many pills" but one of my patients recently was discovered to have impacted his bowels with vitamins and supplements. He takes over 120 vitamins or supplements in addition to his medications each day.He felt this to be a more natural approach!!??!!
Most of these people don't thing twice to eating a hotdog or bratworst, soda pop or bag of potato/corn chips, whose ingredients I struggle to pronounce or comprehend... and I've taken Biochemistry and Chemistry in college and graduate school.

Most of my patients are simply eating and drinking themselves to death, not walking enough and not taking the 2-3 medications that would lower their risk of heart disease, strokes and kidney disease which are all know to be the leading causes of death in the United States. Don't worry, insurance companies know this and are already starting to cash in on your free will. They tell you that everyone will get insurance, but what they aren't telling you is that it's going to cost you A LOT MORE to be overweight, to smoke, to have high cholesterol, diabetes.  The more problems you fail to address, the more you pay and the older you get, the harder it will be to change.

I'm a doctor, but I'm a patient too, and I take my medication as directed, get my lab work done when ordered, try to eat healthy (chicken, green beans and some wild rice medley with skim milk after 45 mins at the gym). I know I'm not going to cheat death, but I'm hoping to put it off for a few more decades. My medication does not make me feel bad. I'll sleep better knowing my odds of a fatal MI are on my side tonight.

Live well.
Dr.Ronan