Understanding how your medicines work, and being alert to the following things can save your life, and help avoid medicinal mishaps. Medicine safety is no joke, read below for tips to keep you safe and informed.
Understanding how your medicines work, and being alert to the following things can save your life, and help avoid medicinal mishaps. Medicine safety is no joke, read below for tips to keep you safe and informed.
When youre still in the doctors office:
Questions to ask your doctor and other tips...
Ask your doctor for the medicine that offers the best balance of price and results or outcomes.
This tells your doctor in a clear way that treatment goals need to be set, evaluated, communicated and achieved.
If youre older (over 60) or have kidney disease be certain to ask if the new medications being prescribed will be removed by the kidneys. If this will happen your doctor will most likely want to adjust the dosage.
Be sure to discuss with your doctor how often youll need to take the medication. Be honest, if you dont think youll remember three times a day perhaps theres another medicine for the same problem youll only need to take once a day. You should *always* take your medicine as directed on the bottle.
Ask for the name of the disease the medicine treats to be put on the label. This way if youre taking several medicines you wont risk getting them confused. It will also give the pharmacist an extra check when it comes to filling prescriptions and making sure theyre giving you the correct drugs.
You may wish to ask about side effects, if a certain drug will make you dizzy or tired and you need to take it in the mornings before work, you way want to try a different drug that will allow you to function properly. Some drugs have side effects that are worse than the thing theyve been prescribed to cure, so knowing this may make you decide to use a different drug.
Its also important to find out how soon you can expect to see results and what you should do if the medication doesnt seem to be working.
While talking with your doctor, show him that youre really interested in your health, and making sure you understand what he or she is telling you. take notes, repeat directions and other information, and ask questions- even if you think they may seem foolish or trivial. Feel free to also inquire as to whether they have any printed information on your medicines on hand. It shows your doctor you care and keeps you safe and informed. To make sure you dont forget something you may want to bring a list of questions with you before you visit the doctors office.
When you go to the pharmacy:
l When your pharmacist hands you your prescription bag its often stapled shut- open it up before you walk away. Inside it is your prescription and a brief patient info sheet. Your pharmacist can give you lots of information, and answer your questions about your medications. So if you have any questions about the medication, interactions, or other directions your doctor might have failed to mention, take this opportunity to ask them.
l Read the label when you look at your prescription. It seems simple, but many people dont do it. Reading the label will give you very valuable information- such as taking the medicine with food, and not taking it along with other medications. Ask if you should avoid certain foods, beverages, other medicines, or activities while you are taking the drug. Question anything you dont understand or that doesnt seem right. Be especially alert to unexpected changes, such as receiving a prescription refill that seems to have a different strength or appearance from your original prescription. If you have questions dont hesitate- Ask.
l Use the same pharmacy for all your medicines. Again this seems simple, but again its something overlooked by many people. Using different pharmacies means that when having prescriptions filled for new drugs a single pharmacy might not have a list off all the medications youre currently taking. This makes it easy for mistakes to happen. You could be prescribed a medicine by one pharmacy that will interact with one youre already taking that comes from a different pharmacy. Medicine reactions can be very dangerous, so use one pharmacy for all your medicine needs to keep yourself safe. It also gives you an opportunity to develop an good relationship with your pharmacist, theyll be familiar with your medicines which will further decrease the risk of error.
l Another way to avoid interactions is by having your medications mapped. This shows all the drugs youre taking, prescription, non-prescription and herbal, lists side effects, interaction notices, and maps out a logical daily routine for taking your medicine. All of this is on a single sheet of paper as opposed to the multiple pieces of paper that you get for individual prescriptions that you need to organize yourself. This is a fast and simple way to keep you safe and give your doctor and pharmacist and extra final check.
l If a medicine youre on is life sustaining, or youre deathly allergic to a certain type of medicine, you may want to invest in a medicine alert bracelet, tag, or card. These can be worn or kept in a wallet and if anything happens to you theyll let the medical response teams know what they need to do to help you.
When you get home:
l Organize your medicines, if youve had them mapped then youve got a handy daily schedule telling you when you need to take your medicine. makes several copies of this in case one gets lost. If you keep a profile of the drugs you take be sure to keep it updated. Make a list of everything youre taking- prescription, non-prescription, herbal, medicinal foods, etc- and share it with your doctor and pharmacist this will help prevent drug interactions.
l Learn the names, doses, and strength, of the drugs you take.
l Take your medications exactly as your doctor and the label on the bottle prescribe. Doing this ensures that the medicine will work the way its supposed to, and keeps you safe from bad interactions and other complications. Dont take to little, as it lessens the effect of the medicine, and dont take too much as it could be toxic. Occasionally missing a pill is also big deal- some medicines really do need to be taken every day. talk to your doctor to find out about how your medicines will react if missed. Also make sure that you finish a prescription youve been given unless instructed otherwise. If youre unsure if you were supposed to finish it or not call your doctor.
l If you realize you have more questions once you get home, dont hesitate to call your doctor or pharmacist. It is also important to call them before adding any other drugs (even nonprescription and herbal) to your daily drug regiment. If youre doctor or pharmacist wont make time to answer your questions you may want to consider finding some new health care providers who will make time for your questions- which ARE important.
Reactions
l If you think you may have had a reaction, no matter how minor -a headache which wasnt in the listed side effects, a sudden appearance of a rash, etc- call your doctor immediately to set up an appointment. If the reaction seems moderate to severe call 911 or have a friend drive you to the nearest ER. Even if it turns out to be a false alarm, always be aware of things like that. Also, when you go to the doctor dont just tell them about the new medicine youve been taking, give them a list of everything so that they can check for drug interactions. If youve had a reaction your medications need to be changed, so dont hesitate. Minor reactions will get steadily worse and lead to bigger problems.
l If you are older and on medications, be careful.
