Many people, especially older folks, end up taking lots of different medicines each day. If you take many daily medicines, see different doctors, or have certain health problems, you and your doctors should know about all the medicines you take. This can help prevent issues like bad drug reactions, which can seriously hurt your health.
When you take many medicines, they can mess with each other inside your body. Drug reactions might make your medicines less helpful, cause unexpected side effects, or even make one drug too strong. Pharmacists and doctors know how to check for and spot possible drug reactions, so always talk about all the medicines you take with your health care provider or pharmacist.
Here are a few additional tips to help you avoid harmful drug interactions:
Here are a few more tips to help you avoid harmful drug reactions: Ask questions about your medicines, especially new ones. Always ask your doctor or pharmacist things like "Should I expect any side effects from this medicine?" and "Will this medicine mess with my other current medicines, as well as the foods I eat and any supplements (vitamins) I take?" Make sure you understand exactly when and how much of each medicine you should take, what it is for, and what you should do it you experience any weird effects.
Write down all your medicines. It can be tough to remember all the medicines and doses you take each day. For this reason, it's a good idea to write a list of your medicines and share it with your doctor at every visit you have. This keeps the doctor informed of medicines you might also be taking from a different doctor (like a specialist you also see). You can also ask the doctor to check this list each year, to see if anything should be changed in your overall medicine routine.
Learn about your medicines. Pharmacists, like those of us who work at Canadian pharmacies that are licensed IALOP members, will always be happy to talk about your medicines and answer questions. But it's also important to learn about the medicines you take yourself. How do you do this? First and most important, read the labels of everything you take - both medicines and over-the-counter stuff. Pay close attention to special alerts on your medicine bottle, which might warn you against taking a medicine with alcohol, antacids, or certain drinks like grapefruit juice. You can also use online services that offer drug info and reaction alerts, like Medscape and Drugs.com. But remember that these sites give general info for everyone, and if you have questions about anything you read online about your own medicines, you should ask your doctor or pharmacist.
Try not to use many different pharmacies. If you can get all your medicines from one pharmacy, it will help the pharmacist and their computer system keep track of your medicines and check for possible reactions. However, if this is not possible, then make sure each pharmacy you use has a complete and up-to-date list of all your medicines, so they can check any new medicines or refills against what you're already taking.
Finally, to avoid bad reactions, always take your medicines exactly as directed. And never take a friend or family member's medicine, even if you have a similar problem. To be safe, only take medicines that have been prescribed just for you.