Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Managing Meds With Expert Ease

Do you or does someone you love take multiple medications? Does it ever get confusing?

The misuse of prescription drugs is a common danger that can be avoided. With proper precaution and the right tools, errors and injury are preventable.

Manage Your Meds With Expert Ease. Managing multiple medications is complicated, even confusing. Each additional prescription increases the risk of mistake. Each pill has its own set of instructions and precautions. In order to optimize your medication therapy, avoid side effects, and be well, you are tasked with a lot to remember. Follow these helpful tips and be on your way to wellness with less confusion.




Helpful Tips

Listen. Listen carefully when your doctor or pharmacist instructs. This will help you avoid adverse reactions that are often the result of the misuse of prescription drugs. You can easily help reduce or eliminate side effects by taking medications as prescribed (with a meal, prior to eating, in the morning, etc.).

Ask questions. Medical professionals have a lot of important information to share, which can be overwhelming. If anything is unclear: Stop. Clarify. Proceed. Don’t leave the office or pharmacy until you understand. Don’t leave unable to recollect what was instructed. Leave with confidence. Know how to manage your health!

Introduce yourself. Get to know your pharmacist, and make sure your pharmacist knows you. Pharmacists can provide you with important information regarding the medications you take and keep a keen eye on your medication regimen as it changes.

Organize. Setting up your weekly medication by day is a good way to ensure your medications get taken. It’s easy to forget whether or not you’ve taken your blood pressure pill when you look at the full bottle. If you look into the Monday compartment of your weekly pill box, and the blood pressure pill isn’t there, you’ve taken it! Mystery solved.

Consolidate info. A complete medication record is imperative to your health. Keep a complete list of your medication regimen. Update it as it changes.

Take this with you to every doctor’s visit, trip to the pharmacy, and in an emergency situation. Having a complete record will help medical professionals better serve you and preserve your health. Knowing exactly what medications you are taking will help medical professional assess appropriate treatment or medication therapies and avoid adverse drug reactions.

Keep an Eye on Color. You may find that the color of your pill changes with a refill. Make sure you’ve received the correct prescription and dosage. It could merely be a generic version of your beta blocker, and you’re safe. It could also be an error. Avoid harmful injury and hospitalization by keeping track of a prescription’s visual characteristics (e.g. color, shape, imprint, etc.). Note this on your complete list of prescriptions (referenced above).

Become An Expert In Your Health. These simple steps can help ensure medications help rather than hinder your health. Avoid medication errors with these helpful tips, and be on your way to better medication management and the optimization of your medications therapies.

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