Guidelines for Taking Medications

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Guidelines for Taking Medications
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Medication Step 1

• Before taking any medication, please tell your
  doctor any of the following
• Report all allergies, to medications as well as
  to non-medicines.
• Mention reactions even to substances considered
  unrelated, since chemicals can cross-react.
• Substances that are often not even regarded as
  medicines, such as birth control pills, can cause
  severe allergic reactions.
• Make certain the doctor is aware of all medicines
  taken for other conditions, even non-prescription
  substances.
• Seemingly-harmless medicines like an aspirin can
  cause harmful interactions with other
  medications.
• Tell the doctor if pregnant (or pregnancy is a
  possibility) or if nursing.
• Numerous medications increase the risk of birth
  defects.

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Medications Step 2

• Update this information each time visiting the
  doctor.  Be sure to inform primary care
  physicians of any medications that a specialist
  may have prescribed.
• Always read the label.  Pay careful attention to
  the precautions and directions for usage for ANY
  MEDICATION.  

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Medications How to Take Them

• Do not exceed the prescribed amount.  
• In dosing, distinguish between TBSP (tablespoon)
  and TSP (teaspoon). 
• Understand that giving more medicine is by no
  means better, and that taking a larger dose will
  not necessarily result in the drug beginning to
  work any faster.
• It is possible to overdose even on vitamins.
• For liquids, use a specially-marked measuring
  spoon to measure the dose accurately.  
• Silverware teaspoons and tablespoons often do not
  contain accurate quantities.  With ordinary
  utensils, one teaspoon can hold just half of the
  volume that a teaspoon of another shape contains.
• For accuracy, measure at eye level.
• Do not take the medicine too often.

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Medications How to Take Them

• On the other hand, do not take too little of the
  medicine.
• Do not skip doses.
• If one tends to be forgetful, use an alarm as a
  reminder.
• Particularly if a person must take more than one
  medicine, s/he may find it easiest to use a dated
  pill box. 
• Or make up a simple schedule of dose times, and
  then whenever a medication has been taken, mark
  the calendar to indicate that the dose has been
  taken.
• Remember to take the medicine along when
  traveling away from home.

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Medications Safety First!

• Check the potential side-effects so one can keep
  an eye out for them, including signs buildup of
  the drug to toxic levels (for instance jaundice).
  
• Many medicines may cause dizziness.  Make sure to
  know how you react to a medicine before driving,
  operating machines, or doing anything else that
  could endanger oneself if not fully alert.
• Adhere to precautions about harmful drug
  interactions.
• Taking two drugs together can elevate
  side-effects, or have other unintended effects.
• Also, occasionally a medication will list 
  precautions concerning certain foods.  For
  instance, heart/blood pressure medications and
  the immunosuppressant cyclosporine warn patients
  not to take them with grapefruit juice. 

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Medications More Safety Tips

• Do not use outdated medicines.  The drug can
  break down into dangerous compounds.
• Swallow pills whole unless they are designated as
  "chewable".
• Do not crush tablets or remove the contents from
  capsules.  To do so may raise toxicity.
• One should not share medication with family
  members for whom it has not been prescribed, even
  if they appear to have the same illness.

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Medication Take As Directed!

• The pharmacist should issue an information sheet
  detailing how to take the medicine correctly for
  any medication dispensed.  If necessary, request
  these written instructions.
• Make sure to ask for an explanation of any terms
  or instructions that were not understood.
• It may help to bring along a family member or
  friend who can take down what the doctor says and
  ask for clarification, especially if one is
  feeling too ill to pay attention or ask
  questions.

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Medication Take As Directed!

• For maximize absorption of the drug
• Take the medicine with food if directed to do so
  (also aids in preventing irritation of the
  stomach), or take it on an empty stomach if that
  is what is advised. 
• For instance, while some antibiotics (such as
  Macrodantin) should be taken with food,
  tetracyclines and penicillins are best taken on
  an empty stomach.
•  Even milk can keep a medicine from working
  effectively.
• Swallow pills whole unless they are designated as
  "chewable" tablets.
• Chewing tablets or emptying capsules may prevent
  the drug from working properly, by altering
  timing of absorption, thereby influencing blood
  levels.

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Medications Take As Directed!

• Shake liquid medicines to mix fully.
• Read and comply with the drug interactions do
  not take the drug along with (or within the
  dictated time interval of) other medications that
  interfere with its effects.
• Taking two drugs together can either interfere
  with their action.
• Do not take outdated products, since drugs are
  apt to lose potency as they age.
• If the medicine has changed in color or taste,
  discard it.
• Store medicines correctly to preserve them
  optimally, or they may lose potency.
• Store away from heat and direct light.
• Do not store the capsule or tablet form of
  antibiotics in the medicine cabinet.  (The
  moisture in bathrooms breaks down the medicine.)
• Check whether it should be refrigerated (not the
  same as frozen).
• Take medications on the recommended schedule,
  which is designed to maintain the proper blood
  level of the drug.

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Medications Take As Directed!

• Keep taking the medication for the full
  prescribed regimen, even if feeling better.
• Not finishing the entire prescription may
  jeopardize treatment.
• In the case of antibiotics, taking only a partial
  prescription can lead to harmful antibiotic
  resistance.

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Medication Know Why You Are Taking Medication

• Find out how long it should be before symptoms
  start to subside.  (If applicable, also find out
  when symptoms can be expected to be gone
  completely.)
• Check if the person should keep taking the
  medicine after s/he feels better.  Do not
  discontinue the medication without first checking
  with the physician. 
• If the doctor has indicated that the medication
  can be discontinued after a certain period of
  time, or once symptoms have resolved, ask whether
  it ought to be tapered off, rather than stopped
  abruptly. 
• Again, often the drug must continue to be taken,
  regardless of improvement in the patient's
  condition.

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Medication Know Why You Are Taking Medication

• Know whether the medicine can be refilled, and if
  so, whether it should be refilled.
• Inquire about other, non-medicinal aspects of
  therapy, including diet and exercise.

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Medication Know What Side-Effects May Happen

• Ask the doctor how to handle any bothersome
  side-effects such as dry mouth or diarrhea.
• Would any particular unintended effects warrant
  getting in touch with the doctor immediately or,
  after hours, going to the emergency room?
• If unable to tolerate the medication issued,
  discuss alternatives with the healthcare
  provider.  If possible, treatment can be revised
  to a plan that the patient can stick with, via
  substitution of
• Equally-effective medicine without the
  intolerable side-effect or of
• Medicine which is taken on a schedule that better
  accommodates one's lifestyle.
• Ask about what tests, such as blood tests, will
  be done to monitor the effects of the medication,
  and how often assessments should take place.

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Medication Missing Doses

• If a dose is missed, refer to the instructions
  provided.    
• Depending upon when it is remembered, sometimes
  that dose is supposed to be taken, but other
  times it is supposed to be skipped.

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Medication Affordability

• Let the doctor know if a medication is not
  affordable. 
• It may be possible to substitute a generic
  equivalent of an expensive name-brand medicine. 
• A subsidy may be available for low-income
  patients.

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Medication Asking Questions

• It is important to understand one's treatment, so
  it can be followed properly.  If there are still
  unanswered questions after leaving the doctor's
  office and the patient is reluctant to bother the
  doctor, s/he can contact his or her nurse about
  prescribed treatment.  
• A pharmacist can also help answer basic questions
  about how to take medication safely and
  effectively.

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Medication Non-Prescription

• If taking over-the-counter medicine for a cold or
  injury, call the doctor if
• The medicine does not bring a fever down within a
  few days.
• After a couple of weeks, the medicine still has
  not relieved pain.

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Medication Off-Label

• Off-label" refers to when a medication is
  prescribed for a use other than its intended
  use.  This could be
• For treatment of a different disease
• In a different dose.
• Administration in a different way (such as
  intravenously rather than by injection into a
  muscle).
• Another off-label situation would be when a
  medicine, particularly a new drug, has not yet
  been approved in a particular age
  group. Frequently medicines, although
  demonstrated to be safe and effective in
  teenagers and/or adults, have not been
  systematically studied in children, the elderly,
  or pregnant women, in order to be certain of the
  drugs effects on those groups.
• A good example is medications for mental
  illnesses, which usually have not undergone
  clinical trials in youngsters.  Accordingly, when
  dispensed off-label to a child, the product must
  be accompanied by a notification that "safety and
  efficacy have not been established in pediatric
  patients".
• Important There are special considerations for
  giving children medicine.