Checklist for safer medicine use

Checklist for safer medicine use.Make sure you tell the doctor every­thing that is wrong with you. The more information he/she has, the more effective will be your treat­ment.

Checklist for safer medicine use

• Make sure each doctor you see knows all the medicines you use regularly – that is, all prescription and non-prescription drugs or medi­cines, including herbal and homeo­pathic remedies.
• Carry important medical facts about yourself in your handbag or wallet. Information about drug allergies, chronic diseases or special require­ments can be very useful.
• Don’t share your medicines with anyone. Your prescription was writ­ten for you and only you.
• Don’t save unused medicine for fu­ture use unless you have consulted your doctor. Dispose of unused medicine by flushing it down the toi­let.
• Tell your doctor about any medicine you take (even aspirin, allergy pills, cough and cold preparations, antac­ids, laxatives, vitamins, etc.) before you take any new medicine.
• Learn all you can about medicines you take before you take them. Infor­mation sources are your doctor, your nurse, your pharmacist, books in the public library, this computer data­base.
• Don’t take medicines prescribed for someone else – even if your symp­toms are the same.
• Keep your prescription drugs to yourself. Your drugs may be harmful to someone else.
• Tell your doctor about any symptoms you believe are caused by a medicine – prescription or non-prescription – that you take.
• Take only medicines that are neces­sary. Avoid taking non-prescription drugs while taking prescription drugs for a medical problem.
• Before your doctor prescribes for you, tell him about your previous ex­periences with any medicine -benefi­cial results, side effects, adverse reac­tions or allergies.
• Don’t keep any medicines that change mood, alertness or judgment – such as sedatives, narcotics or tran­quilizers -by your bedside. These cause many accidental deaths by¹ You may unknowingly re­peat a dose when you are half asleep or confused.
• Know the names of your medicines. These include the generic name, the brand name and the generic names of all ingredients in a medicine mixture. Your doctor, nurse or pharmacist can give you this information.
• Study the labels of all non-prescrip­tion medicines. If the information is incomplete or if you have questions, ask the pharmacist for more details.
• II you must deviate from your pre­scribed dose schedule, tell your doc­tor.
• Shake liquid medicines before tak­ing.
• Obtain a standard measuring spoon from your pharmacy for liquid medi­cines. Kitchen teaspoons and table- spoons are not accurate enough.
• Store all medicines away from mois­ture and heat. Bathroom medicine cabinets are usually unsuitable.
• If a medicine needs refrigeration, don’t freeze.
• Follow diet instructions when you take medicines. Some work better on a full stomach, others on an empty stomach. Some drugs are more use­ful with special diets.
• Tell your doctor about any allergies you have. A previous allergy to a medicine may make it dangerous to prescribe again. People with other al­lergies, such as eczema, hay fever, asthma, bronchitis and food allergies, are more likely to be allergic to medicines.
• Prior to surgery, tell your doctor, an­esthesiologist or dentist about any drugs you have taken in the past few weeks. Advise them of any cortisone drugs you have taken within two years.
• If you become pregnant while taking any medicine, including birth control pills, tell your doctor immediately.
• Avoid all drugs while you are preg­nant, if possible. If you must take medicines during pregnancy, record names, amounts, dates and reasons.
• If you see more than one doctor, tell each one about medicines others have prescribed.
• When you use non-prescription drugs, report it so the information is on your medical record.
• Store all drugs away from the reach of children.
• Note the expiration date on each drug label. Discard outdated ones safely. If no expiration date appears and it has been at least one year since tak­ing the medication, it may be best to discard it.
• Pay attention to the information in the charts about safety while driving, piloting or working in dangerous places.
• Alcohol, cocaine, marijuana or other mood-altering drugs, as well as to­bacco – mixed with some drugs – cap cause a life-threatening interaction, prevent your medicine from being ef­fective or delay your return to health.