The nurse at my doctor’s office always thanks me for my meds list.  She asks about my current medications, then profusely thanks me when I hand her a typed list.  I have to confess that it seems a very odd thing for her to do.  Now, if I were to put the list on a sticky-label so that she could affix it to the chart, that would be cool, but I just provide the list.  She still has to copy it into my chart.

Some people figure that the doctor is the one who wrote the prescription, so the information must be in their chart and he can look there if he wants to know.

While it’s true that your chart has a record of what the doctor prescribed, it doesn’t say whether or not you filled the prescription (no idea why someone would go to the doctor and then not do what the doctor said, but I’ve heard that a significant number of prescriptions are never filled).  Even if you filled the prescription, it doesn’t necessarily follow that you’re taking the medicine.  And if you ever need to see a second doctor, that information won’t be in the first doctor’s records.  So there really is a reason for the doctor to ask, every time, about every drug you’re putting into your body.

Know What You’re Taking

We are not being good patients by blindly taking bottles home from the pharmacy and swallowing whatever pills they contain.  Every person who uses any medication should know:

• the name of the drug – both brand name and generic
• the dosage – how much are you taking, and how often you take it
• the reason you’re taking it – what condition this is treating
• when to take it -  morning, bedtime, with food, on an empty stomach…
• special instructions – details such as “stay out of the sun,” “no grapefruit,” “avoid alcohol,” no driving…

Either type a complete list for your doctor, or gather up all your meds into a paper bag and take this to your appointment.

Verify Your Prescriptions

Dare I admit that there was a time that I didn’t know the names of the prescriptions I was taking?  Before RA, my thought process was somewhere along the lines of:  if I’m sick longer than a month and not getting well, it’s time to see the doctor.  The doctor will tell me what treatment will likely make me better again.  If that includes medication, he’ll write a prescription.  Since the doctor was writing down all the information, there was no need for me to do it, too.  Then I’d take the script to a pharmacy, hand it to the person behind the counter, and receive in exchange a couple little bottles with the instructions neatly typed.  Look at the bottles and take contents as instructed.  Nothing could be simpler.

Except maybe the pharmacist misread the prescription.  If you don’t know what you’re supposed to be taking, you don’t really know if you were given the right medicine.  Or maybe you’re given a generic and don’t realize that it’s another name for that pain killer that makes your throat swell closed – that’s what happened to me, and it was very frightening until we figured out what had happened.  Lesson learned the hard way.

When you hand over the written prescription to the pharmacist, you still need to know what to expect back.  You need a way to verify that the medication you are given is, in fact, the one that was prescribed.  I’ve tried a number of different ways to do that.

What works best for me is to take my digital camera to every doctor’s appointment, and photograph written prescriptions before taking them to the pharmacy.  That way I’m able to see exactly what the doctor prescribed.  When I get home, I print this on the back of my notes from the appointment.  Permanent record, easy to check. No questions.

Take As Prescribed

Figure out a way to take your medicine when you’re supposed to.   Those pills aren’t doing you any good just sitting in the cupboard.

Some people like to use pill sorters.  This makes it easy to look at every day and see whether or not that day’s pills have been taken.  A major drawback to this method is that it assumes that the medication comes in pill form instead of as an injection, or as an ointment.

Another method – this works better for me – is to make a checklist of all your meds, and mark them off when you take them.  This can be especially helpful if a medication is taken once a week, instead of daily.  I keep my list taped to the inside of the cupboard door, along with a highlighter.  A quick glance shows exactly which meds were taken.

The timing on most meds isn’t critical.  If you take your pills at mealtime, it might not matter whether you eat supper at 6:00 or 7:00, just as long as you do it.  Other things might make a big difference, though.  Significant doses of prednisone come to mind, but there are certain to be others.  If it matters what time you take your medicine, set an alarm.

Don’t Forget the OTCs

When preparing your list (or paper bag) for a doctor’s appointment, don’t forget about any over-the-counter drugs you take.  Tylenol, vitamins, and herbal preparations can interact with prescriptions, so your doctor needs to know about them, too.  Again, know the names of these medicines, and know why you’re taking them.

It's okay to periodically ask your doctor if any of your meds can be discontinued.  For a doctor's perspective, check out Dr. Rob's Overmedication blog.

Know all of your meds so that the next time someone asks, What are you taking that for?, you can confidently answer.