Tips to Help Patients Take Meds Properly

WASHINGTON – Some tips to help patients take their medicines correctly, from the nonprofit National Council on Patient Information and Education:

-Before leaving the doctor’s office with a new prescription, ask detailed questions including: How and when do I take this? When do I quit? What food, drink, other medicines or activities should I avoid while using this medicine? What is it supposed to do? How do I know if it’s working? What are its possible side effects? What do I do if have those?

-Bring to each doctor’s appointment a complete list of all prescription and nonprescription medicines you take, so the doctor can check if a planned new drug will interact badly with an existing one. If you use one pharmacy exclusively, the pharmacist can print out a prescription list for you.

-If you have problems understanding the instructions that come with the medicine, ask the pharmacist for help. There may be a simpler brochure, large-print instructions, or translations into languages than English.

-Patients who forget doses could try setting up pill boxes at the beginning of each week with morning, noon and night doses in separate compartments. Technology including “talking” pill boxes that sound an alarm when doses are missed also are under development.

Doctors are advised to:

-Ask about medication adherence at every visit, and check for evidence, such as symptoms not improving or missed refills.

-Consider easiest-to-take regimens first, including once-daily doses and combination products for people who need multiple drugs.

-Be willing to consider other treatments if patients’ fears about side effects or other issues suggest they won’t comply.

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On the Net:

National Council on Patient Information and Education: http://www.talkaboutrx.org