Drug interactions are a huge problem for many people. A drug interaction is when two or more drugs react with each other and cause negative effects on your health. For example, if you take two medications that both have acetaminophen in them, you may experience liver failure because the level of acetaminophen has become too high. In this blog post, we will discuss 5 ways to prevent harmful drug interactions from happening to you, according to Drugs.com.
Communication is key
When you start or stop taking a medication, make sure to tell your pharmacist about it. Keep track of any over-the-counter drugs and supplements that are taken as well so they can be updated on the list for easy reference every time something is added or removed. Remember this advice when talking with other healthcare providers too!
Do your research
If you're taking any prescription drugs, it's important and your responsibility to research the potential drug interactions before starting a new medication. Using an online tool like Drugs.com Interaction Checker is one of many ways to ensure your safety and avoid side effects from dangerous drug combinations. The Drug Interaction Checker explains how each interaction occurs on either major, moderate or minor levels in terms of severity for easy understanding by patients who are old enough to take care of themselves.
Use only one pharmacy
Consolidating your prescriptions can help you avoid potentially dangerous drug interactions and make life easier. Talk with the pharmacist at one pharmacy so that a regular review of all of your medications is done electronically, which will integrate information from every prescription you have been prescribed in order to catch any potential problems.
In addition, it's important for both patients and their doctors to communicate new or discontinued medicines as soon as possible because they may affect other drugs taken by the patient. A happy side effect associated with this consolidation process could be better overall health due to less confusion with medication schedules!
Food and drug interactions
Your doctor or pharmacist might ask about the food and drink you consume depending on what drugs they are prescribing for you? Pretty much every dish can be a potential drug interaction. For example, if someone takes warfarin (a blood thinner) with vitamin K-rich foods like broccoli, it could make their medication less effective leading to more clotting of the blood! Grapefruit juice is notorious for changing how certain medicines work in our body by interfering with enzymes that break down some medications which makes them ineffective. It’s also important to be honest about your alcohol consumption as it can increase how long the medicine stays in your body. This may cause an increased risk for drug interactions.
The best way to avoid drug interactions is by consulting a doctor. You should also follow the instructions on the bottle of medication carefully and take only one type of medicine at a time if possible. Thankfully there are now resources online where we can check for potential side effects or reactions with other medications before they happen. It's not something that most people think about when they go to pick up their prescription but it could have life-saving consequences down the road. Taking care of your health is important so be sure to do thorough research before starting any new medicines! At Advanced Physical Medicine, our experienced physicians are here to help you live a pain-free life as safely as possible. Contact us today to learn more about our services.
Sources: www.drugs.com
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