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Your doctor may not be telling you everything you need to know about your medications. This isn’t necessarily malicious; today’s busy doctors have limited time with patients, and information often gets left behind.
Sometimes, doctors realize that a prescribed drug works for your situation, but they aren’t familiar with the nitty gritty details. That’s not a purposeful failing, but rather due the complex nature of prescription drugs. Each patient has a slightly different body chemistry and health situation, and that can make responses highly individualized.
Your doctor understands the broader scope of your health issues, including how each of your health conditions impact each other and your need for medication. That takes talent, but it isn’t the whole story. Medication interactions and contraindications can be extremely complex, so it’s never a bad idea to double check all of the variables before you begin a new medicine. That’s where your local pharmacist shines.
Prescribing drugs safely requires a high level of knowledge. Doctors and pharmacists alike must heed complicated and nuanced safety guidelines. Though doctors receive extensive training in pharmacology, your pharmacist is truly the “specialist” when it comes to drugs. This includes use guidelines, side effects, and how each medication interact with other substances.
The very best way to fully understand your medicine is to ask your local pharmacist these five questions before you pick them up.
1. What Medication Was I Prescribed?
This question is more important than you may first expect. The same medication can go by multiple names and they’re all somewhat different. Knowing the exact name of your medication will ensure that you’re getting precisely what you need. Here are the name conventions.
The least used, and known, by the average person is the scientific name. Every chemical known to mankind receives a scientific name based on the compound’s physical structure and elemental composition. These names follow a strict set of rules and guidelines. You may wonder why we don’t use these names until you try to say a few of them out loud. The names themselves are tongue-twisters and differ in complexity.
The simplest one-word names are typically around twenty letters long, while some of the more complex substances contain a combination of hyphens, numbers, letters, prefixes and suffixes. Relaying these names to anyone (especially your pharmacist,) requires the utmost precision. The smallest error in pronunciation could amount to you talking about a different drug or combination.
Drug naming convention isn’t exactly straightforward, especially for newer drugs. Researchers basically make up a name on the spot. This applies when there is a generic brand available or when the medication in question is paired with another drug.
It is common practice to combine medications when they synergize with each other. For example, acetaminophen (Tylenol) is a common additive to prescription pain relief medications. Tylenol is harmful in large doses regardless if you’re allergic to it or not. Patients can accidentally take double or triple doses if they aren’t familiar with their medications.
Your local pharmacist can help you get to know what drugs you’re getting and how they interact with your other medications or health issues.
2. Can I Take a Generic Version Instead?
The first company to create and identify a drug in their laboratory can patent it. The patent protects the company’s right to distribute and market their new drug for 20 years. They may license the drug out to manufacturers or solely produce it. In either case, they have plenty of time to recoup their initial research investment and make a profit. Any manufacturer can produce the base drug after the initial 20-year patent expires. This means that newer medications won’t have generic versions available.
Older drugs almost always have generic options that are, for all intents and purposes, exactly the same as brand names.
Asking your local pharmacist if you can swap to a generic is wise because generics are often cheaper. They contain the same active ingredient at a lower price. The only substantial differences between generic and name brand drugs are:
- The format (e.g. capsule or pill)
- The fillers used in that pill
- Extra ingredients, like sugar coating on Advil tablets
Generics are overwhelmingly safe. The FDA requires that all generics be virtually identical within a tiny margin of difference, standardizing them to match brand name versions.
3. Does My Medication Come With Special Instructions?
Every medication has different effects and side effects, and these can range from mild drowsiness to severely impacting your diet.
Most prescription drugs are specialized to treat your particular needs, but no medication is fool-proof. It’s vital that you follow all special instructions to the letter, especially if they come directly from your doctor.
Some patients may need to take meds with one meal a day, while others may need to fast and skip a meal to take their medication on an empty stomach. Still others may need to avoid food interactions.
For example, taking certain medications with grapefruit juice can cause peak blood concentrations to rise dangerously fast. Others, like certain antibiotics, are rendered inert by dairy making treatment ineffective.
Always ask your local pharmacist whether your prescribed medication has side-effects or interactions. They can best advise you how to adapt your lifestyle, diet, or treatment to fit the medicine in question.
4. Does My Medication Interact With Other Drugs?
Understanding how your new prescriptions interact with your current medications is one of the most important ways your local pharmacist can help. Drug interactions range from synergistic to disastrous. Negative interaction can be severe enough to warrant a hospital trip, and that’s why most pharmacists cross-check interactions before they disperse medication.
Your local pharmacist can tell you what interactions exist, but only if they know everything you’re taking. Let them know about other over-the-counter drugs, illicit substances, alcohol, and any other substance you ingest on a regular basis. It’s not about judging you for your use; it’s about keeping you safe.
5. Are Drugs Advertised on TV the Best Option?
Pharmacies have varying standards for what medications they deem acceptable to carry at their location. Medications go through rigorous testing and they become suitable for consumption when they meet certain standards. Scientists constantly study and document the attributes of pharmaceutical drugs. These attributes include:
- toxicity levels
- effectiveness
- manufacturing cost
- general safety
Pharmacies compile all available data on medications to form an in-house formulary. The list is under constant revision and changes based on new studies and documented usages of medications, including newer medications.
It’s hit or miss whether the medication you saw on television or a magazine is on your pharmacy’s formulary list, or whether it’s even best for your current treatment plan. Some advertised drugs are effective and safe for individual patients, while others carry too many side effects and harmful interactions.
Understand that just because something is advertised on television, doesn’t mean it’s inherently successful for you. Furthermore, many advertised drugs are new to the market and still under study. If you’re curious about a medication’s suitability, ask your local pharmacist to review your health situation and make a recommendation.
Your Local Pharmacist is Here for You
These are just five of many questions that your pharmacist can provide in-depth answers to. If you left your doctor’s office with any of these questions unanswered, don’t hesitate to pick up the phone and call your local pharmacy, or even stop by in person.