Talk About Prescriptions Month

October is national "Talk About Prescriptions Month." There are many
different ways you can educate yourself about the different
prescriptions available to patients, their side effects, how to read
the literature that comes with them, and how to monitor yourself if
you're a new patient using a new type of medication. You can also set
up an electronic medication schedule to remind you when to take your
different medications each day. You can have reminders sent to phone
or e-mail at a certain time of day to help you take your medication
when it will be most beneficial to you.Seniors are encouraged to join
the National Council on Patient Information and Education's MUST
program. The MUST program stands for Medication Use Safety Training.
It teaches seniors what questions to ask healthcare professionals and
how to take the right medications for their conditions. It also
teaches them how to identify any adverse side effects and to notice
any errors in the prescription or how it is prescribed. Not only are
seniors encouraged to participate in this learning experience, but any
caretakers are encouraged to get involved as well.You want to make
sure that you keep informed about all of the medication recalls,
because you never know when a prescription you're taking will be
recalled for adverse side effects. Even if you aren't experiencing the
side effects, you'll still want to stop taking the medication so you
aren't harmed by it.It's important to keep a list of all the different
prescriptions you're taking. This includes any dietary supplements,
vitamins, or herbal supplements. Sometimes dietary supplements can
affect the medications you're on, so you want to discuss everything
with your doctor or healthcare provider before you change or start
taking a new medication. You also want to ask your doctor what time of
day you should be taking your medication. Your medications may or may
not be more effective at different times of the day.You always want to
read any information that comes with your prescription. Most people
tend to skip over this literature and simply read the bottle, because
there is less information. You want to know everything about what
you're taking to know how it reacts with your diet and other
medications you're taking. You also want to know the adverse side
effects so you can recognize them if you experience them.Using an
electronic medication schedule can help you keep track of the list of
all the medications you're on. It can also provide you with generic
examples of the prescription medications, so you can choose something
that costs less money if you want. The electronic medication schedules
can even provide you photos of the different pills you take, so you
take the right ones at the right time. Once you've printed out an
electronic schedule, you can show it to your doctor or set up text
alerts to be reminded when to take the medicine. You can even have the
schedule set up so that it can remind you when you need to refill the
prescriptions.