Managing Your Medications

If you take several medications, it can be confusing to remember their names, what they’re for, how much you should take, and when you should take them.

Remember, though, that medications can't help you—and could be dangerous—if not taken on time in the proper amounts.

Be informed

“Both prescription and over-the-counter [OTC] medications are powerful and should be taken with care,” says Sarah Ray, Pharm.D., a pharmacy specialist in Milwaukee, and a spokeswoman for the American Pharmacists Association. “Whatever medications you take, it’s important to know why you’re taking them, what they’re designed to do, and how to take them properly.”

In fact, noncompliance, which means not taking the right amount of a prescribed medicine at the right time, causes more than 125,000 deaths in the United States each year.

The National Pharmaceutical Council says:

• Nine of 10 people take prescribed medicines improperly, leading to prolonged or additional illness.

• When prescriptions are written, one-third of patients take the medicine as directed, one-third take some of the medicine, and one-third never fill the prescription.

Medication tips

Here are ways to make compliance and managing your medications easier:

• Always read the label before taking any medication. That way you'll know the right dose to take and if any interaction or condition warnings apply to you. Prescription and OTC drugs can cause side effects or reactions when taken in combination with other drugs or certain foods, or by people who have certain illnesses. Warnings are written on OTC labels and on the patient handouts that come with prescription drugs.

• Take medicines exactly as stated on the label or as your doctor tells you to.

• Use extra caution when taking more than one drug at a time. Many medicines contain the same active ingredients, which means you may be getting more than the recommended dose without knowing it. For example, if you take Tylenol and a prescription medication that also contains acetaminophen, you could receive a dangerous overdose that could cause irreversible harm to your liver.

• Give each of your doctors a list of all the medicines and remedies you take. This includes prescription and OTC drugs, vitamins, minerals, and herbal supplements. “Even something as seemingly innocuous as calcium can interfere with the effectiveness of several prescription medications,” Dr. Ray says.

• Create a dosing chart. You can handwrite or create one on a computer. On it, list all your medications, the times they need to be taken, and the doses. Add boxes to check off when you’ve taken a dose.

• Set your cell phone alarm to go off when it’s time to take your medicine.

• Place reminders on your bathroom mirror, refrigerator door, or computer monitor.

• Use a pill organizer with compartments to hold each day’s medication.

“The best way to keep up with medications is to establish a routine you stick with, such as taking your heart medication before you brush your teeth every morning, and your statin when you brush your teeth at night,” Dr. Ray says. “Doing so will keep you healthy and safe.”