Drug Herb Interaction
Prescription Drug Interactions
I wanted to post about this because many people assume if your taking over-the-counter medication you don’t need to tell your doctor. But pharmacists advise that doctors need to have a complete picture of what you are putting in your body. In other words, you need to tell them what vitamins, herbs and non-prescription drugs you are taking.For instance you may have heard about the interaction between St. John’s Wort and Vioxx an anti-inflammatory drug that was taken off the market in 2004. Serotonin levels became dangerously high for some people who took both these medicines.
To avoid dangerous drug interactions and herbal medicine/drug interactions pharmacists recommend several things:
1. Keep a list of every prescription, supplement and over-the-counter medicine you take.
2. Use one pharmacy to fill all your prescriptions. Using only one pharmacy minimizes the chances of drug interactions by keeping all medication records at one location.
3. Get to know your pharmacist. If your pharmacist doesn’t have time to visit with you, make an appointment so the pharmacist can get a complete picture of all medications, vitamins and over-the-counter medications.
The above information comes from an article which appeared in our local paper. In the article the “Vial Of Life”, a non-profit program that provides a complete picture of all the medicines a patient is taking is mentioned as worthwhile program for those taking multiple medications. Here is how is works:
The list of medications is put in a medicine bottle which is then stored in a home refrigerator or in an automobile for easy access in an emergency. The Web site vialoflife.com provides a printable guide listing medications and a sticker to post in a vehicle or on a refrigerator door. Area emergency medical officials have been trained to look for the sticker when they enter the home of an elderly patient.
Another site, drugs.com offers a drug interaction checker where you can provide the name of a drug to see how it interacts with other medications you take.
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