Prescriptions and You: Staying safe on your pharmaceuticals and using them to their full effect

Okay, so you may be asking yourself why I'm writing on this particular topic- it seems pretty idiot-proof, right? "Just take your stuff as prescribed, don't deviate, you'll be fine," you might mentally recite. Well, that's true, but it's not the whole truth. Pharmaceutical drugs, even when you take them exactly as prescribed, can open up a number of very dangerous complications for you- particularly if you allow yourself to remain unaware. Not only can pharmaceuticals pose an unknown hazard to your well-being (irony, innit?), but there are also measures that you could or should take when taking your prescription that could lessen side-effects or help the drug be more effective at doing it's job. Even more noteworthy is that some drugs may interact with common over-the-counter drugs and cause problems- sometimes quite serious- for you. Unfortunately, these important bits of information tend to fall through the cracks a lot more than they really should these days. So, to inform you of what to- and how to- educate yourself on your prescriptions, I'm writing this article.

First, we need to discuss what's important- that is, what is the information you should know about your drug? Instead of bombarding you with a huge, bland list that I'd otherwise recommend that you scribble down on a piece of paper next time you're about to go see your doc, I'll give you something a bit more user friendly, as well as cheesy. I'm giving you a mnemonic- SAFER.

S is for Special considerations. What this is about is asking if there are any activities- vigorous exercise, operating vehicles or machinery, staring at flashing lights, et cetera- that you need to avoid, any extra steps that you should take (such as drinking more or less water), or if there are any situations that should make you particularly cautious about this drug- such as liver/kidney disease, pregnancy, other ongoing diseases or changes in health, and other prescriptions that you might be taking. Side-effects also fall under this category. Feel free to subtract or add to this list as is specific to you. The reasons you need to know about this are that pharmaceuticals can sometimes agitate, cause, or be completely inappropriate for, some conditions. This is especially true for pregnancy, which can make the taking of some prescriptions highly unsafe. Do note that if you do have an ongoing condition such as an allergy to a drug or food, a disease like diabetes, an ongoing pregnancy, you may want to look into obtaining a 'medic-alert tag'.

The number of things that sit in this category is practically infinite, ranging from giving false positives on drug tests to turning your skin blue. Don't worry as much about memorizing these- your physician will usually be able to tell you about these considerations when prompted to if he didn't tell you before.

A is for All drugs, pharmaceutical, over-the-counter, and recreational.

Sometimes, as with epinephrine and cocaine (You know who you are), some drugs- prescribed or not- just do not mix. A number of different things can occur, but more commonly you'll see: a blocking of intended effects, the two (or more) drugs acting together to create an effect greater than the sum of their parts, drugs acting together to create a greater effect than the single drug could have, the drugs interacting to create a completely unintended or unexpected effect, and/or one drug allowing another to be considerably more effective. I know this doesn't sound dangerous, but all one needs to do anymore is point to a picture of Heath Ledger. It killed him, and it can kill you. If you're legally taking prescription drugs, or if you plan on or might take recreational drugs- this DOES include tobacco (cigarettes, chew, dip, whatever, it's all nicotine) and especially alcohol- you need to state them to your doctor so he knows to warn you against taking certain drugs while on that medication. Your physician may even go so far as to completely change what drug they plan on prescribing you based on this information.
One more very important thing to remember is to ask about over-the-counter drugs. A lot of people don't even think twice about it, but you could be taking a serious risk with your well being by not checking to see if the over-the-counter drug you're looking at is safe to take with your prescription. As things are unpredictable, I'd like to point out that even if you can't ask your doctor, you can ask a pharmacist at any drug store, and they'll be able to tell you if it's safe, and if it's not, provide you with alternatives.

F is for Freebie, as in, adjust this one according to your own specific needs and considerations (such as, but not limited to: pregnancy, foreign travel, on-the-job duties).

E is for Emergency Considerations
Some drugs can cause unique complications for both yourself when attempting to medicate for a known problem- such as hypersensitivity (the infamous 'peanut allergy' where someone's deathly allergic to something) or asthma- as well as for EMS and the emergency department. Drugs can either complicate an existing problem or create an entirely new one on their own- especially if care providers, unaware that you take a certain drug, end up giving you something that would cause a fatal or harmful reaction. A wonderful example of this are beta-blocker drugs, often used to help control blood pressure and heart rates. If you're on beta-blockers and have an asthma attack, you could end up hitting your albuterol inhaler multiple times with little to no change in your condition. That's because, as seen in the 'A' section, the beta-blockers actually block the sites in your nervous system where the albuterol 'plugs in' to ease your asthma attack. This could obviously cause very serious problems, so you need to discuss the possibility of this drug to contribute to an emergency with your physician and, if it's deemed necessary, even carry readily accessible information on you that you take that drug.

R is for Red Flags
There may be times where it will be absolutely necessary that you stop taking a drug right away, maybe even seek immediate medical attention. These sorts of things may not even be listed on your drug's typical warning labels- though it's still worth looking at- but listed as sneaking suspicions in medical journals. Make sure that you ask your doctor if there are any 'alarm signs', such as a sudden fever or bouts of an especially fast heart rate, that you need to be aware of to tell you that you either need to stop taking the drug right away or need to seek medical attention to be seen if it's still safe, if not both. Be familiar with them as long as you're taking that prescription.

Now, let's talk information resources. The first place you go, where you get your prescription, is also your best resource- your physician. When you first go to your doctor with your complaints and he prescribes you something, take the time to ask him about it. He knows these things, and he's probably read up on it, otherwise he'd have no business prescribing it to you. Most doctors will resist the urge to bolt out of the room and see the next patient long enough to answer any questions you may have, so don't be intimidated by his hurry to leave or brief, sharp answers. I'm not saying "be rude", and mind that some drugs are perfectly safe, but don't let their rush deny you the vital education you need when taking a prescription.

A good resource, possibly even better than your doctor, is your pharmacist. No matter the drug store, they have to have a licensed pharmacist on board or they're not legal to be filling prescriptions. Just ask to speak with them, and ask away. This is especially convenient if you feel you need an over-the-counter drug, and your physician is, indeed, still a physician, and thus unavailable to answer your questions without an appointment.

If all else fails, and even if you did ask, I'd recommend doing research online or in a physician's desk reference (commonly abbreviated PDR). You're likely to run into a good deal of junk data, but you should also be able to find valuable little nuggets of information that you otherwise wouldn't have learned. Just google or look up the name of your prescription, pick a website (if you're online. I, personally, have no preference as far as these sorts of websites go,) and read up. Easy as that.

Finally, a few quick notes:
-Take your meds as prescribed unless told otherwise.
-If you're on antibiotics, finish them! (unless told otherwise)
-If you're on drugs to control a condition or infection like Tuberculosis, Malaria, or HIV, do NOT discontinue use. It can and does make these get big, ugly, and grow bigger teeth.