Medicines and You
Session 4 - On Your Own, Manage Your Medication
Course Section
In this Session, you'll learn tips for managing your medications.
We already know we're supposed to follow our prescription instructions. But life does get complicated. We tend to forget, or skip the steps we know we should take. And starting a new habit can be difficult.
But being a good medication manager is possible—for all of us. Use these 5 tips to take charge of your medications.
- Remember
- Take
- Monitor
- Notice
- Store & Dispose
1. Remember To Take Your Medications
Yeah, yeah, you may be thinking. So, what else is new? Some people can start a new habit without much effort. Especially as we age, most of us need to jump-start a new habit, and then encourage ourselves to keep it up. The good news? Know what memory techniques have worked for you in the past. Those are your best bet for remembering to take your medications. Studies show that memory has two parts. First, we have to put new information into our minds. Then we have to pull it out, to act on it. The more we can concentrate on putting information in, the better chance we have of recalling it later. When you get a new medication:
- Right away, repeat the instructions to yourself five times - even ten. Whisper them. Say them out loud. Read them. Sing them.
- Make a mental picture of yourself taking the medicine. Focus on this picture all the way home from the doctor's. Take one minute when you get home to visualize your new habit. Do nothing else. Just stand or sit and see this mental picture.
- Think of something to connect with taking your medication. Some people call this a peg or a hook to hang your new behavior on. It could be a rhyme (like "My med's for me; take it times three"), an acronym (TIN-TIN, or "Take It Now"), or an image of a steaming bowl of soup (if you'll take your medicine with food).
Other research shows that we change our behavior in a cycle. The cycle goes from stage to stage: thinking about a new behavior we want to do, getting ready, acting, and keeping it up. If you stop anywhere along this cycle, go back to a previous stage.
So, if your intention to take your new medicine doesn't work out perfectly, don't worry. You're just normal. Start that new-behavior cycle again—with more chance of success now.
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2. Take Your Meds in Exactly the Way You've Been Instructed
Why? You will be safest if you follow your doctor's and pharmacist's instructions. They may have customized your prescription drug's dosage or schedule just for you. Older people's reactions to drugs vary much more than younger people's. So, your instructions will be just right—for you. What if you do experience a possible side effect or drug interaction?
- Call your doctor or pharmacist. If the situation seems life threatening, call 9-1-1.
- When you call, have your drug container, or the patient information leaflet, nearby. The person on the phone may ask you to refer to one of them.
- Try to jot down what you are experiencing, and at what time. What are your symptoms? How do you feel? What time were you experiencing these symptoms or feelings? When did you last take the medicine that you think caused the problems?
Are all medication instructions equally important to follow? You'll be safest if you assume that they are.
Is there an instruction you don't understand? One that doesn't make sense to you? Something that contradicts what you've heard before? If so, speak up. Take charge by getting answers from your doctor and pharmacist.
You may have read reports about the need to modify prescription dosing for people of different ages or ethnic groups. In fact, the physiology of aging greatly affects how medicines work in our bodies. This is worth talking about with your doctor. Make any prescription dosage or schedule changes only with your doctor, not on your own.
How do you know if your medications are working? Your doctor will monitor, or check on, their effects. You may need to take blood tests, or other tests, at certain times. If so, be sure to keep each appointment for a test. This is one of the best ways to help avoid or reduce side effects that could be dangerous for you. Are you seeing more than one doctor? Let each doctor know the result of each monitoring test that you take. That coordination will help keep you safe.
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3. Monitor How Your Drugs Are Working
How do you know if your medications are working? There are ways that you both you and your doctor can monitor how well your meds are working.
- Self-monitoring
It's important to pay attention to how you feel. If you feel any differently while taking your medication, note the changes and write them down. Then remember to tell your doctor and pharmacist. Also ask your doctor when you should notice an improvement in your health or condition from taking the medication. Find out when to report back to the doctor to discuss whether or not you have noticed an improvement.
If you monitor how your drugs are working you will be better guarded from uncomfortable or unhealthy side effects. - Monitoring Tests
If you are taking medications such as a blood thinner or one for a specific condition such as high blood pressure or high cholesterol, there are specific tests to monitor how your medications are working. You may need to take blood tests, or other tests, at certain times to keep an eye on how your medication is affecting your body. If so, be sure to keep each appointment. This is one of the best ways to reduce or avoid dangerous side effects.
If you are seeing more than one doctor, be sure to let each one know the result of each monitoring test that you take. It's helpful for you to write down and remember the numbers from your test, such as your INR (International Normalized Ration) blood pressure or cholesterol numbers. That coordination will help keep you safe.
4. Avoid Dangerous Interactions
The more medications we take, the more we might experience drug-drug interactions. Many older people take 8 different prescription and over-the-counter medications. That number of drugs could combine in about 250 ways. That's a lot of potential interactions. In fact, at one time or another, one-third of older people do experience a harmful drug effect.
Medications can also interact with what we eat or drink, or with our activities. We may never notice many of these interactions. They might not affect how we feel or function.
But other interactions are both common and dangerous, especially when you're consuming alcohol or driving. Ask your doctor or pharmacist if it's safe to drink alcohol when taking your medications. Is it safe to drive? Ask about each drug you take, whether prescription or non-prescription.
Medicines and Alcohol
Many drugs interact dangerously with alcohol. Even a small amount
of beer, wine, or liquor can change how a drug works in your
body. For instance, alcohol can interfere with heart drugs,
making you dizzy or faint. Giving your liver too much to process
at once can also be unsafe. For example, if you take high doses
of acetaminophen and have a few drinks every day, you could
damage your liver. Check with your doctor, even if you drink only
a little.
Medicines and Driving
What about driving? You may have been driving for a long time. If
you take a drug that makes you feel a little woozy, you
automatically adjust or limit your driving to stay safe. Problems
can result when physiological changes of aging combine with drugs
commonly prescribed for older adults.
Those prescription drugs are the ones most likely to increase the risk of driving problems and accidents. Don't ignore your body's reactions when you're on any medication. Don't drive until you know what effects your new medicine has on your body.
Here are some medication and driving tips:
- For any new medication, see how you react to it before attempting to drive; for each person's reaction to any medication unique to that person.
- Make sure you are free of any harmful side effects before driving; plan other ways to get around.
- Never have alcohol while on any medication without first consulting with your doctor.
Medicines and Food
Even what you eat can mess with your medicine's work. Take steps to prevent drug-food interactions:
- Follow directions on how to take prescription and over-the-counter pills.
- Eat a consistent and nutritious diet with a variety of foods.
- Read all warning labels on your medicines.
Medicines and Herbs
Herbal products such as ginkgo biloba, St. John's Wort, or kava can interact with your prescription medication. Follow these guidelines for herbs:
- Learn as much as you can about a product before taking it. Some herbal products can interact with other medicines you take.
- If you have a blood clotting disorder, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, Parkinson's disease, an enlarged prostate gland, a psychiatric problem, an autoimmune disease or other serious medical conditions, you should avoid taking herbal products unless under the supervision of a physician.
- Herbal products and other natural medicines should be considered drugs that can cause side effects and may interact with each other or with traditional medicines.
- Because the Food and Drug Administration does not test herbal products as they do traditional medicines, there is no guarantee of the exact strength of the ingredients.
- Look on the label for the words "meets USP standards," a sign that the product has been tested for quality and purity.
- The label should list:
- An expiration date
- A lot number, the amount of active ingredient per dose in milligrams (mg) or grams (gm)
- The form (e.g., powder or extract)
- Clear directions for use
- Other ingredients in descending order of the amount contained in the product
- The name, address and phone number of the manufacturer or distributor should also be clearly stated on the label
- The container should have evidence of tamperproof protection.
Play It Safe
Maybe you got your new prescription a while ago. Now, you vaguely
recall hearing something about harmful interactions. It's
never too late to drop in at your pharmacy or to call your
doctor's office. In fact, asking for a medicine check-up of
all your medications is the most effective action to help avoid
dangerous interactions.
Your pharmacy's computer program can do this interaction check quickly. However, it's up to you to list every medication you take. List prescription drugs, non-prescription drugs, and dietary and herbal supplements. Keep this list updated at every visit to the pharmacy. You may need to ask for this medicine interaction check-up. But it's your right to obtain it.
You can also begin an interaction search on your own. Read about cautions for your drug's possible interactions. Use an online interaction checker. Take the results to your pharmacist or doctor.
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5. Notice Side Effects
Many of us become more sensitive to certain medications as we grow older. Our bodies absorb and excrete drugs differently than when we were younger. So, some medications have side effects. We may expect some side effects. Others may be a surprise. They're all part of how the medicine works.
Each of us also tends to react to certain drugs in individual ways—even caffeine or non-prescription drugs. We may typically feel energetic or jumpy when we drink coffee. Or we may tend to feel sleepy when we take a cold medicine. We could have the same reactions to some prescription drugs.
We can't control our sensitivity to drugs—but we can plan for it.
- Tell your doctor how you normally react to drugs.
- Discuss how someone your age metabolizes drugs.
- Ask if a lower-than-normal dose of a new drug would be good to start with.
- Know the most common side effects to expect.
- Notice how your body reacts, especially when you begin a new drug.
- Understand which side effects to ignore, which to call your doctor about, and which to seek immediate help for.
- Plan to report back to your doctor to see how your dosage is working.
- For uncomfortable but expected side effects, ask your doctor about switching drugs, or changing how you take the drug.
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Each medication has its own possible side effects. Each of us, especially as we age, reacts differently to drugs. And our reactions aren't always consistent. With so many possible effects, the key is to observe, keep track, and then report how we feel.
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6. Store Your Medications Safely. Dispose Safely Too.
How many times have you heard that you shouldn't keep medications in your bathroom medicine cabinet? Probably thousands. Well, at least hundreds. And where do you keep them?
Storage actually does matter. And the bathroom cabinet really is the worst place to keep drugs. Here's why.
When a drug is manufactured, it keeps its potency, or strength, for a certain time—but not after that. That time is different for each drug. After that time, the drug's chemical composition starts to change and the drug weakens or deteriorates. It can no longer have the intended effect on your condition.
The change is slow, but certain. The drug's expiration date is the time when its chemical composition will be too weak to help you.
Most of the chemical changes in a drug are not dangerous in themselves. But some are. That's another reason why using a drug before its expiration date is crucial.
These chemical changes can happen faster than your prescription's expiration date—when the place where you store the drug is hot, moist, or sunny. That sounds like a lot of bathroom medicine cabinets, right?
Maybe you're thinking that the medicine cabinet in your extra bathroom, the one without a shower, is OK. But even using the hot water in a sink can be harmful to drugs you keep in the medicine cabinet.
Choose another place to store your medications. A drawer in your bedroom will be cooler, drier, and darker than your medicine cabinet.
Use these drug storage tips, too:
- Check the drug's expiration date—old medicines may no longer work how they should.
- Keep your medicines separate from family members' medicines so you don't make the mistake of taking the wrong ones.
- Store medicine near a countertop so you can open the bottle on a flat surface. If you drop your pill, it won't be lost down the drain or on the floor.
- Remove the cotton plug, which attracts moisture, from medicine bottles.
- Refrigerate drugs only when the label tells you to.
- Keep oral and topical medications in separate places.
- Keep all drugs away from children.
- Always order child-resistant caps if children will be in your house.
- Never throw expired or unused medicines in a wastebasket. This can be dangerous for both children and pets.
When you look up drug information on AARP's Healthguide or MedlinePlus, follow special instructions for storage.
And most of all, think COOL, DRY, and DARK.
Drug Disposal
Knowing when and how to dispose of your medication is as important as storing it right. Dispose of your medication if the drug:
- has passed the expiration date
- looks discolored
- crumbles
- cracks or leaks
- changes color
- smells
- looks cloudy
- has thickened
How you dispose of drugs is tricky business. Flushing them down the toilet has always been popular, but this may cause environmental damage. Throwing them in the trash is simple, but may be risky if there are children or pets in your household. Some pharmacies send unused or expired medications back to the original manufacturer. Other pharmacies have medications burned. This may be the safest disposal option, but also the hardest. So follow-up with your pharmacist to see if he/she has any new disposal ideas.
Ready to Practice Managing Your Medications?
Managing your medications for safety means:
- Remember
- Take
- Monitor
- Avoid
- Notice
- Store and Dispose
This printable quick double puzzle can inspire you.
Print You're in Charge Double Puzzle.
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In Session 5: Lower the Cost of Your Medications, you'll explore three methods for reducing what you pay for your medications.
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All material contained herein is provided for informational
purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice or
instruction. Consult your health care professional for advice
relating to treatment of a medical problem or condition.
Copyright 2005, AARP.
