Rx IQ: How Well Do You Know Your Meds?

Explanation
How can you be motivated to take a medicine if you don't know why it was prescribed or what benefits its should deliver? If these things aren't completely clear to you, ASK the person who prescribed the medicine and encourage your doctor and pharmacist to write the medicine's purpose on the prescription order AND the label that goes on the medicine. These practices can also greatly decrease your chances of accidentally being given the wrong medicine at the pharmacy.

Explanation
For many medicines, the time of day you take a medicine really DOES matter as it effects how high the levels of medication in your blood rise, and low they drop. In general, it is best to evenly space out the time you take a medicine (for example every 12 hours for a twice daily medicine), but with other medicines taking it with a regular meal is more important. Also, your body's chemistry changes a lot during the day which can make some medicines work better at different times, so always ask exactly when during the day each of your medicines should be taken.

Explanation
Many medicines are are given to treat "silent diseases" like high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes (high blood sugar). These are called "silent diseases" because the damage they do is slow and cannot be felt for many years until it is too late to stop. Because illnesses like this do not make you feel sick, medicines won't make you feel better. In fact, they sometimes will make you feel worse as your body gets used to having a "normal" blood pressure, blood sugar, etc. If you start taking a medicine and feel worse, know that the medicine is working. If you feel so bad that you do not want to take medicine anymore, speak to your doctor or pharmacist before stopping it. This is important because they may have tips to help you feel better, and because in some cases, suddenly stopping a medicine can actually cause harm.

Explanation
Illnesses thrive on thoughts like these because they keep you from using your best weapon against them: your medicine. Regularly taking your medicine as directed is the best thing that you can do to take charge of your illness and put you back in control of your life.

Explanation
We all forget things sometimes, but if you cannot remember to take at least 8 out of every 10 doses of your medicine, ask your doctor or pharmacist for help. They may be able to rearrange your medication schedule to make your medicine taking times more convenient, or they may simply help you create an easy reminder system. Just remember, when it comes to your medicines, you're not alone. There's an entire team of healthcare providers who want to be sure you get all the benefits from your medicines that you deserve.