Do You Have Questions About Your Prescription?

After a doctor’s visit, surgery, or treatment for a long-term condition, the doctor may prescribe medication. Filling a prescription is the easy part. Most Americans have used at least one prescription drug and can easily find a pharmacy. Once the drug is in hand, some other questions may pop up. Having access to the pharmacist is the best way to get these medication questions answered.

Your trusted medication resource

Pharmacists are doctors who learn and understand medication. These experts know how drugs affect the body and dispense prescriptions. Pharmacists can also consult with doctors to ensure patients have the right medicine at the right time. The roles of pharmacists evolved over the years. Besides filling prescriptions, pharmacists consult, manage medication, follow up with patients, and much more. After picking up a prescription, these are 3 common medication questions pharmacists encounter.

1. Non-prescription drug interactions

After filling a prescription, some patients forget that other drugs are in the medicine cabinet. Others want to try a new herb, supplement, or non-prescription medicine for different reasons. Before adding any medication, patients should reach out to the pharmacists. Pharmacists have a deep understanding of how drugs influence each other. The supplement may render the prescription ineffective or cause a severe allergic reaction. The pharmacist can steer the patient to the right supplement or drug or warn against interactions.

2. What happens if you miss a dose

With the busy lives of work and family, some patients miss doses of prescription medication. Even older adults can forget about the drug, especially if multiple prescriptions are involved. A patient may be concerned about the consequences of missing medicines. The pharmacist can consult on the possible effects and if doubling the dose or starting another day is safe.

3. Consolidating medication through compounding

For someone already taking prescription medication, filling another prescription could be stressful. The patient has to remember the prescriptions and manage side effects. There’s also the issue of price since medication costs are especially high. A pharmacist can help better manage medications. The pharmacist can recommend compounding, which is creating one drug to meet the patient’s needs.

Trust your pharmacist

Picking up a prescription should not end at the pharmacy counter. Taking the right medicine at the right time ensures a healthier patient. Other factors to consider include side effects, drug interactions, and proper drug use. Lean on the community pharmacist to provide helpful information and answer any medication questions.