At some stage in our lives, it’s likely that we’ll be required to take prescription drugs, whether it be to aid an injury or to stay on top of a long-term health condition.
These medications can become part of everyday life and routine, but they can also become addictive if not used correctly. Prescription drug addiction is more common than you’d think and it can severely damage your help, despite the drugs themselves prescribed to help in the first place.
There are today a number of methods to combat prescription drug interaction, but ultimately using them effectively and properly in the first place will ensure they’re being used in the way intended.
At the same time, missing doses or misusing your prescription drugs can also impact your health and life. As a rule, taking the following steps can help to make sure you’re using your prescription drugs effectively…
Check How They React With Food, Drink And Any Other Medication
Prescription drugs can react differently to different things, potentially making them less effective or even adversely affecting your mood or mental state.
Commonly, acidic foods such as grapefruits and citrus fruits can make the medication less effective, while you’ll also find that many anti-depressants can lower the effect of heart medication, which can be extremely dangerous.
Reading the information you receive with any prescription medication you receive to check for how they react with various other things really is a must, for the good of your own health.
Find a Routine
By setting yourself a routine, and taking your medication at a set time each day, it’s going to be much more effective in managing your medication and ensuring you don’t miss any doses.
What you do need to be careful of, however, is if you do only need to take the medication for a set amount of time, make sure it doesn’t become an addictive part of your routine and that you stop taking the medication when your course has run or a doctor has told you to.
A good place to start and get into a routine is by simply setting an alarm or reminder to take them, or leaving them nearby to another regular routine you have, such as brushing your teeth. Pop your medication by your toothbrush and you should remember to take them as part of that routine.
Track Side Effects
The side effects you may encounter can also dictate when to take your prescription medication as part of your routine.
There are a number of reasons why you should track and log any side effects you may have from your medication. Firstly, these can impact your daily life, such as affecting work performance or your ability to drive, while any minor changes in your body or system need to be recognised by the doctor who prescribed the drugs. Keeping a log is the most efficient way to do this.
If you’re finding there are side effects to the medication you’re taking, it’s probably a good idea to take those into account as part of your routine. For example, it’s probably not the best idea to take a drug that makes you drowsy ahead of going to work.
Don’t Half Dose or Skip Doses
If you’re running low on your drugs, don’t skip or half dose on your medication as this will ultimately mean that the drugs you’re taking will be less effective.
It can be potentially dangerous to do this, while if you have accidentally skipped a dose you should read the packaging and ask your doctor what steps you need to now take.
If you’re doing this due to running out of medication, it may be worth automatically renewing your prescription to decrease the chance of this happening and always being well stocked.