Medications                                             

  Older adults use more medicines than any other age group. Nearly one-third of all drugs prescribed in the United States are for people over the age of 65, and nearly two-thirds of all older adults use an over-the-counter (OTC) drug product regularly.

While medicines may be needed to handle your health problems, it is not always clear how you will react to them as you get older.

There are several reasons for this:

   As you age, your body may begin to process your medicines differently. Some medicines may not be as effective as they once were, while others may build up in your blood to levels that are too high.

With some medicines, your health care provider will need to test your blood to make sure that you are taking the right amount. These blood tests provide your doctor or nurse with important information. It is VERY important that you get these blood tests done when they are ordered for you. Sometimes, the amount of medicine you take will be changed after these blood tests are done.

  Even if your doctor or nurse tells you that the amount of medicine in your body is "just right", be sure to report any side effects. This is important information for you to share.

As an older women with a chronic illness, you may take more that one medication to treat your disability or to control your symptoms. Taking more than one medicine, both prescription and over-the-counter, can put you at higher risk for what is called an "adverse drug reaction". This is a reaction between two or more drugs. In other words, the mixing of drugs in your body can cause a reaction that is not expected. This could either mean that some of the drugs become stronger than usual, or some drugs may not work as well.

The higher the number of medicines you take, the higher your risk of making a mistake when taking them. This can lead to serious side effects and illness.

Medicines such as diuretics, or "water pills", will affect the amount of fluid in your body and change the balance of some very important elements such as sodium and potassium. It is very important that these elements are kept at the right levels in your body. If your health care provider prescribes supplements to keep this proper balance, be sure to follow the directions closely. If you are not able to do this, be sure to tell your health care provider.

Remember that alcohol is a drug that can either increase or decrease the effects of other drugs in your system. Make sure that you know about any possible interactions that alcohol may have on your medicine before you take an alcoholic drink. The same is true of herbs and complementary medications.

Recommendations:

1. Know the facts about each of your medications:

• What is it for?

• How often should you take it?

• How long will you need to take it?

• What are the side effects?

• What should you do if side effects occur?

2. Recognize the potential problems of multiple drug use and take action to prevent them.

• Keep an accurate record of all medications including over-the-counter medications and herbs, including teas.

• Make sure your health care provider has the same list.

• Use the same pharmacy for all medications

• Ask questions of doctors, nurses and pharmacists.
  

3. Report side effects to your health care provider.

4. Keep a list of all medications to which you have a reaction and what kind of reaction you have had. This is important information that you should share with ALL of your health care providers.

5. Talk to your doctor or nurse before you stop taking a drug. Certain drugs should not be stopped suddenly.

6. Ask your health care provider to review the medications you take regularly. Ask questions. You should understand why you are taking each medicine.

7. Think about keeping a folder or a notebook for the information you receive about your medicine from the pharmacy.  This is a good way to keep track of your medicines.

8. If side effects are a problem, ask whether there are other medications that you could use. Sometimes you need to take one medicine to control the side effects of another. New drugs are being developed all the time. Ask if newer medicines are available that don't have these side effects. This could lower the amount of medicine you need to take.

To learn more, click on MEDICATION

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08/11/2003 12:51 PM