Speak up Ask questions Find the facts Evaluate your choices Read the label and follow directions

Transcription

1 Whe it comes to usig medicie, it is importat to kow that o medicie is completely safe. The U.S. Food ad Drug Admiistratio (FDA) judges a drug to be safe eough to approve whe the beefits of the medicie outweigh the kow risks for the labeled use. Doctors, physicia assistats, urses, pharmacists, ad YOU make up your health care team. To reduce the risks from usig medicies ad to get the most beefit, you eed to be a active member of the team. To make medicie use SAFER: SPEAK UP Speak up Ask questios Fid the facts Evaluate your choices Read the label ad follow directios The more iformatio your health care team kows about you, the better the team ca pla the care that s right for you. The members of your team eed to kow your medical history, such as illesses, medical coditios (like high blood pressure or diabetes), ad operatios you have had. They also eed to kow all the medicies ad treatmets you use, whether all the time or oly some of the time. Before you add somethig ew, talk it over with your team. Your team ca help you with what mixes well ad what does t. It helps to give a writte list of all your medicies ad treatmets to all your doctors, pharmacists, ad other team members. Keep a copy of the list for yourself ad give a copy to a loved oe.

2 Be sure to iclude: prescriptio medicies, icludig ay samples your doctor may have give you over-the-couter (OTC) medicies, or medicies you ca buy without a prescriptio (such as atacids; laxatives; or pai, fever, ad cough/cold medicies) dietary supplemets, icludig vitamis ad herbs ay other treatmets ay allergies, ad ay problems you may have had with a medicie aythig that could have a effect o your use of medicie, such as pregacy, breast feedig, trouble swallowig, trouble rememberig, or cost ASK QUESTIONS Your health care team ca help you make the best choices, but you have to ask the right questios. Whe you meet with a team member, have your questios writte dow ad take otes o the aswers. You also may wat to brig alog a fried or relative to help you uderstad ad remember. Use the Questio Guide at the ed of this fact sheet to help you get the aswers you eed from your health care team. If you do t uderstad a aswer, ask agai.

3 FIND THE FACTS Before you ad your team decide o a prescriptio or OTC medicie, lear ad uderstad as much about it as you ca, icludig: brad ad geeric (chemical) ames active igrediets to make sure that you are t usig more tha oe medicie with the same active igrediet iactive igrediets if you have ay problems with igrediets i medicies such as colors, flavors, starches, or sugars uses ( idicatios ad cotraidicatios ) why you will be usig it ad whe the medicie should/should ot be used warigs ( precautios ) safety measures to make sure the medicie is used the right way ad to avoid harm possible iteractios substaces that should ot be used while usig the medicie. Fid out if other prescriptio ad OTC medicies, food, dietary supplemets, or other thigs (like alcohol ad tobacco) could cause problems with the medicie side effects ( adverse reactios ) uwated effects that the medicie ca cause ad what to do if you get them possible tolerace, depedece, or addictio problems that some medicies ca cause ad what you ca do to avoid them overdose what to do if you use too much directios usual dose; what to do if you miss a dose; ad special directios o how to use the medicie, such as whether to take it with or without food storage istructios how ad where to keep the medicie expiratio date after which the medicie may ot work or may be harmful to use Your pharmacy, the library, the bookstore, the medicie maker, ad the Iteret have medicie iformatio made for cosumers. If you have questios, ask your health care team.

4 EVALUATE YOUR CHOICES Weigh the Beefits ad Risks After you have all the iformatio, thik carefully about your choices. Thik about the helpful effects as well as the possible uwated effects. Decide which are most importat to you. This is how you weigh the beefits ad risks. The expert advice from your health care team ad the iformatio you give the team ca help guide you ad your team i makig the decisio that is right for you. READ THE LABEL AND FOLLOW DIRECTIONS Read the label to kow what active igrediet(s) is (are) i the medicie. The active igrediet i a prescriptio or OTC medicie might be i other medicies you use. Usig too much of ay active igrediet may icrease your chace of uwated side effects. Read the label each time you buy a OTC medicie or fill your prescriptio. Whe buyig a OTC, read the "Drug Facts" label carefully to make sure it is the right medicie for you. Prescriptio ad OTC medicies do't always mix well with each other. Dietary supplemets (like vitamis ad herbals) ad some foods ad driks ca cause problems with your medicies too. Ask the pharmacist if you have questios. Before you leave the pharmacy with your prescriptio, be sure you have the right medicie, kow the right dose to use, ad kow how to use it. If you've bought the medicie before, make sure that this medicie has the same shape, color, size, ad packagig. Aythig differet? Ask your pharmacist. If your medicie tastes differet whe you use it, tell your health care team. Read ad save all the iformatio you get with your medicie.

5 Read the label each time before you use the medicie. Be sure it's right i 5 ways: the right medicie for the right patiet i the right amout at the right time i the right way (for example, swallow istead of chew a pill) Follow directios o the label ad from your health care team. Whe you are ready to use the medicie, make the most of the beefits ad lower the risks by followig the directios. If you wat to stop a medicie your doctor told you to use or to use it i a differet way tha directed, talk to a team member. It may take loger for you to tell some medicies are workig. With some medicies, such as atibiotics, it is importat to fiish the whole prescriptio eve if you feel better sooer. Whe you stop usig some medicies, you must reduce the dose little by little to prevet uwated side effects. REPORT BACK TO THE TEAM Pay attetio to how you feel. If you have a uwated effect, tell your health care team right away. A chage i the dose or a chage i medicie may be eeded.

6 QUESTION GUIDE Use this guide with your health care team to fid out what you eed to kow about the medicies you use ad those you are thikig about usig. Be sure to fid the aswers to these questios for ay sample medicie your doctor gives you. What are the brad ad geeric (o-brad) ames of the medicie? What is the active igrediet? Could I use a geeric form of the medicie? What is the medicie for, ad what will it do for me? Whe should I start to feel better? Whe should I report back to the team? Will this medicie take the place of ay other medicie I have bee usig? Should I avoid ay driks, foods, other substaces, or activities while usig this medicie? Ca this medicie be used safely with the other medicies ad treatmets I already use? Does this iclude prescriptio ad OTC medicies, vitamis, herbals, or other supplemets, ad other treatmets? Should I avoid startig other medicies (prescriptio or OTC), dietary supplemets (like herbals ad vitamis) or other treatmets while I am usig this medicie? What are the possible side effects from this medicie? What should I do if I have a side effect? Is there ay chace that I could become tolerat, depedet, or addicted to this medicie? What ca I do to avoid this? How ad whe should I use the medicie, i what amout, ad for how log? Are there specific istructios for usig this medicie? Will I eed ay blood tests, x-rays, or other tests to make sure the medicie is workig as it should? How will I get the results? What should I do if I miss a dose? What should I do if I use too much by mistake? Are there specific istructios o how ad where I should keep this medicie? (Remember: Always put medicies out of the sight ad reach of childre ad pets.) Where ca I get more iformatio about this medicie?

7 To reduce the risks of usig medicies ad to get the most beefit, you eed to Be A Active Member of Your Health Care Team. U.S. Departmet of Health ad Huma Services Food ad Drug Admiistratio INFO-FDA 4/2014