Importance of Talking to Your Doctor about all Medicines and Over-the-Counter Supplements that you take

Advances in medicines, improvements to insurance and Medicare Part B plans, and an aging population has led to an increase in the amount of older Americans taking prescription drugs combined with over-the-counter drugs and supplements. These combinations could lead to serious side effects according to a new study. Their are potential dangers when mixing prescriptions drugs with over-the-counter medicines and supplements so these should be discussed in detail with your doctor.

CNN recently published the article "The Growing Danger of Mixing Prescription Drugs and Supplements” by Carina Storrs. The article contains information based on studies that show more older Americans are combining these drugs and simply not discussing them with their doctors or health care providers. With increases of usage it is more important than ever to discuss with your doctor any and all medicines, supplements and over-the-counter drugs that you are taking.

For example, Warfin is a popular prescription blood thinner. People may be taking it along with common over-the-counter fish oil supplements with Omega 3. The combinations of these two drugs has been found by researchers to be associated with an increased risk of bleeding.

Patients often times don’t tell their doctors about nonprescription drugs that they are taking. A common reason for not sharing this information is that the doctor might not have asked and the patient may not think it was important.

In order to make it easier to speak with your doctor or health care professional a detailed list should be made of all the drugs and over-the-counter medicines and supplements being taken. It might be even better to bring in the bottles or containers of all of the products to show your doctor.

It is also a good idea to speak with your doctor if you are taking any prescription or over-the-counter medicines and plan or want to explore other supplement options. This way you and your doctor or healthcare provider can work together to ensure you are taking medicines properly.