5 Questions you have to ask before swallowing a medication

Question #1:

What do you call this ?

Pretty basic, as the pharmacist or technician asking you about your ID or insurance ID, you have to ask him/her about the names of your medications even if you are refilling!

Knowing the name of medication is important at least to know what you are going to swallow and is it brand product or generic medication.

Question #2:

What is it for? probably you know what it is for! sure because you went to your physician asking for help to relieve your symptoms. However, asking this question will make you sure that you have the right medication that is matching with your health condition and even will minimize the probability of errors during dispensing your medication at the pharmacy.

Question #3:

When should I take my med & its dose? the proper use of your medication is a key factor in relieving your symptoms or getting you cured as soon as possible unless it is for chronic disease so it will put your condition under control!

Usually the answer of this question is going to be told by the pharmacist anyway but make sure you know the answer and understand all the drug use precautions.

Question #4:

What are the most common side effects/ common changes / other symptoms of my medication? another question that might seem unusual but it is very important to know the most common side effect or changes to your body while being on your medication! let me give you an example to get it:

Patient X was prescribed a vitamin formula and one of the most common changes while being on this formula is a very pale glowing yellow urine! after the first dose the patient called the pharmacy store and sound like worrying about the color of his/her urine and then the pharmacist explained the theory behind it so he/she feels alright after being told this extra piece of knowledge!

Question #5:

What is your store phone number? Can I call you ?

Again, the answer of why you should have the pharmacy store number from where you got your medication is found above! because you may have more and more questions ..

Let me know if you have more questions to the pharmacists!