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Medication
Request that your primary physician review all of your medications, including vitamins, herbs and over the counter medications. This means taking all of your pill bottles to your doctor’s appointment and reviewing the medications and dosages. You can also ask your pharmacist if any of your prescriptions can have interactions. He can make recommendations to your physician.
Next, organize your medications. Keep a list of each medication: name, dosage, frequency of administration and start date. Keep this log with you and give a copy to a family member, caregiver and physician. Develop a system for keeping track of when your medications are to be taken. A plastic container labeled for this purpose is helpful. If your memory is failing, having a responsible person keeping track of your medications is one of the most important considerations to avoid errors in medication management.
Be sure each of your physicians is aware of all medications. Care giving can be an exhausting job, emotionally, physically and financially. Please be aware that there are some pharmaceutical interventions for behavioral management and early stage memory enhancements. Discuss any problems with your physician, describe the problem behavior, the time of day it occurs, how long it lasts, what triggered it and what helps control it. With this information, your physician will be able to advise you on medication management or necessary environmental changes.
A geriatric case manager can also assist with assessing, advocating and interpreting information to assist physicians and families in obtaining a clear plan of care and making them aware of all available options.
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