MEDICATION MANAGEMENT

Medications offer life-saving benefits but require careful monitoring. Tony Akpengbe, DNP, and the Diligence Care Plus team in San Bernardino, California, safeguard your welfare with their expert medication management service. They excel at ensuring drugs you take for medical and psychiatric conditions are effective and don’t cause adverse effects. Call the office for more information about benefiting from medication management, or schedule a consultation online today.

MEDICATION MANAGEMENT Q & A

What is medication management?

Medication management ensures you need all the drugs you take, that they have the intended effects, and that they don’t cause intolerable or dangerous reactions.

Medicines are primary treatments for many health problems, from heart disease and thyroid disorders to acute infections and mental health conditions. They have powerful beneficial effects and are often life-saving, but taking medications does have risks.

What problems can I avoid with medication management?

Medication management deals with numerous problems. Some people can’t tolerate specific medicines — certain individuals are even allergic to penicillin. Others experience side effects so unpleasant they outweigh any benefits.

Drugs can also interact with one another; for instance, the cholesterol-lowering drug fenofibric acid increases the effects of warfarin, a medicine used to prevent blood clots. If you take both, you may bleed too easily.

You might be unable to take some medicines because of other health problems. For example, taking decongestants like pseudoephedrine is unsafe if you have high blood pressure.

Another problem is that drugs don’t work the same for all patients, particularly those with mental health disorders. That means you must try different medications to find the one that helps most, but you can’t suddenly switch from one to another — it requires a careful transition. Diligence Care Plus medication management addresses all these problems for you.

What happens at my medication management review?

At your medication management review, your provider checks your medical history and asks how you’re doing with your current medicines. Tell them about any problems you experience, even if the medication seems an unlikely cause. Also, let them know about improvements, like fewer panic attacks since starting an anti-anxiety drug.

Your provider asks about your medicines, checking that you take the correct dose, such as with or before food. There might be specific instructions they need to ensure you follow, like not drinking grapefruit juice if you take statins for high cholesterol.

Remember to tell them about any over-the-counter medicines you use, herbal remedies, and dietary supplements, some of which could interact with your prescription medications. For example, the herbal medicine St. John’s wort is an effective treatment for mild depression but can cause problems if you take it with a prescription antidepressant medicine.

Call Diligence Care Plus to learn more about the benefits of medication management, or book an appointment online today.