Every one of us have had reasons to use a medication or more to treat certain ailments. It could be drugs prescribed by our physician, gotten on the recommendation of our neighborhood Pharmacist. It could even be an over the counter medication bought on the advice of a friend.
N.B. Over the counter medications are drugs that can be gotten without a prescription (examples include include some pain medications, antacids etc.)
Drugs work in different ways and have different effects on different individuals. For example, some persons react seriously to drugs containing Sulphur (Like Septrin or Fansidar). Others had similar reactions with Chloroquine back when it was the drug of choice for treating malaria.
Relevance of Medication History
Keeping records of medications we have taken in our heads and the effects they have had on us can be difficult. This explains why an electronic record that is readily accessible is key.
Information about the various medications we have used in the past, their effectiveness and adverse effects if any is important.
This information can help our health professionals (notably physicians and pharmacists) in the future when they need to make certain decisions about our healthcare.
When your physician knows that you have used certain medications in the past for a particular condition(s) as well as how effective such treatments were it’s easier to make deductions about your current complain in the bid to handle it better.
The Physician or Pharmacist also knows the drugs to avoid. He now has an idea of drugs whose side or adverse effects are too severe on you. With this information available he goes ahead to seek another effective alternative.
Even if such past illnesses are not related to the present complain, having past information about your health will always be an advantage anytime.
Be Part of Your Care Team
Beyond the electronic records kept by some hospitals and pharmacies, a record of your unique experiences with certain medications is equally important.
There is no better way to assess the effectiveness of a treatment than through feedback from you, the patient at the receiving end.
A very effective solution that can make this easy is the Adhere App. It features a dosage reminder feature which helps patients keep track of medications. Adhere also keeps a running medication history of all medications used even when such regimens are over.
With this, a patient can easily access and share this vital information with his/her care provider. It definitely goes a long way in ensuring better care outcomes going forward.
To summarize, medication history is a very important data, too important to forget and I urge you to embrace a tech solution that helps you keep track of this important information.
Download ADHERE on Google Playstore today
Olusanya Oluwatomi (B.Pharm UPH)