How to avoid drug interactions

If you take different medicines, see more than one doctor, or have multiple health problems, you and your doctors need to be aware of all the medicines you take to avoid potential problems, such as drug interactions.

Drug interactions may make your drug less effective, cause unexpected side effects, or increase the action of a particular drug. Some drug interactions can even be harmful to you. Reading the label every time you take your medication and taking time to learn about drug interactions may be critical to your health. You can reduce the risk of potentially harmful drug interactions and side effects with a little bit of knowledge and common sense.

Types

Drug interactions fall into three broad categories:

• Drug-drug interactions occur when two or more drugs react with each other. This drug-drug interaction may cause you to experience an unexpected side effect. For example, mixing a drug you take to help you sleep (a sedative) and a drug you take for allergies (an antihistamine) can slow your reactions and make driving a car or operating a machine dangerous.

• Drug-food/beverage interactions result from drugs reacting with foods or beverages. For example, mixing alcohol with some drugs, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol), may damage your liver.

• Drug-condition interactions may occur when an existing medical condition makes certain drugs potentially harmful. For example, if you have high blood pressure, you could experience an unwanted reaction if you take a nasal congestant.

Questions

When your doctor prescribes a new drug, discuss all other medicines, dietary supplements, vitamins, botanicals, Chinese medicines, minerals and herbals you take, as well as the foods you eat. Before taking the drug, ask your doctor the following questions:

• Can I take it with other drugs?

• Should I avoid certain foods, beverages and other products?

• What are the possible drug interaction signs I should know about?

• How will the drug work in my body?

• Is there more information available about the drug or my condition (on the Internet or in the health and medical literature)?

Know how to take drugs safely and responsibly. Remember, the drug label will tell you:

• what the drug is used for,

• how to take the drug, and

• how to reduce the risk of drug interactions and unwanted side effects.

If you still have questions after reading the drug product label, ask your doctor for more information.