Wait What Medication Was That?

Similar to the medication education we provide to our patients, when it comes down to our families and friends, we especially want to make sure they are fully informed about prescribed medications and over-the-counter (OTC) medications they take. Within my immediate family, my father is the only person that is taking prescription medications. Most of my family comes from a medical background. My father grew up with siblings in the healthcare field. Additionally, my father is a veterinarian technician and he has experience administering similar medications prescribed to dogs. My father has hypertension so his physician prescribed him valsartan which is an ARB. When I was taking pharmacology, I asked my father what he knew about the medication he was taking. As I expected my father knew about the classification, action, side effects, generic, and brand names of the drug. As for my mother and sister, they do not have prescribed medications, but they do use over-the-counter drugs such as Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Zyrtec, Nyquil, and Robitussin. My father usually advises my mother, sister, and I  to purchase generic names over the brand ones for pricing reasons. My mother and sister have some knowledge on identifying brand name OTC medications and their respective generic names. When my sister has any questions about medications, she usually comes to me for information and I direct her to what sources she can use to find medication information if I am not able to answer her or advise she discuss the medication with our cousin who is currently a physician. Overall, I believe that my family as a whole has a pretty good idea about the medications they often take. Whenever we don’t know what a certain prescribed medication is, we go to one another for any questions and concerns we may have as well as utilize technology.

Picture Reference: http://www.pbinstitute.com/how-to-know-if-youre-alcoholic/