Over 30 million adults in the United States have been diagnosed with heart disease—that’s more than 12% of the entire population. Managing a heart condition can be very difficult, especially when it comes to tracking and managing medication.
Heart medicine can help strengthen your heart, prevent blood clots, stabilize your rhythm, or lower your cholesterol, among many other benefits that are meant to keep you healthy. These medicines are powerful and need to be taken strictly as prescribed. Any variance in dose or intake instruction can be dangerous or even fatal.
Read on for three things to keep in mind while taking heart medicine:
Talk To Your Doctor
One of the best ways to stay on top of your heart medication is to arm yourself with knowledge. Whenever you’re prescribed medicine, sit down and listen to your doctor’s explanations of what it’s used for, possible side effects, intake instructions, and other additional information.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions if you need to clarify anything. Take handwritten notes. When it comes to prescription medication, you can’t turn to search engines or hearsay from acquaintances when you have a question. You need specific information to come directly from your healthcare provider.
Whenever you begin a new treatment, check in with your doctor and ask about medicine interactions. Mixing something as simple as an over-the-counter dietary supplement or generic painkiller along with your other medication can cause serious health problems.
Never stop taking medication for any reason. If you have a problem with the price of one of your medicines or if you’re experiencing unusual side effects, your doctor may be able to suggest an alternative. If you suddenly stop taking medication full-stop, withdrawal effects can lead to a heart attack or worse.
Daily Medication Log
Taking one pill three times a day is easy enough. But when medicines are added on, it can become very difficult to keep track of what pill you need to take and when. When your treatment expands to two or more medicines, it’s time to log them all.
Keep an organized list of all your medications, along with the dose, all intake instructions, side effects, and the purpose. This log will be a valuable resource for you every time you go in for a doctor’s appointment or in case of an emergency. Always keep this log on hand.
Maintain A Routine
When it comes to taking medicine, it is incredibly important for you to be consistent. Always take them at the same time of day, as prescribed. Don’t stop or change your routine without talking to your doctor about it.
One of the best ways to ensure this is to establish and maintain your routine. If you need to take medicine after every meal, try to structure your day around that schedule. You can even set an alarm or download an app that will help you keep track of your daily medication routine!
Conclusion
Managing your heart medication can be time-consuming at best and can cause serious health issues at worst. You need to make sure that you are taking your exact prescription day in and day out. Understanding what your medicines do and logging all the information will help tremendously in keeping up with them.
And if you have too many medicines to handle, there’s an app for that!
MedManage is a medication tracker app you can use to log all of your prescriptions, old and new. The built-in medication reminder service will help make sure you are always on schedule. You can even speak to a pharmacist directly through the online chat and video consult feature. Download the app and never have to worry about your medication schedule again!