8 questions to ask your doctor before organising your medication

Do you have questions about your new treatment? Before organising your medication, strengthen your treatment adherence with these simple questions.

Have you ever worried about the side effects your new treatment might cause?

Setting up a routine and managing new medication can raise doubts and uncertainty for people. Feeling this way is completely normal. However, we must remember that it is something that will improve our health and quality of life.

It is important to find out about the process and how it will affect our body. In this blog we suggest some tips that will help you understand this situation better.

What should we do when we are given a new treatment? 

The first thing to bear in mind when we are given a new treatment is to understand what worries us most. Do you feel it will affect your routine? Do you think the format is not the most suitable?

Raising these doubts with the healthcare professional will help us take back control of our well-being and understand what processes our body is going through.

We suggest a list of 8 questions that you may find useful.

Essential questions before organising your medication.

1. What is the medication for? 

After an illness is diagnosed, our doctor will prescribe a series of medicines. We know their purpose, to treat the condition as effectively as possible, but we do not know how they will do it.

Make sure you understand these points before leaving the consultation:  

• How long will the treatment last? 
• What will the recovery process be like? 
• How will this medicine work? 

2. Are these new pills compatible with my daily doses?

Our doctor must know beforehand what medication we are taking. This includes food supplements or herbal products, as well as the times and days you take them.

We recommend making a complete list, both of what you have been prescribed and of the pills and other formats you take on your own initiative (for example, ibuprofen if you use it regularly, or creams for muscle pain). This way your doctor can avoid harmful drug interactions.

3. What side effects can I expect?

Medicines can cause different reactions depending on sex, age or our medical history, for example. Whatever the adverse reaction, we should know about it in advance so as not to confuse it with other symptoms of illness.

On the other hand, knowing what to expect from the treatment will help us tell whether our body can cope with the daily doses, or whether the agreed plan needs to be changed.

4. How much does the medication cost? Will the Spanish Social Security system (Seguridad Social) cover it?

Pharmaceutical poverty is an increasingly common issue in Spanish households. If you are unsure about the costs the new treatment may involve, we recommend explaining your situation and asking about more affordable alternatives.

5. How often should the medicine be taken?

It is important to adapt your schedule to the needs of the treatment. Make a note of these points when you receive the prescription:

• How many hours apart should it be taken?
• On an empty stomach, or after eating?
• How many times a day should it be taken?
• For how many days/weeks?

6. Where should the medication be stored?

The place where you store your medication can cause it to deteriorate or become less effective. Heat, light and humidity can affect how well medication works.

Some medicines must be kept at room temperature, while others need lower temperatures, so it is recommended to keep them in the fridge.

7. What happens if I miss a dose?

At IMA we fight against oversights and strengthen treatment adherence to avoid these mistakes. However, when we do not use medication organisation systems such as SPDs (personalised dosage systems) it is easy to get confused.

Sometimes missing a dose is harmless, while at other times it can have serious consequences. That is why it is important to know in advance what to do if this happens.

8. Are there non-drug alternatives?

Medicines are not the only tool for strengthening our health. An alternative may be exercise and changes to diet, or seeing a physiotherapist.

One example would be including foods whose components help the digestive tract, or that are rich in calcium.

This decision must always be supported by the judgement of a healthcare professional, and it must not interfere with other medicines we are taking.

Access your treatment quickly and easily. 

IMA can also help ease the burden of organising new medication through its plans. Discover the SPD service, where a pharmacist will organise your medication and you will receive it ready prepared at your door.