Medications

Heart medications are extremely important. In many cases they are life prolonging. They also can prevent major disability such as stroke and heart attack and can control troublesome symptoms.

Unfortunately many patients are accidentally taking their medications incorrectly, often either the wrong medication or the wrong dose.

For this reason I encourage all patients to make a list of their medications and keep it up to date and bring the list to all appointments with all doctors. In addition to the name of the medication, the list should include all of the dosing details i.e. the strength of a tablet (the number of milligrams), the number of tablets taken and the time of day the tablets are taken.

Heart medications usually have their doses adjusted, especially in the first few weeks and months. I encourage patients to keep their medication list up-to-date and bring it to every appointment. To have an even higher level of certainty that patients are taking their medications correctly I also encourage them to bring the medications themselves to every appointment.

If you find managing your medication difficult or confusing you may wish to consider the option of having your pharmacist supply your medication in a blister pack which also has a current list of the medication attached.