{"id":144915,"date":"2026-01-06T07:50:49","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T12:50:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/?p=144915"},"modified":"2026-01-06T16:52:46","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T21:52:46","slug":"family-living-focus-avoid-drug-interactions-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/family-living-focus-avoid-drug-interactions-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Family Living Focus: Avoid Drug Interactions – Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gail Gilman, Family Life Consultant, M.Ed., C.F.C.S. and Professor<\/em>
\nEmeritus, University of Minnesota<\/em><\/p>\n

Many older adults take medications prescribed by more than one physician and
\nsome take medications that were prescribed more than six months ago.\u00a0 This
\nis one reason why caregivers need to be aware of the potential for drug
\ninteractions.\u00a0 There may be times when multiple medications are needed to
\nmanage symptoms or provide relief in some form.\u00a0 Interactions occur when
\nmedications do not work in tandem with one another and instead one of the
\ndrugs or both of them together adversely affect your loved one’s health.<\/p>\n

Prescription and over the counter (OTC) medications should both be
\nconsidered when looking at drug interactions.\u00a0 Herbal remedies and food
\ninteractions can be a source of concern as well. Drug reactions are just as
\ncritical as interactions since they can cause problems for the patient as
\nwell.<\/p>\n

Multiple Medication Interactions:<\/p>\n

Drug interactions are often a concern for people since as they age, they
\ntend to take even more medications.\u00a0 What most people do not realize is that
\ncommon OTC medications can cause serious drug interactions as well.\u00a0 For
\nthis reason alone, it is critical to take a complete list of medications to
\nboth your doctor and your pharmacist.<\/p>\n

Some patients may think it is “overkill” to provide the list to both the
\ndoctor and the pharmacist.\u00a0 Many think that since the doctor prescribes
\nmedication, he\/she should know the interactions to look for but this is not
\nalways the case.<\/p>\n

Pharmacists train in medication and specialize in learning about
\ninteractions.\u00a0 It is best to check with both of them just to be sure that
\nnothing can adversely affect your loved one’s health. Experts use this
\nexplanation as a basis for suggesting that individuals use the same pharmacy
\neach time they have a prescription filled.\u00a0 The pharmacy keeps records and
\nflags the account for possible drug interactions.\u00a0 Bring a record of any OTC
\nmedications that your loved one takes as well so that your pharmacist can
\nhave a complete record of medications given at home.<\/p>\n

Almost all pharmacies provide printed resources with each prescription.
\nRead these resources carefully and pay close attention to the side effects
\nand possible drug interactions.\u00a0 If you need to ask a question about the
\nmedication, it helps to take the resource to the doctor with you.\u00a0 You can
\nalso call the pharmacist with your question to be sure that the medicine
\nyour loved one was prescribed is one that can be safely taken without
\ncausing problems with other medications.<\/p>\n

Some of the interactions that may occur include:<\/p>\n

1. One medication can increase or decrease the effectiveness of another.<\/p>\n

2. Taking two medications can produce one interaction that can be dangerous
\nfor the patient.<\/p>\n

3. Taking two medications that are similar can produce one reaction that is
\ngreater than one would normally expect.<\/p>\n

Depending on the condition being treated, your physician may suggest not
\ntaking particular OTC medications.\u00a0 Make sure that the physician treating
\nyou is aware of all health conditions which may affect the medications you
\nneed to take.<\/p>\n

Herbal Remedies:<\/p>\n

While there are some individuals who have found tremendous health benefits
\nfrom taking herbal remedies, caregivers should still be concerned when
\nconsidering their use.\u00a0 Just because an herbal remedy touts that it is
\nall-natural does not mean that it is safe.\u00a0 Some of these herbal products
\ncan cause dangerous interactions with medications that you may be taking.<\/p>\n

Also, do not take an herbal remedy for the same condition for which
\nmedication has already been prescribed unless approved by the doctor.\u00a0 Write
\ndown any herbal remedies along with other medications that you are taking to
\nbe certain that the doctor has an accurate picture of everything that is
\ntaken at home.<\/p>\n

If you feel it necessary to take an herbal remedy, consult your loved one’s
\nphysician first. Exercise caution when reading labels.\u00a0 Some remedies have
\nbeen found to contain so little of an herb that it is nothing more than a
\nplacebo.<\/p>\n

Watch for more Family Living Focus information from Gail Gilman, Family Life
\nConsultant, M.Ed., C.F.C.S. and Professor Emeritus – University of Minnesota
\nin next week’s paper.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gail Gilman, Family Life Consultant, M.Ed., C.F.C.S. and Professor Emeritus, University of Minnesota Many older adults take medications prescribed by more than one physician and some take medications that were prescribed more than six months ago.\u00a0 This is one reason why caregivers need to be aware of the potential for drug interactions.\u00a0 There may be …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":142950,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[191],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-144915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsletters"],"aioseo_notices":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":true,"date":"2026-07-01 16:50:50","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[0],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144915"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144915\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":144916,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144915\/revisions\/144916"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sleepyeyeonline.com\/goodnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}