Discharge Instructions: Taking Medicine Safely

Medicine is given to help treat or prevent illness. But if you don’t take it correctly, it might not help. It might even harm you. Your healthcare provider or pharmacist can help you learn the right way to take your medicine. Listed below are some tips to help you take medicine safely.

Safety tips

• Have a routine for taking each medicine. Make it part of something you do each day, such as brushing your teeth or eating a meal.

• When you go to the hospital or your healthcare provider’s office, bring all your current medicines in their original boxes or bottles. If you can’t do that, bring an up-to-date list of your medicines.

• Don't stop taking a prescription medicine unless your healthcare provider tells you to. Doing so could make your condition worse.

• Don't share medicines.

• Let your healthcare provider and pharmacist know of any allergies you have.

• Taking prescription medicines with alcohol, street drugs, herbs, supplements, or even some over-the-counter medicines can be harmful. Talk to your healthcare provider or pharmacist before using any of these things while taking a prescription medicine.

• When filling your prescriptions, try using the same pharmacy for all your medicines. If that isn't possible, let each pharmacist know what medicines you are already taking.

• Keep medicines out of the reach of children and pets. Store medicines in a cool, dry, dark place — not in the bathroom or in the kitchen near moisture or heat.

• Don't use medicine that has expired or that doesn’t look or smell right. Call your pharmacist for instructions on how to dispose of your medicines or where you can take them for safe disposal.

• Medicine that comes in a container for a single dose should be used only 1 time. If you use the container a second time, it may have germs in it that can cause illness. These illnesses include hepatitis B and C. They also include infections of the brain or spinal cord (meningitis and epidural abscess).