Many of you mentioned the role of the pharmacist as part of your care team and had specific questions. Well, I showed this thread to a Mayo Clinic pharmacist and she was glad to have the opportunity to weigh in. Here what she offered:

"Having a list of current medications, conditions and significant medical history and keeping that list updated and with you especially at medical appointments is such a helpful habit. You never know when it could literally save your life. Many smart phones also offer a medical alert app or function where this information can be stored and even accessed by paramedics in case of emergency. There are pros and cons to storing a list electronically vs. on paper. Ultimately it is a personal preference. MyMedSchedule (http://www.mymedschedule.com/) is one example of an app that allows you to enter and modify medications.

Important tips
1. When making your medication list make sure you know why you’re taking each medication. For example, if you’re taking a stool softener to prevent constipation with opioids and are no longer taking opioids, you can probably stop the stool softener. Sometimes this can be apparent to the healthcare providers, but missed by patients who don’t understand what their medications are for.

2. It’s important to clarify with your provider when new medications are started if they will be replacing older medications or taken in addition. Some patients require multiple medications to manage the same condition and that’s okay. Sometimes medications are started with the intent to reduce or eliminate existing medications but for a variety of reasons this doesn’t happen.

3. Filling all of your medications at one pharmacy can help reduce risks. A pharmacist may notice duplications, omissions or interactions that care providers aren’t aware of. This can happen when there are multiple providers involved in your care or when medication changes are limited in acute care situations.

Pharmacists know when to look more closely at a medication regimen to ensure optimal therapy. Pharmacists can help weigh the importance of drug interactions against the benefit of the medication in collaboration with other patient care providers.

In many cases there is quite a bit of room for variation which is why many dosage forms are in set strengths like 20 mg, 40 mg. That being said we are entering the age of individualized medicine where precision medicine, especially for cancer, transplant and other specialties, is becoming more and more accessible. In the age of cellular medicine and CAR-T it doesn’t seem too far of a stretch that we will someday have much less trial and error and more personalized preventative medicine that optimally treat or cure diseases even before we experience symptoms.

Patients with very complicated medication regimens may qualify for medication therapy management which is a service offered by Pharmacists at Mayo Clinic. You can hear more about this service by listening to a podcast here https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/medication-management/