I ask my psychologist and research each medication myself. Doctors have prescribed me meds that could compromise my heart - even possibly kill me. The Dr had not thoroughly read my chart.

I'm starting a chart with info like which organ processes it, what it shouldn't be taken with, etc.

I also ask the prescribing doctor. If they don't know enough about the drug, I will not take it until I talk to someone who knows what they are doing.

Meds interact with each other; I have to take pills 7 times a day due to interactions. My GI doctor helped me set it up since she prescribes the more troublesome drugs, and I tweaked it with my shrink and sleep Dr; the GI Dr still didn't get it right. It's astounding. One of the GI meds can capture another med and make it unavailable to the body. I'm the one that researched and caught that.

I appreciate their help, and use it, but they get it wrong a lot. I quickly realized that I can trust only myself, so I end up spending hours researching each drug.

It's depressing, but this is how modern US meds work, at least in my part of the country. In my state, doctors simply are not given time to do a good job, and they rarely look outside their box.

I say shame on them; their professional hubris has resulted in a system that is fragmented, confusing, and puts patients in very difficult (and often dangerous) positions. They know so little outside their little niche. Imagine what people would say if teachers only taught one subject in primary school. It would be a scandal. And yet we accept it from the I situations that have promised to care for humans and their suffering.

Promise broken.

This is why I think a liberal arts education should be part of becoming a doctor. Foctors should be able to see big pictures,ake deductions, and communicate. They need better ethics training (the number of errors in my file are diaheartening, and the MyChart system does NOT give a patient to enter their own responses. The system is built to protect medical staff, even if they lie, enter converations that never happened, etc.

I see a trend for the inability of many of my providers to make connections. If we patients have complicated issues, we are often dropped like hot potatoes. They simply don't know how to think it through, have lost knowledge or not kept up...or they dont care. Clock in, clock out. Damage done.

Some days it gets so depressing to do what I should not have to. I am not a doctor, but I can't trust them. Some can get pissed when you explain the problem. Those are people i tend to fire. Liars are not worthy of my life.

We are not doctors, but I am for sure getting to the point where I can often recognize potential problems before the doctor does (my expectation is that they may never notice - once the file is closed, it's off the desk.

I have not been able to find a care coordinator. Where I live, you are out of luck if you are not a Veteran or an addict. There is a big black hole where real doctoring should be commonplace. How many are dead from medical neglect? We are being given powerful drugs that can wreak havoc.

I'm long winded; read about your drugs, make notes, and talk to the pharmacist. I'd especially ask about your kidney load. That's a huge amount of Tylenol for long term use. It can damage your kidneys.

Good luck!