Medication reconciliation: Who do I talk with to review all my meds?

Thank you for your comment. I didn’t know baclofen caused liver problems, I’ve been taking 2 a day since before my lumbar fusion in 2021. Guess I need to read the warnings more carefully!

Try talking to a pharmacist where you get your refills. Or try your primary care physician.

Try talking to a pharmacist where you get your refills. If that doesn't work, try your primary care physician.

Try talking to a pharmacist where you get your scripts filled/refilled. If that doesn't work, do you have a primary care physician?

Try talking to a pharmacist where you get your meds filled/refilled/. If this doesn't work, do you have a primary care physician?

At Kaiser there is a Medication Management Group that will do this. If you belong to a group medical care like Kaiser, see if they have something like this.

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!

I could not agree with you more, and thank you for your post.

I too research my medications, or I ask my pharmacist because I know she knows more about my prescriptions than any doctor who is treating me.

Yes, we often get conflicting and confusing information from our doctors, and this adds to the overall frustration of trying to remain well and active. Many of us have had to become internet sleuths in an effort to find out more about the treatment we are and are not getting in an effort to live as healthy as we can.

I recently asked my PCP what happened to my "nurse case manager" and was advised that Sutter had gotten rid of all the case managers. It would have been nice to know this without having to ask, but instead waiting around wondering when mine would return my calls.
Medicine has changed so much, especially since COVID. The return to what used to be called "slow medicine" where the focus is more on the overall health of the patient, will never return according to my OB/GYN. All of us have to be more advocates for ourselves, and this can be tasked when one has a chronic illness.

In the not too distant past I filed a grievance against my gastroenterologist, something I would have never consider doing so had he not abruptly stood up and escorted me out of the exam room while I was in mid-sentence. I have been his patient for over 20 years, but had finally reached a breaking point due to his lack of compassion and respect for me as I deal with a devastating condition that has resulted in a 25 percent weight loss while he took a "wait and see" approach to my condition. Sometimes I feel more up to date than most of my physicians, especially when it comes to my diagnosis, because I have made it a point to read every scholarly article I can find about my condition.

Trying to get a referral to a specialist for my condition was especially frustrating, but because of my perseverance I was able to locate one who agreed to see me, despite the fact that my PCP told me she would not see me because I at this point, do not need a liver transplant. And to add insult to injury, I just recently found out that in order to have trigger point injections to my cervical spine, something my rheumatologist performed in her office before she retired, now requires a CT Scan and a visit to the outpatient surgery center. Forget that. If I had the right tools and medication, I could probably give them to myself.

Doctors are so afraid of lawsuits that they have in many ways behaved as though they are on auto pilot, speaking to patients without compassion or empathy. Not only should a Liberal Arts degree be required, but also specific training on effective communication.

I had a big long response and the site glitches.

The short and dirty: doctors do not get my sympathy. They made this mess and choose to sit in their hidey holes and let us suffer and die. I've seen it with my own heart when my mom and little brother died less than a year apart. Bad lazy doctoring, especially for my little brother.

I want the system to burn and see what Gen Z can do with it. The boomers ruined it, Gen X is too small to influence anything, and the ones in between are confusing. I think it's Gen Z that will make or break humanity.

Not sure I'll be around to see it. I could die tomorrow and be fine with it. Hubby may not feel so apathetic.

I think I'm just one big walking emotional scar.

I can understand how you feel you want a more fully INTEGRATED approach and all your medical team is communicated with on a regular basis. Plus, not all physicians are on same network where they can pull up your record if they r not affiliated with that hospital.
Mayo Clinic where I went has a team approach. After every test, the results were within their system fast👍🏻. My coordinating physician met with me after / if I saw multiple medical specialists and reviewed all reports like putting all puzzle pieces together. In my place of residence, I ask every soecialist to send copies of all tests, radiology reports, etc to my INTERNIST. On line on a medical practices site, I also
get updates / test results. I make a hard copy or save copy. Recently, I saw a new specialist ( Pulmonary). My internist sent my records and I brought copies of earlier years ( 2017) chest CT SCANs and written report to my appt . It’s extremely valuable to see any changes etc from 2017 to 2023. Yes, when possible , we can be our best health advocate by having our medical history of documents/ previous insightful reports ( and mine were earlier when I lived in a different state) so our medical specialist can note trends, any changes, and facilitates that MAYO CLINUC fully integrated approach as if all are under “ one roof” and computers can “ network and talk” to each other. I believe the Cleveland Clinic has this same benefit. Meantime, I’m the keeper of pertinent copies of my medical history over the years and my current Internist
Is LISTED in my patient information history I fill out to copy/ share / communicate these tests, radiology, consult reports with various specialists DIRECTLY to my internist. Hope you will have all your medications and up dated med history with your internist . Then, perhaps a review, assessment and recommendations of your needs and current meds can be reviewed in a big picture more fully integrated approach for you. It’s been extremely helpful in my ongoing appts with my internist and all specialists .
If you feel comfortable asking, if necessary, a close friend or relative might be of some assistance to you in updating and sharing ALL pertinent reports and meds info from and ALL reading or have on file your up to date full picture. Hope this helps.

I never leave a doctor's office or hospital (when I go for scan or MRI) without a copy of the summary or a disk of the test. I save everything at home. Then when I see a new doctor it doesn't take 6 month and a fee to get a copy from the previous doctor. 9x out of 10 you will need it later.