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

Good evening. I think I have found an important group tonight. I am currently trying to come back from a pretty scary event based on a severe reaction to way too many medications. Recently, I required cortisone attention at our local orthopedic center for an attack of bursitis on my right hip. At about the same time, I began a new program for help with osteoporosis, which seemed to be taking advantage of my 82nd birthday. All of a sudden I started feeling numbness in both my hands and arms.

In addition, I have an increasing reliance on the medication(s) that help with the pain and discomfort of 10 years of SFN (small fiber neuropathy). There are also bottles of ibuprofen stacked up in the corner of my medicine case. Then there are Dupixent injections every two weeks and some daily meds that I have been taking for years.

It seems like it all came crashing down on me a few weeks ago when my body put up a bit of a fight that was frightening.

I noticed that different medical professionals are listed above as responsible for medical care and pain management.
How are PCPs (Primary Care Professionals) chosen? What are their responsibilities? How does a patient evaluate the impact of adding another medication to their current list without medical assistance?

Letting me know your experience would be very helpful.
Chris

Actually a pharmacist would be a good one to talk to

Easiest line of defense is your pharmacist - the head pharmacist when you pick up the medication. They have a drug interaction list available on their computers. If you get meds by mail, call the provider, pharmacy. Second, your primary care doctor is responsible for looking at all of that. There should be a medication list available to them online and to you online. Register for a portal if you don’t have one or have someone do it for you. Also, I would be concerned about, taking 3000 units of acetaminophen for any length of time it could build up in your liver. 3000 units is the maximum but for every day pain control that is quite a lot. You should begin talking to your pain management or doctor about that. You should also have your liver enzymes tested periodically if you’re taking that much acetaminophen every day.

I have constant pain from degenerative disc condition that started 25 years ago. I have a very low tolerance for medication‘s. My body definitely tells me to be careful with the NSA IDs. The military ibuprofen’d me straight into the hospital. I had an allergic reaction because they kept giving me more and more to control the pain. I suffered Vioxx toxicity at a low-dose before it was pulled off the market for causing heart disease. For me the low-dose Percocet starting with just quarters of pills moving to half pills over 25 years has controlled my pain very well. I have no addiction problem. With the myriad of medication’s that I take for bones, heart, eyes allergies at all, I constantly stay aware of the interactions. Not to mention that I am lactose, intolerant and gluten, intolerant and many of the medication‘s have lactose or gluten in them. I get stomach aches when the wrong medicine is prescribed.

I cleaned out my diet and I was still having tummy aches, I had to look at the medication’s. I get free medication from the VA and I called them to verify that they were looking at my drug profile. They insisted they were. later that day. I got a call from the head pharmacist of the VA and he said that they had been sending me ( for two years!) medication’s with lactose and gluten because they can only send what’s contracted. the government contracts for the cheapest medication which contain gluten and lactose. Suffice to say that pharmacies don’t always look at your drug profiles so it falls back on you to know the interactions and to ask the questions , I also get my drugs at CVS. They are much better about looking at my profile, but they have not been perfect either! They first fell what is contracted by the insurance company and then I have to ask them the question and half the time they haven’t paid attention because they just want to fill the medication and move on; so you have to check yourself question everything! Finally let me add that you can always call the pharmaceutical companies and they will tell you directly. Good luck.