May be best to check any drug interactions with your pharmacist

[Jax72]

I had a problem a few years ago where I was prescribed something that interferred with my birth control pill, but was never told of the interaction, and it was lucky I didn't get pregnant at the time. Since then I'm always very careful to check on any interactions when I'm prescribed a new drug.

Last week I saw my Uro and he wanted to prescribe Tagamet (Cimetidine) for my bladder pain and GI problems. As usual I asked if it would be OK to take with the meds I was currently on. He assured me that it was. When I got home I looked it up online (I like to be extra careful) - and it showed up an interaction with the citalopram (Celexa) that I'm on. So I rang my psych doc (who had initially prescribed the citalpram) to check with him. He wanted to know where I'd got the idea there was an interaction (I explained), so he looked it up and said it would probably be OK, it wasn't anything life threatening.

Finally I went to the pharmicist to get the prescription. I told him what I was on (I'd moved recently, so this was a new pharmacist for me) and asked if there was any interaction. He looked it up, said there definitely was, and rang my uro to sort out a different med for me to be on that wouldn't interact with the citalopram (I was put on Zantac instead).

So basically, the best person to check any drug interactions with is your pharmacist. They have more knowledge and access to information about interactions than any specialist. It doesn't hurt to get them to check that any new meds you're prescribed go OK with the ones you are currently taking.

[ICNDonna]

Since many physicians have gone to computerized record keeping, my doctor always checks for interactions before prescribing a new medication for me. And I also always check every new med on the internet.

Donna

[dg2901]

I always suggest to people to check with their pharmacist with any questions regarding their meds. This is the pharmacists job. I trust my dr fully with my life however I can't expect him to know the ins and outs of every med he might rx. I've been rxd meds that were found to interact; it's a simple phone call from my pharmacist to my dr to get me a different med that's safe.

[Julie B]

Thank goodness you did all of that checking! We definitely have to be our own best advocate.