Primary Care

When your provider writes a prescription for you, many factors are taken into consideration. It is important that you follow all instructions given about how and when to take the medication. The time of day to take the pill may be critical to its effectiveness, as well as, if to take it with water or to avoid certain foods. If you are on medication for high blood sugar or diabetes, make sure you take it everyday and do not miss doses. It is important to tell your provider about all the medications you take including vitamins, herbs, or folk remedies. Occasionally foods, herbs, or other medications when taken with a new medication can cause life-threatening changes. Pharmacists are great resources to ask questions about what to take with medication and how best to take it.

It is important not to share your medication with other family members or friends. It is always tempting to give a loved one something that has helped you. Unfortunately, individuals react differently to medications, and a pill that works great for you, may react drastically different to someone else. Often, your provider will start you out on the lowest dose of a medication and ask you to return in a certain period of time to increase or decrease or change the medication specifically to how it reacts to you. So a dosage that is right for you, may not be right for another. Many medications are given to children calculated to their weight. Please do not share medications with another child without first checking with your provider.

Antibiotics will not work for viral infections. Colds and flu's are most often caused by viral infections. There are a few medications specifically made for viral infections and they most often just have to run their course. Fluids and comfort measures treat these better than antibiotics. If your provider sends you away from the office without an antibiotic, they are not denying anything. They are saving you money and preventing side effects from a medication that will not cure a viral disease.