Lora Felger
Polypharmacy is today’s word of the day. My Greek is good enough to know that “poly” means many. Pharmacy, well, that means drugs, right? A quick Google search tells me that polypharmacy means “the simultaneous use of multiple drugs by a single patient, for one or more conditions” and/or “the simultaneous use of multiple drugs to treat a single ailment or condition.”
Sound like you or someone you know, maybe? Did you know that drugs can react differently in our bodies as we age? Did you know that some drugs are even “black box” warned as OK for younger patients but not recommended for older people? Did you know that drugs can even react differently in your body because of your genes – not the Levi’s kind, but those DNA markers you’ve inherited from your family? Isn’t that interesting? Even the drugs we take need to be an individual decision-making process.
My mother always said that she wouldn’t take or start any kind of new drug or even over-the-counter supplement without running it by Jack first. Jack was half of Jack and Madeline, my parents’ best friends – Irish Catholic, father of eight, loved a good dry martini, active in the downtown business community and for the purpose of this article, a pharmacist.
Jack was a pharmacist extraordinaire, really, as he is solely responsible for supplying the greater Illinois Quad Cities with the vast majority of its pharmacists today. Either because he raised them (of his eight kids, I think at least four, maybe five are pharmacists) or via his mentoring influence over generations of teenagers who started working after school at his Main Street-based, independently owned pharmacy. As Mom would say, “Jack knew his chemistry.”
Do you have someone in your universe who “really knows their chemistry?” In today’s world where we see doctors for so many different things, are we keeping track of how our drugs are reacting within our bodies? Are you updating your primary care physician with everything you take to stay fit and active? Here are some tips:
- Keep your drugs list up to date. Carry a copy either electronically on your phone or a piece of paper in your wallet. Include those vitamins and herbal supplements you take as well.
- If you use the MyChart app, keep the medications tab updated. Delete what you no longer take. If you are a FirstCarolinaCare member, stop right now and add your Hally member account to your MyChart app. How slick is that? Everything’s all in one place now.
- Ask questions when beginning something new. Ask the doctor, ask the nurse, ask the pharmacist. Make sure you are aware of things to look for as warning signs of a potential reaction. Ask your pharmacist before adding any new vitamin or supplement.
- Google and get a copy of the latest BEERS List (published by the American Geriatric Society) of drugs not recommended for older people.
- Ask your insurance carrier for a care manager to help review your drug list. What? Your insurance company? Yes, your insurance carrier has a staff full of friendly pharmacists available to help you keep track of your medications and offer advice on what might be happening in your body while taking them. This is of particular value to those of us over the age of 50. Drugs can start to react differently in our bodies as we age. What the drug was doing when we were in our 30s might not be what the drug is doing now that we’ve gotten older.
Medications and over-the-counter things like herbals and vitamins can help us achieve “better living through chemistry. In order to get there, however, we must take an active role in making sure we understand what we are putting in our bodies and how they will get along with each other once they get there.
Lora Felger is a Community Outreach/Medicare Advisor with FirstCarolinaCare. She is the mother of two terrific boys, a world traveler and a major Iowa State Cyclones fan. She also has a naughty yet lovable Yellow Labrador Retriever named Harvey.
Like this article? Feel free to respond to FCCOutreach@FirstCarolinaCare.com Thanks for reading!