Talking to Your Doctor

It’s easy to feel hurried or rushed when visiting your healthcare provider. At a minimum, you should make sure you discuss:

• Your medical history
• Your family history
• Your symptoms
• Your lifestyle factors, such as diet, exercise, smoking, alcohol consumption, and stress
• Current medicines you take, including over-the- counter drugs
• Nutritional and herbal supplements you take
• Any side effects you have from your medicine(s), especially if it makes you feel sick or if you think you may be allergic to itAdditional items for discussion can be found on FamilyDoctor.org, a Web site sponsored by the American Academy of Family Physicians.

If your provider recommends that you start taking a new prescription drug, here are some questions to ask:

• How will the medicine help treat my illness?
• What are the benefits versus the risks of taking it?
• What steps can I take to make sure it works best for me?
• When should I follow up with you to discuss how it makes me feel and if it works for me?
• Are there options besides taking a medicine (e.g. diet or exercise) that would work for me?

More specific questions you might ask include:

• What is the medicine's name, and what is it supposed to do?
• How and when do I take it, and for how long?
• While taking this medicine, should I avoid:
• certain foods or dietary supplements?
• caffeine, alcohol, or other beverages?
• other medicines, prescription and over the counter?
• certain activities, such as driving or smoking?
• Will this new medicine work safely with the other medicines I'm already taking?
• Are there side effects, and what do I do if they occur?
• Will the medicine affect my sleep or activity level?
• What should I do if I miss a dose?
• Is there written information available about the medicine? (At the very least, ask the doctor or pharmacist to write out complicated directions and medicine names.)