In Times of Change

Shawna Kraft, Pharm.D.

A guide to understanding adjustments to your prescription medications

Many times throughout treatment, a patient's medications may need to be adjusted or changed. It can happen for a variety of reasons, such as unpleasant or intolerable side effects, how your body is responding to the medication or interactions with other medications you take.

A pharmacist is often involved in assisting with your medication changes.

First the pharmacist will assess all of the medications and supplements a patient is taking. Below is a guide to help you understand some of the issues that cause patient' prescriptions to change and the intended outcome.

Cause (of medication changes)	Effect (possible outcomes)
Medication is causing side effects	Change dose to decrease side effects Change how patient is taking medication (timing or formulation) Suggest a medication to treat the side effect Suggest another similar medication that may cause fewer side effects
Medication may interact with another medication	Suggest a similar medication that doesn’t interact Adjust dose of one medication to make up for the interaction
Medication is not covered by insurance	Appeal to insurance company if original medication is best choice for patient
Genetic testing of disease requires a change	Assist in choosing best medication based on that patient’s genetic sequencing
Patient has many illnesses so some medications may cause more harm than good	Assist in choosing best medication that won't interact with patient’s other diseases