Medication Review

[michaelegan]

Because of the range of medicants you are prescribed I feel you need the guidance of a Pharmacist to advise on interactions and adverse reactions. I hope that a solution is quickly found to ease your pain. I know the devastation that pain causes sometimes I have wished my time away.

[PMRpro Ambassador]

I'm sure you are right, However - this is totally out of context. Which thread did you mean to reply to?

[Blearyeyed]

Are you suggesting that as a forum , whom need to discuss the use of different drugs for the illnesses we have , that their should be a forum pharmacist to answer these questions and give this advice?

I suppose if a pharmacist ( active or retired ) was willing to volunteer to add this professional information into a discussion nobody would complain, actually they'd value the help.

In the same way , if there were active or retired Doctors or Physios active on the forum whom were willing to give advice stating they were professionals that would be appreciated too.

But most Professionals are not happy to do this sort of activity on Health websites because they aren't seeing the Patient and don't want to give a public opinion that could be wrong.

In fact , the forum is sometimes used by Professionals to get a better understanding of ways to help their patients with Health Issues that they don't commonly treat or to explore areas of Patient experience that might need Medical Research.

Questions on drugs on the forum , although often discussing making dose changes , are not just about that , but are usually important in getting peace of mind about having common side effects , or if a patient is having similar experiences to others.

Discussions on different drugs that people find effective , if a post talks about getting no relief or having intolerance to a drug , isn't ever advocating that a person should stop their medication or to definitely be on something new . It is just passing on information about other drugs that are available that a forum member can go and discuss with their GP.

Any drug information we give is based on guidelines , pharmacy links and the standard dose choices that are being used by the Patients, and Experienced Moderators, based on the Safety Precautions of the drug and recommended Tapering Methods with proven use and success by lots of patients around the World.

And either a member themselves , or a quick moderators reply, does give a warning that people shouldn't try anything without considering all of their Health Issues or Medications first , or seeing a GP for their approval.

The PMR/ GCA UK has a good reputation for safeguarding what information is discussed . There is far less recommendation of different " cures", without some thorough research by the Ambassador's or Moderators , than on most Health forums I have encountered, and , things that could be considered as potentially harmful or dangerous by experienced forum members have warnings added to them in the replies , or they are removed entirely if they are unsafe.

I use a number of forums and so I can see that this forum, in particular, is the best in terms of giving responsible and informative advice .

[Hidden]

Making ful use of the pharmacist skills is often discussed, particularly when a new drug gets added. I sit with mine at least once a year and have yearly med review by gp. But was there a reason you posted. Was the question related to anyone specific?

[Blearyeyed in reply to Hidden]

That's true , we make Pharmacists work very hard in areas with Forum members living in them by constantly advising people to check their drugs with the Chemist , or check that the doses or drug combinations they have been by a Doctor are safe to use together if they could interact , or can be used at the same time as natural supplements.