Medications are the keystone of an arthritis treatment plan: Without the reduction in pain, swelling and stiffness they afford, you may not be able to get the exercise you should, or even pull off a good night’s sleep. Without their ability to slow disease progression, you may risk life-altering joint destruction and disability. But when you’re prescribed a drug, are you always getting the medication information you need?
As important as medications are, a recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine hints that patients are not always well informed about their medications. For the study, researchers recorded 243 doctor-patient interactions when doctors first handed patients prescriptions for a medication they had not taken previously. Overall, only 62 percent of the necessary information – defined as name of the medication, the reason for taking it, how long it should be taken, possible adverse effects, the number of tablets to take and how often to take them – was shared.
Since 1995, Arthritis Today has been publishing the Drug Guide to provide an up-to-date resource about the myriad medications doctors recommend for treating “arthritis” the disease and “arthritis” the symptom. Why? So you can know as much as possible about an essential part of your treatment plan.
What is your idea on trying to fix my problem. I work at a hospital on a rehab floor with a lot of heavy work. I love my job and hate to get something else of which maybe my only choice if I want to try and live out a more happy life.