I know I’ve talked about knowing your medical history before in the Health Blog. Think of it this way — your doctor sees a lot of patients every day/week/month/year. You can’t expect them to remember everything about every person! Doctors and other health care professionals are human. They have good days and bad days and they make mistakes.
Knowing your history (including allergies, medications you take, and other stuff like that) can help prevent a mistake from being something serious.
Case in point: I got bit by a cat over the weekend at the cats-only boarding facility. Unlike every other bite or scratch I’ve had, this one just wasn’t healing right. After three days, it was swollen, red, and tender to the touch. So I decided it was time to see the doctor. (The folks at work agreed with me, and my visit is covered by worker’s comp.)
During my check-in, the nurse asked me if I was allergic to any medications. I told her that I was allergic to penicillin and anything in that family. She asked what kind of reaction I have — I get hives. Big itchy red hives. Not a lot of fun.
When the doctor came in, she checked the wound, wrote a prescription, and sent me on my way. She even called it in to the pharmacy, so it was ready when I arrived. Much appreciated!
The pharmacist asked me if I was allergic to any medications — this was my first time using this particular pharmacy. I said (again) that I was allergic to penicillin and anything in that family.
Guess what they gave me? Penicillin.
It’s a good thing I stopped in the parking lot to look over the info that came with my medication. When I saw the first line — “this is a form of penicillin. Do not take this medication if you are allergic to penicillin” — I went right back in and asked them for something else.
If I hadn’t stopped to read the instructions? I might have ended up even worse off — and headed to emergency room to deal with a sudden attack of hives.
My point is this: please know your medical history. Please know your allergies. Please read the information that comes with your medications — including the stuff about drug interactions. Just that little bit of effort on your part can prevent a lot of simple mistakes.