Preventing Adverse Drug Reactions

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Both aspirin and prescription blood thinners are used to prevent heart attacks, however, using them together may cause excessive bleeding.
Certain antacids can prevent antibiotics, blood-thinners and heart medications from being absorbed into the bloodstream. When this happens, the medication may be less effective or not work at all.
Decongestants can cause dangerous increases in blood pressure when taken with anti-hypertension drugs or MAO inhibitors.
Ginko biloba inhibits blood clotting. Like aspirin it should not be taken with blood-thinner prescriptions.
Ferrous sulfate (an iron supplement) can negate the effects of the antibiotic tetracycline.

Drug-food interactions

We don’t usually think of food interacting with drugs, however, certain foods and beverages can interact with medications, making them less effective or causing side effects. Two of the most common foods that sometimes cause problems are dairy products and grapefruit juice.

Dairy products (milk, cheese, ice cream, etc.) can lessen the effectiveness of antibiotics, particularly tetracycline. Mixing dairy products with a prescription antibiotic may cause a much slower absorption rate, decreasing the effect of the antibiotic.
Grapefruit juice blocks the enzymes that metabolize certain drugs. This causes more of the drug to be absorbed, dangerously increasing the blood levels of the medication. The drugs with which grapefruit juice should be avoided include certain blood pressure lowering medications, the antihistamine terfenadine, and cyclosporine (taken to prevent organ transplant rejection).

Preventing Drug Interactions

There are a few things you can do to help prevent the chances of having an adverse drug reaction:

Give your doctor a list of everything you are taking and discuss it with him, asking specifically about possible drug interactions. In addition to any prescription medications, be sure you include OTC medications, vitamins, herbal supplements, and medicinal creams or ointments.
Make sure your pharmacist gives you a consumer information sheet with every prescription and read it carefully. Even if you read it when you first started taking a medication, reread it periodically to see if the FDA has added any new warnings. Also reread it whenever you add another new medication to double check for possible interactions.
Read the entire label on OTC medications, paying particular attention to the “Warnings” section.
If possible, use one pharmacy for all of your prescriptions. Make sure the pharmacist has a current list of everything you take, including OTCs, vitamins and herbal products you take regularly or even occasionally. Before taking any new medication or supplement, ask your pharmacist about possible interactions.
Utilize one of the online Web sites, like IQHealth, that allows you to enter the medications you take and check for possible interactions. Using IQHealth’s drug interaction feature, you can enter all of the medications you are currently taking and/or considering taking and get reports of interactions (both drug and food), duplications and allergic reactions.