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1. Review the prescription with your doctor. Make sure you understand exactly what the medication is, how often you need to take the drug and why you will be taking it.

2. Keep a list of all medications and supplements you take, both prescription and over-the-counter, listing:

• the name of the drug as it is prescribed
• the brand name if you are receiving a generic (you can look this up easily at any search engine by typing in the generic name followed by "brand name")
• the dosage of each medication
• how often you take a dose and how many pills, etc., if you take more than one
• the manufacturer

For example:

• Citalopram / Celexa - 10 mg - 1 1/2 pills in the morning - Dr. Reddy's
• Cymbalta - 30 mg - 2 pills in the morning - Lilly
• Vytorin - 10/40 mg - 1 pill at bedtime - Merck
• Advil - 200 mg - as needed for pain - OTC (over-the-counter)
• Calcium carbonate with Vitamin D - 500 mg - 1 pill with breakfast

Make sure all of your doctors receive a new copy of this list at the first visit after any change. Show the list to your pharmacist as well.

3. If possible, use the same pharmacy for all prescriptions. The pharmacy may catch incompatible drug combinations.

4. Read all the prescribing information included with each new drug, checking for possible interactions with medications you are already taking, foods to avoid, etc.

5. Notify your prescribing doctor if your pharmacy changes your prescription from brand name to generic without his approval.

6. Keep the old pill container until you receive your next refill so you can compare the drug name, manufacturer, dosage and instructions. Notify your doctor if you do not understand why something changed.

7. Ideally, order refills to be available before you run out of the current supply so you can compare the actual old and new pills. This is also important because if there is any delay in getting the refill, you will still have enough pills to get through the time needed.

8. If a medication has changed from brand name to generic, or from one manufacturer to another, you may want to start taking the new pills while you still have a few of the old ones left. If you exhibit an allergic reaction or the new medication does not seem to have the same effect as the old one, switch back and see whether the allergic reaction disappears or the old medication works better -- then contact your prescribing doctor. (Obviously, if you have a severe reaction at any time to a medication, get help immediately.)

9. Use an online drug interaction checker to pick up possible problems with medication combinations and food interactions. You may even discover that you should not take two drugs at the same time of day, but can safely take them if you space them a few hours apart. For example, my mother's medications include Synthroid, calcium carbonate and Lipitor. Using the drug interaction finder, I learned that:

• Synthroid and calcium carbonate should be taken at least two hours apart.
• Calcium carbonate and Lipitor should be taken at least two hours apart.

She takes Synthroid first thing in the morning and Lipitor at dinner. She takes calcium carbonate twice a day. I changed the time of her calcium carbonate doses from breakfast/dinner to lunch/bedtime and now there is a safe gap between it and the other two medications.

10. If you take a lot of different medications, consider investing in a 7-day pill organizer which will help assure that you take the correct medications at the correct time and make it obvious when you miss a dose.

More on Medication Safety

• 10 Tips for Safe Medication Use - from About Headaches and Migraines
• How to Spot Pharmacy Errors - from About Arthritis
• 10 Tips to Avoid Medication Errors - from About Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue
• FDA's Tips for Taking Medicines - How to Get the Most Benefits with the Fewest Risks
• SafeMedication.com
• Medication Safety Tips
• Your Medicine: Play it Safe