Healthcare workers are concerned that so many people fail to take their prescribed medicine. There are many reasons for this, from simple forgetfulness to inability to afford the drugs.

In between are a number of small obstacles that can be easily overcome. See if any of these will make taking your medication easier:

• If you have a hard time taking large pills, you may be able to use a pill crusher to grind them to a powder, which you can then mix in foods or liquids. (Check with your pharmacist before doing this, since some medications should not be ground up.)
• If your pills are too large to swallow easily, cut them along the score mark.
• If you are taking different medications at different times throughout the day, check with your doctor to see if your doses can be consolidated.
• Ask your doctor or pharmacist if there are long-acting versions of any of the medications that you are taking more than once a day.

Click on the link at the bottom of this page to review additional information on "compliance aids" on the lifeclinic.com site.

If you are experiencing side effects, be sure to tell your doctor. Side effects may go away with continued use. Sometimes a different dose will take care of the problem. If not, then your doctor may be able to prescribe a different drug that may not have the same side effects.

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