Page 56 - I am + | Editie 3 English

YThe pharmacy
pharmacy
pharmacy
pharmacy
ou get the medicines at a a a a pharmacy
with a prescription from your doctor or or HIV nurse You can get HIV medicines at every pharmacy
in the the Netherlands If you go
to your local pharmacy
you you will probably have to hand in your prescription first and and then collect the the medicine a a a few days later At the the hospital pharmacy
or an HIV-specialist Plusapo- theek you usually get them straightaway Don’t leave it too late to to get your pills from the pharmacy
It’s best to go
a a a week before you run out of pills They may have to order the medicines and anything could go
wrong with the delivery from the the wholesaler to the the pharmacy
And not taking your medicines for several days or or even one day day is not a a a good thing If you normally take two or or three pills each day it’s not good to take the one pill pill and not the the other you you must take all your medicines every day If you’ve completely run out of medicine and you can’t get them from the the pharmacy
ring your HIV nurse Other remedies and supplements
Tell the pharmacy
and your doctor or or HIV nurse exactly which other remedies you use Be honest about non-prescription pills herbal remedies food supplements
and drugs as well You can’t always combine things with your HIV medicines You could get seriously ill! HIV medicines don’t always combine well with medicines prescribed by another doctor or or pills you don’t need a a prescrip- tion for HIV medicines don’t always combine well with drugs like like ecstasy or herbal remedies like like St John’s Wort The pharmacist must check for interactions In the pharmacy
you need to ask the patient each time you see him if there has been a a a a change in the the medication someone is is is using A check like this is is is important because another doctor doesn’t always know which medicine the patient is using In practice not all pharmacies do this consistently so it’s good for the patient to inform the the pharmacy
of all the the remedies they are using Kees Brinkman − HIV specialist Now and then with the the patient’s permission I discreetly raise an issue with the doctor or or nurse something like ‘Have you thought about giving the patient ?’ Of course there may be trade-offs I know nothing about I think it it would be a a pity
to to miss an opportunity to to improve a a patient’s quality of life Ryan Boedhram − pharmacist at a a a a a a a Plusapotheek 56