Your Annual GYN Visit: Reasons for Changing Medications
Your annual visit with your women’s health provider starts with a discussion of how you have been feeling, including questions about your overall health and symptoms. The way you describe your symptoms sometimes tells the provider how your current medication(s) are working.
Some reasons for recommending a medication change are:
- Based on your symptoms, the medication is no longer working or helping
- An increase or decrease the dosage may be needed
- You may be experiencing side effects
- You may be having an allergic reaction
- You may be taking other medications that interact with the current medication
New medical information may also cause your provider to recommend a medication change. Since medical research is always taking place, publication of new information since you started the medication may be available. You should also be informed when new, more effective, medications become available.
- The medication may have been found to have side effects not known when you started it
- The medication may have been found to not work as well as earlier research showed it did
- New medications may be thought to be more effective
- New medications may have beneficial side effects
- New information about the health problem for which you are taking a medication may indicate that other medications will be more effective
- Information concerning the safety of the medication may have changed
If your provider discusses a medication change with you at your annual exam visit, understand the reasons why the change is recommended. Ask when the new medication should take effect and how you should stop your old medication so as not to be bothered by an uncovered time gap between when the old medication wears off and the new medication’s effects begin. Some medications require weaning off the old medication before starting the new one.
Medication changes, like all aspects or your care, should involve you and the provider in a shared decision. For example, if you like the description of a new medication and how other women have been helped by it, you are sharing in the decision to change medications. However, if you tell the provider that you would rather not risk adjusting to a new medication, you are sharing in the decision not to change your medication even though a new medication may offer more relief.
Hormones are an important medication for many women. A woman may trust and rely on her hormone medication to keep her feeling the way she wants to feel. New information concerning hormone safety and effectiveness are publicized often, even more than other types of medication.
Your women’s healthcare expert is obligated to discuss new information with you, as well as to make recommendations based on safety concerns. Changing hormone medications may be hard to do if the new medication does not work right away or does not work as well. Scheduling a time to change may be important if you are faced with a trying time for your family or big projects at work, so that you are not changing medications during a stressful time period. Again, your decision to change the medication and when to make the change are decisions shared with your provider.
If you have concerns about your medications, especially hormonal medication, please contact Covington Women’s Health Specialists, LLC. Our providers will discuss your symptoms, medication concerns and answer your questions. Please don’t hesitate to give us a call at 770-385-8954.
