Your doctor needs to know what medications you’re on in order to make any prescription changes or check for interactions between drugs.

The best thing you can do is make out a list of the medications you take, including both prescription and over-the-counter drugs, in advance of your visit.

Be sure to note the dosage, as well as how often you take them. Supplements count, too.

If you have a smart phone, you can easily put the information on it, so you’ll have an updated list when you go to the pharmacy.

For my elderly patients, I advise them to sweep all of their meds into a bag and bring it to the office along with them.

Too often, they keep expired medications that really should be discarded. I have my nurse help them go through the vials so they return home with only the drugs they really need.