this is a great question. as a pharmacist i recommend each patient has what we call a medication list which is a list of all of your medications. use one pharmacy. we have a lot of people who say they go to different pharmacies and what they don't understand is that i can’t see the medications you are getting filled at other chains. or other independent pharmacies i only can see what you have filled in my particular store. so i need that medication list to make sure that there is no duplications of therapy. similar medication that may have the same ingredients in them but don't realize because they have different names to them. get to know your pharmacist on a first name basis. we are the medication experts that's why we went to pharmacy school. all of our years are dedicated to learning about medications and how they work. so when i am able to see all of this information i may be able to point out a few things and therefore call your doctor or healthcare provider and say by the way did you know that dr. such and such prescribed this; they may have never been aware. so there is a possibility that you could be taking too many medications. that's our role as a pharmacist is to look out for the patient make sure that you are safe and that you are taking your medications in the right way.
how can i make sure that i am not taking too many pain medications?