Tips on Researching Medications

Note: My friend JC is acting as a guest poster. The writing and opinions below are his.

With the boom in the number of types of psychiatric medications today, it’s easy for the average person to get lost in trying to figure out what their actual medication does and how it works. This information has long been available to medical professionals, but by the nature of their work these resources speak in technical terms, which many patients are unfamiliar with.

While I personally use the Nursing Drug Handbook published by Lippincott, which may be useful if you have an average amount of medical terminology knowledge, even this resource can be over the heads of many people. With that in mind, here are some resources that I myself have used in the past, and which may be useful to other people.

CrazyMeds.us

Somewhat poorly named site aside, CrazyMeds.us is a comprehensive site in plain English written by a man who has extensive experience with psychiatric medications. He compiles information from prescribing information sheets (the papers included in every package of pills received by pharmacists, which describes to doctors and pharmacists information on the medication), research articles, and other sources, then presents it in an easy-to-understand format. Medications are broken down into class, so that you can also see what type of medication you are taking.

Unfortunately, the site also suffers from a problem with ease of navigation. The text may be a little hard to read, and finding your specific medication may be difficult at first. However, once you find what you’re looking for, I’m sure you’ll find that this site is an invaluable resource.

Wikipedia

These days, I’m sure everyone is familiar with Wikipedia. As a result of this popularity, many medication articles on the site are pretty well written. Being an encyclopedia, it also describes the technical side of the medication, which may be confusing, but after that section it goes into the patient-oriented side of the medication. These sections often prove very useful, since it goes not only into the scientific side of things, but often the history of the medication and any issues that may have arisen over time.

Unfortunately, depending on the popularity of the medication and random factors, some articles may not be written yet, or may be just a shell. Wikipedia is an entirely voluntary system, and if no one has written anything yet, it won’t be there. Another thing to keep in mind is that, by virtue of being completely open to edits, sometimes incorrect information may sneak into an article. Keep a critical mind, and Wikipedia can be useful.

Conclusion

The immense amount of information on the Internet has opened up new sources for people to find more information on their psychiatric medications in plain English. By using the above resources, you can be more informed about what you’re taking, and maybe learn some interesting tidbits along the way.

Important note: Remember, nothing you read online can replace the trained knowledge of your doctor. The above resources are meant to complement, not replace, the relationship with your doctor. If you are concerned about any information you find on the above resources, see your doctor immediately. Do not make changes to your medication without your doctor’s knowledge and approval. Neither of us are licensed medical professionals.