For the pharmacology medication reconciliation project, I was able to work with a patient and discuss their medications and the potential interactions and risk for side effects. The patient was aware of the reasoning behind taking each medication and was compliant in administration and storage of the prescribed medications. There were two concerns that I had when performing the reconciliation for this patient’s medication list.

The first concern that I had was that the oral contraceptive she was taking (Aviane-28) has a side effect of migraines, which the patient was also suffering from and was on an injectable medication (Fremanezumab-vfrm aka Ajovy) to prevent the migraines. Although I am not sure if the birth control is the cause of the migraines, it would be something to consult their prescriber about and perhaps see if changing to another oral contraceptive might alleviate the migraines. If the patient is no longer having migraines as a side effect of their oral contraceptive, the Ajovy could potentially be discontinued and the patient would be on one less medication.

The second concern I had for the patient’s medication list is the long term use of omeprazole; this drug is not meant to be taken as a long term treatment for GERD or acid reflux. The patient should also consider consulting their PCP about the process of discontinuing this medication if it is no longer needed.

The patient also had three different over-the-counter medications used for treatment of allergy symptoms (Alaway, Allegra, and Sudafed). The patient was aware that these medications should never be taken at the same time, as they have similar ingredients and could cause harmful side effects.

Overall, I believe that getting to do a medication reconciliation was a great experience to see how much a patient actually understands the medication that they are on and being able to catch potential interactions that could be occurring. In the case with the birth control and the migraine medication, if the birth control was causing the migraines, that might be overlooked since the two medications are prescribed by two different providers (one being a gynecologist and the other being the patient’s PCP). I think the cooperation between providers and coordination of care is important, as well as medication reconciliations, in order to keep patient’s on the least amount of medication as possible with the least amount of undesirable side effects as well.