OTC Medication

• People don’t consider OTC’s real medicine.
• People just don’t know what is in these medications, and many contain the same active ingredients.
• Only 34% of consumers could identify the active ingredient in the medicine they were taking.
• OTC Medication Use by Category
• Most common uses include:
o Pain (78%)
o Cough, cold, flu (52%)
o Allergy and sinus (45%)
o Heartburn, stomach (37%)
o Constipation, diarrhea (21%)
o Skin problems (10%)
• 10 Tips on OTC use
• Read the label
• Treat only the symptoms you have
• Know what to avoid while taking OTCs – beware of interactions
• ASK before you buy
• Use as directed on the label
• Be careful if you take > 1 OTC
• Don’t mix Rx and OTCs including herbals
• Give your doctor a list of ALL meds
• For kids, use pediatric formulas
• Throw meds away if they are expired
• Keep in mind
• If you have students taking OTC meds, more than 1 medication, Rx and OTC meds, and something seems out of character, it could be the cause.
• These kinds of problems need to be brought to the attention of a health professional ASAP.