The question is if you take any medicamentation it's not that hard? We don't ask you to explain how the meds work we ask you if and what pills you take it's not that hard
Look I've talk with enough patients to know that most people are dumb but for fuck sake you have high blood pressure and take 4 pills a day for the last month how hard is it to remember them.
Not a doc, but a nurse. You should list it. We even want to know about the supplements you take. If someone gives you an eye roll, that's very strange because birth control interacts with many other medications and increases your risk for serious complications like blot clots. It's important that your provider knows about it. Don't let anyone discourage you from sharing that, you're doing the right thing!
I had a friend who started taking St. john’s Wort without looking it up and she learned it interfered with her birth control pills only when she got pregnant.
People need to take over the counter stuff more seriously.
Omg that's so wild! There's a supplement store just beside a big pharmacy in my city and they always ask are you on medication before selling you anything. If you are you have to go to the pharmacist and ask them if xyz supplement is safe then you come back with a note.
This is very wise in terms of reducing the risk of a lawsuit and also is more ethical than just having a salesperson with no knowledge of drug interactions
Literally the only supplement I really remember from nursing school, because inevitably if there's a supplement fucking with meds, it'll be St. Johns Wort.
Not a doctor, but Yes, it can interact with other medications, you’re not supposed to smoke on (some?) birth controls because it increases your risk of stroke and blood clots, which it can do even without smoking as way as increase your risks of certain cancers, there are lots of medically relevant ways it can affect your body that your doctor should know about. No reason you should be getting eye rolls for answering their question…
Old school estradiol did that, modern bioidentical estrogen needs to be taken in significantly high doses to get anywhere near the clotting risk of old school premarine. As for cancer risk, it's kind of a wash, it is know to reduce some and raise others and is really only a risk if you already have endometrial or breast cancer and even then only at HRT doses for menopause management.
Not trying to fearmonger, I’m on it and greatly appreciate it I’m just paraphrasing what I remember from the pamphlet that comes in the boxes and what my doctor told me!
If this is real why do you enjoy wasting everyone's time with this if you know what they are asking 🤦♂️. They aren't asking that to make small talk, how frustrating.
It depends. There are times where they won't accept any answer that deviates from their questionnaire, so I have to go through the whole spiel. But the whole exchange is just a few seconds either way.
Also, some medical professionals do find it funny. It's probably 50/50.
I'm a remote medical interpreter, you're so right. They are sometimes so tired or just running on autopilot for these intake questions that whenever something is different their brain just breaks or ignores it completely
So often I hear things like:
What brings you here today?
"I've had a fever, runny nose and diarrhea for 3 days now, I just took some Advil but still have a fever"
"Ok sounds good, how many days have you had these symptoms? ... Have you had any diarrhea? ... Have you taken any medications for this?"
In the example she gave, she answered all the questions asked.
What exactly do you think they were trying to ask, when you say "you know what they meant"?
All of those questions are relevant and independent of each other, they're not a runaround way of asking if someone's pregnant.
List it. Within reason it's better to give information that they ultimately don't need rather than skip on what they might because you don't think it's important.
Am a doctor. Yes please, very important for us to know. I don't know why you're getting an annoyed eye roll; it's probably something else and not just saying BC as a medication
When I asked my GP he said that I should list even supplements. So my doctors just get a straight out printout that lists everything I take, at what dosage and time of day.
Yes, especially if it's a combined hormonal one (that has both estrogen and peogesterone) since they heavily increase the risk for vascular accidents if you have any heart problems or a history of migraines with aura (seeing little white dots/circles while you have a migraine).
Yes because contraceptives add to your thrombotic risk, so always be sure to tell you are taking them. Also to rule out or not pregnancy risk when it comes to abdominal pain.
Absolutely yes. If anyone is rolling their eyes, don't worry, that's the standard for many "healthcare professionals". You've done nothing wrong, they just look like that.
Yes. It can interact with other meds (like antibiotics) and can be a risk factor for things like blood clots so I always want to know if my patients are on the pill
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u/WebBorn2622 May 02 '26
For the doctors here; should you list birth control as medication? I always do, but I get an annoyed eye roll