By UTCardiothoracicSurgery.com Editorial Team
Quick answer: Before an online ED visit, write one note with your medicines and supplements, your allergies and past reactions, your heart and blood pressure history, and your questions for the prescriber. Bring the same note to your pharmacist and to any clinician who manages your heart. The sections below show what to include in each part.
Why Write It Down
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services suggests making a list before any telehealth visit, and the FDA publishes a free medicine record you can use as a template. A written note lets you cover the details yourself, whatever questions the visit form asks. This article is a preparation guide. It cannot tell you whether any medicine is safe for you.
1. Current Medicines and Supplements
The FDA's My Medicine Record asks for these details on each item:
- The name. For prescriptions, give the brand and generic name. For over-the-counter products, give the name and active ingredients.
- How much you take, and how and when you take it.
- The start date, and why you use it.
- Who prescribed it or told you to use it, with their contact details.
The FDA says to list prescription samples, over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, minerals and herbal products, even ones you use only some of the time. If you use inhaled products sold as “poppers,” say so. The sildenafil patient information lists them as a reason not to take that medicine.
2. Allergies and Prior Reactions
- HHS suggests noting allergies to food or medicine.
- The FDA form also asks about any problem with a medicine, supplement, food, skin cleanser or medical tape, and about anything that could affect how you use a medicine, such as trouble swallowing tablets.
- Write what happened, not only the name of the product.
3. Heart and Blood Pressure History
The sildenafil patient information asks you to tell your provider if you have or have had:
- heart problems such as a heart attack, irregular heartbeat, angina, chest pain, narrowing of the aortic valve or heart failure
- heart surgery within the last 6 months
- a stroke
- pulmonary hypertension
- low blood pressure, or high blood pressure that is not controlled
Write these in your own words, with dates if you know them. Add any blood pressure readings you have. HHS lists blood pressure among the numbers you may want to write down before a visit.
Two more items belong on this part of the note. First, list any other ED treatment you use. Second, list any sildenafil or tadalafil prescribed for lung blood pressure. The patient information says not to combine them with other PDE5 inhibitors.
For what ED medicine labels say about nitrates and other interactions, see ED Medicines and Nitrates: What to Tell Your Prescriber and PDE5 Inhibitors and Blood Pressure Medications.
4. Questions for the Prescriber
These questions come from the FDA form:
- Can I use a generic form?
- Should I avoid any other medicines, supplements, treatments, drinks, foods or activities while using this?
- What side effects should I watch for, and what should I do if one happens?
- Will I need any tests? When, and how will I get the results?
- What should I do if I miss a dose or use too much?
- Where can I get more written information?
If the prescription is compounded, also ask for the exact active ingredients in writing. Our guide to compounded ED combinations and heart medications explains why.
5. During and After the Visit
- HHS advises signing on early, and keeping paper and a pen nearby for notes.
- HHS also says you decide what to share. For this visit, your medicine list and heart and blood pressure history are the details that matter most for safety, so consider sharing them fully.
- Afterward, ask the provider to send a summary or notes.
- Update your list whenever you start, stop or change a medicine.
Limits and When to Get Care
Do not start, stop or change a prescription on your own, including heart medicines. The sildenafil patient information says to stop sexual activity and get medical help right away if you have chest pain, dizziness or nausea during sex. It also says that if you need emergency care for a heart problem, the provider should know when you last took the medicine. Tell emergency clinicians what you took and when. If you are in immediate danger, call 911 or your local emergency number.
Sources
- Telehealth.HHS.gov: What should I know before my telehealth visit?
- FDA: My Medicine Record (form FDA 3664, 3/11)
- Sildenafil citrate tablets patient information (label revised 2018; current labeling may differ)
UTCardiothoracicSurgery.com is an independent editorial publication. It is not a medical practice, and it is not affiliated with UT Health San Antonio, the University of Texas System, or any hospital or clinician. This article is educational, is not medical advice, and has not been reviewed by a clinician. Discuss all medication decisions with a qualified healthcare professional and your pharmacist.