Medication list template: tick what you take and print a list of medicines for your GP

Why a list of medicines for your GP matters

Medicines tend to pile up with age. Blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, joints: each problem brings its own tablet and often its own prescriber. Add vitamin D, magnesium and something “for memory”, and you’re at ten names. Doctors call this polypharmacy, which simply means taking many medicines at once.

The number itself isn’t the problem; the trouble is that nobody sees the whole picture. MedlinePlus (NIH) notes that the body handles medicines differently with age, and the kidneys may clear them more slowly, so a drug stays in the body longer. It’s worth asking from time to time whether you still need each one and whether any dose should change.

In England, the NHS runs structured medication reviews for exactly this. Clinical pharmacists in GP practices offer them first to people on 10 or more medicines and to people in care homes. People with severe frailty who are housebound, or who have recently been in hospital or had a fall, are also a priority. NICE adds that a review should take account of prescribed, over-the-counter and complementary medicines. If you’re not in those groups, you can still ask your GP or a community pharmacist to go through your list.

How to fill in your medication list

1. Put every box and bottle on the table: from the kitchen, bedside table, handbag and car.
2. Tick everything you find. If something isn’t listed, type its name under “Not listed?”.
3. For each row, write the dose as it appears on the pack: 5 mg, 1,000 IU, 2 capsules.
4. Add when you take it: first thing on an empty stomach, with lunch, at bedtime.
5. Read the questions box. It appears when your ticks include a combination we know about.
6. Press “Print the sheet”. The empty column is for your GP’s notes during the appointment.

MedlinePlus advises keeping a copy in your wallet and showing it to every doctor and pharmacist. If you’re helping your parents, print one for them and one for you. Our guide to vitamins for elderly parents covers how to start that conversation.

What the questions mean

The rules come from our own guides, where every fact has a source. There are four kinds:

No questions doesn’t mean everything is compatible. We don’t know every combination, so show the list to your GP anyway. More in supplements and medication interactions and our vitamin compatibility chart.

Before your appointment

Run through this short checklist the day before:

Also note any symptoms that started after a new medicine: dizziness, drowsiness, constipation, falls. NHS advice on preventing falls lists keeping up with medication reviews among its top five tips.

Where your list is stored

Everything you enter stays in the browser on this device. We never receive the names, doses or your name. Open the page on another phone and the list will be empty.

• On a shared or work computer, press “Clear” after printing.
• Clearing your browser data deletes the list, so keep a paper copy.
• The printed sheet is medical information. Don’t leave it lying around.

What this tool doesn’t do

It doesn’t diagnose, set doses or replace your GP or pharmacist. It doesn’t cover every medicine or every combination. Never stop or cut down a prescribed medicine on your own, even if a question appears next to it.

Choosing supplements on iHerb after your appointment

1. Buy only what your GP or pharmacist agreed to after seeing the list.
2. Check the dose against what’s already in your multivitamin.
3. Choose a form you can manage and a time that doesn’t clash with your medicines.
4. Add the new bottle to your list and to your weekly pill chart.
5. General advice for over-50s is in our 50+ section.