IBD Medication Management: Keep a Clear Treatment Record

IBD treatment can involve different medication types: tablets, injections, infusions, rectal medicines, monitoring tests, deliveries and instructions from more than one service.

Do not make memory the system. Keep one current record that tells you what you take, what happens next and which question is unresolved.

Mirae holds IBD and non-IBD medicines beside symptoms, laboratory markers, reminders and questions. It does not prescribe, check interactions or decide doses.

Use the record to support medical advice, not replace it. It can also make preparing for an IBD appointment simpler. Mirae can help you prepare in the Mirae app or on the web, bringing the relevant medicines and questions into your visit summary. Questions about a missed dose, possible side effect, interaction or treatment change should go first to the prescribing service or a pharmacist.

Build the record you would need tomorrow

Copy the medicine name, dose, form and instructions from the current label, prescription or clinic letter:

CURRENT MEDICINES
Name:
Dose, form and instructions:
Date started:
Who prescribes or supplies it:
Storage:
Monitoring or next action:

INJECTIONS OR INFUSIONS
Last date:
Next planned date:
Delivery, location or preparation:

NON-PRESCRIPTION MEDICINES AND SUPPLEMENTS
Name and reason:

ALLERGIES OR PREVIOUS REACTIONS
Medicine and what happened:

PAST IBD MEDICINES
Name, dates and confirmed reason it changed:

Daily tablets, home injections, hospital infusions and rectal medicines need different practical details. Add what helps you complete the next action.

Leave unknown details as questions. Do not fill a gap from memory because the form looks unfinished.

Keep current and past treatment separate

Old medicines remain in clinic letters, pharmacy systems and personal notes. Mark a stop date so an outdated plan cannot be mistaken for the current one.

Update Mirae after a change has been confirmed:

Clinic confirmed today: Medicine A stops on 18 August. Medicine B starts on 25 August after the planned blood test. Question remaining: who confirms the result?

Keep the previous treatment in the history with its dates and reason for changing, if known.

With your permission, available records connected through HealthEx can add medical history. Check that the current patient-held list still matches the plan you were given; Mirae does not perform medication reconciliation.

Give reminders a verb

Medicine reminder is easy to dismiss. Use:

Order the next supply from the delivery service; five doses remain.

A monitoring reminder should name the test. An infusion reminder should include the location and confirmed preparation. A travel reminder should point to the supply, storage or document you need.

Reminders support the prescribed plan. They do not decide whether a late dose should be taken, skipped, moved or repeated.

Record missed doses and possible side effects

For a missed or delayed dose, check the patient information leaflet and the instructions for that medicine. If the answer is unclear, ask the prescribing service or a pharmacist. Do not take an extra dose unless the medicine's current instructions or a prescriber specifically tell you to.

Record the event once:

Injection due Monday was delayed because the delivery did not arrive. No dose taken. Contacted the prescribing service Tuesday at 9am; awaiting instructions.

If something changes after a medicine, record the timing, duration, repeat pattern and effect:

Headache and nausea began two hours after Tuesday's dose and lasted into the evening. Ate and drank less. The same happened after the previous dose but was milder.

The record does not establish that the medicine caused the symptom. Contact the prescribing service or a pharmacist about a possible side effect; severe symptoms or signs of a serious reaction need urgent medical help. Logging can wait.

Treat steroids as a separate safety case

Do not stop oral steroids without first talking to your prescriber or invent a taper. Contact the prescribing service if the dose or taper is unclear. Keep the current dose and next confirmed change easy to find, and mark old taper schedules as past.

If your care team has given you a steroid emergency card or equivalent, carry it as instructed. Do not restart leftover steroids for a possible flare unless that action is in a current confirmed plan.

Keep the confirmed taper and prescribing contact with the current record so you do not have to reconstruct the plan when something changes.

Ask questions that make the plan usable

When treatment starts or changes, ask:

• What is it intended to achieve?
• How and when will progress be assessed?
• Which monitoring is required?
• What should I do about a missed dose?
• Which possible side effects need prompt advice?
• Who handles prescriptions, delivery and questions?

Mention other prescribed medicines, over-the-counter products and supplements so a qualified professional can assess interactions. Add travel, infection, vaccination, surgery, pregnancy, fertility or breastfeeding questions when they apply to you.

Save unanswered questions in Mirae and bring the relevant ones to the next appointment. If you are leaving home, the guide to travelling with IBD covers medicine supply, storage and documentation.

Prepare a short treatment summary

Before an appointment, pull out what changed:

Current treatment: Medicine A daily and Medicine B injection every two weeks. Medicine B started in May. One dose was delayed in June because of delivery. Since July I have recorded three episodes of nausea after the injection. Blood monitoring was completed on 12 July; I need to confirm the result and whether the plan stays the same.

Your full record can remain private. Share the current list and recent changes for an appointment, a concise medicine and allergy list in an emergency, or the confirmed schedule and storage details for travel.

Medical and product note

This guide provides general information for adults living with IBD. It does not provide dosing, missed-dose or side-effect advice for an individual medicine. Follow the current prescription, patient information leaflet and confirmed instructions.

Mirae does not prescribe, check interactions, reconcile medicines, assess reactions, interpret monitoring or recommend treatment changes, and its AI can be incomplete or wrong.

References

1. National Health Service. Steroids. NHS, 2025.