What to tell your doctor about supplements

For Vplus® Formula, the carton gives the useful details: 200 mg per tablet, 20 tablets per sachet, and twenty tablets once or twice daily, and it recommends taking them in the morning before food. It also names the ingredients as Chlorella Sorokiniana, Spirulina Platensis and the Indigold® blend. The blend contains chlorella extract, spirulina extract and Crypthecodinium cohnii, a DHA-producing microalga.

Bring every other supplement pack as well. Two products with similar names may have different labels. The printed information gives the clinician something specific to review.

Write down:

• The full name of every prescription medicine and its stated amount.
• Anything bought without a prescription, including supplements and traditional products.
• How much of each item you take, when you take it and how often.
• Any recent change, including an item you have started, stopped or now take in a different amount or at a different time.

Do not rely on tablet colour or a description such as “the small green one”. Bring those packs too, or ask your clinic how it prefers you to prepare a medicine list.

Your doctor can consider the complete list alongside your records. A pharmacist can also compare the ingredient panels, directions and timing with your current medicines. Neither can assess a product from its name alone.

Vitamin K matters most if you take warfarin. Chlorella products may contribute vitamin K, so tell your prescribing doctor or pharmacist before starting or stopping one. Each anticoagulant works in its own way; ask your clinician to check the medicine you take.

Bring the Vplus label and your full medicine list. Do not assume that leaving a gap between tablets resolves an interaction.

Our team can help you find the current ingredient list, directions and product details. Send a clear photo of the pack if you are asking about a particular batch.

Your doctor or pharmacist should decide whether the product is suitable with your medicines, including whether you need any change in timing or any monitoring.