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Reduce the unnecessary use of drugs. For example, many people use antibiotics for the treatment of common colds. However, these illnesses are caused by viruses that are not sensitive to the action of commonly used antibiotics. Antibiotic use during viral infections results very often in adverse drug reactions. Consequently the use of antibiotics puts you at risk for developing an adverse reaction which could be easily prevented simply by not taking an unhelpful drug.
If you have experienced an adverse reaction to a drug, don’t take that drug again unless your doctor tells you it’s safe ( with some drugs it is possible that the allergic reactivity fades away if the drug is avoided for a long enough period of time).

If you have had an allergic reaction to a drug, remember that you might react to other members from the same drug family. For example, due to similarities in their chemical structure, penicillin can give cross reactivity to ampicillin and amoxicillin and also (although less often) to cephalosporins, all part of the same antibiotic family called beta-lactams. In a similar way people reacting to aspirin can react to other pain killers and anti-inflammatory drugs. Therefore, before taking a drug related to the one that caused your problem, it is important to prove that you are not allergic to it as well.
Keep a written record of all adverse drug reactions that you have experienced. Note the name of the drug, the dose that you took, the names of other drugs you took at the same time (if any), the disease for which the drugs were prescribed and the symptoms you experienced.
When a doctor prescribes you a treatment for a medical problem, remember to tell him about adverse drug reactions that you have experienced before, even if you think it has no relevance for the current illness or treatment. Sometimes drugs with similar chemical structure are used for the treatment of completely unrelated conditions.

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