How do we monitor for side effects?

• Telling your doctor when you have any new symptom that you are concerned of.
• Regular blood work:
  - CMP (comprehensive metabolic profile): this is very important for most of the medications. The main reason is to see whether there is any problem with the liver (liver function test), with the kidneys (renal function) and with the electrolytes
  - Count of white and red cells (CBC). 
  - How often to do it depends on each drug you are taking. Some medications require more frequent monitoring than others. 
  - Blood levels: they are necessary when:
  - The person is not responding to the medication and we want to see how much medication is in the blood.
  - We suspect that the person is not taking the medication
  - The medication may not be absorbed in spite of the person taking it on a regular basis