How to Make a Medication List: What to Include and How to Keep It Current

By KT Apps · Updated October 16, 2026

Before you start

This article is about record keeping only. It is not medical advice. A list does not tell you whether a medicine, dose or combination is right for you. Your doctor and pharmacist decide that. Never start, stop or change a medicine because of what is on a list or in an app, and copy instructions exactly as they were given to you.

What to record for each medicine

Write one entry per medicine. Copy the details from the pharmacy label or the packet rather than from memory:

• The name, as printed on the label. If the box shows both a brand name and the name of the active ingredient, writing both helps avoid confusion when the packaging changes.
• The strength, such as 5 mg or 250 mg per 5 ml, exactly as printed.
• The dose you take each time, such as one tablet, two capsules or 5 ml.
• When you take it: the times of day, or the routine it is tied to, such as with breakfast or at bedtime.
• How to take it, in the words on the label: after food, on an empty stomach, with a full glass of water, and so on.
• What it is for, in your own words, if you know. This helps you and anyone helping you to spot duplicates.
• Who prescribed it and roughly when you started, if you know.

A photo of the box or the tablet itself is a useful extra. Many tablets are small, white and round, and packaging can change when a pharmacy switches supplier, so a picture makes it easier to check you are holding the right one.

Things people often leave off

A list is most useful when it is complete. Remember to include:

• Medicines bought without a prescription, such as pain relievers, antacids or allergy tablets, if you take them regularly.
• Vitamins, minerals and other supplements.
• Herbal and traditional remedies.
• Medicines that are not tablets: inhalers, eye drops, creams, patches and injections.
• Medicines taken only when needed, with a note of the instructions you were given for them.
• Allergies or bad reactions you have had to any medicine, written clearly at the top of the list.

It also helps to note your pharmacy and your main doctor, so whoever reads the list knows whom to ask.

Keeping the list current

An out-of-date list can be worse than none, because people trust it. A few habits keep it accurate:

1. Update it the same day anything changes: a new prescription, a new dose, a different time, or a medicine you have been told to stop.
2. Remove stopped medicines from the active list rather than leaving them with a note, so the list only shows what you take now.
3. When a pharmacy gives you a box that looks different, check the name and strength on the label against your list and update the photo.
4. Look over the whole list every few months, or before any appointment, and ask your pharmacist if anything is unclear.
5. Write the date you last checked it, so readers know how current it is.

Using the list at appointments and pharmacies

Bring the list, or the phone it lives on, to every appointment, including dentists, and when you collect prescriptions. Ask the person you see to check it against their records. Many health services suggest a "medicine review" with a pharmacist from time to time; a complete list makes that much quicker.

If you help someone else with their medicines, keep a separate list for them and make sure they, or another carer, know where it is. In an emergency, a short paper copy in a wallet or bag is still useful, because a phone may be locked or flat.

Paper, spreadsheet or app?

Paper works anywhere and is easy to hand over, but it fills up with crossings-out. A spreadsheet is tidy and printable but awkward to update on the spot. An app on your phone is always with you and can hold photos, but it is only useful if the people who need it can see it. Whatever you choose, the content above matters more than the format.

Keeping your medication list in MedTime

MedTime is a simple list of medicines and when you take them. To set it up:

1. Open MedTime and read the notice explaining that the web version is a record-keeping tool and does not send reminders.
2. Tap the add button and enter the medication name, how to take it, and the dose, for example "one tablet" or "5 ml".
3. Tap Add dosage time for each time of day you take it, such as 08:00 and 20:00.
4. Tap the photo area and choose a picture of the box, label or tablet.
5. Check the list: each card shows the name, usage, dose, how many times a day and the next dose time, labelled Today or Tomorrow.
6. When something changes, tap the medicine to update it, or delete it when you stop taking it.

MedTime stores what you enter; it does not check doses or interactions, and it does not keep a record of doses taken. The web version keeps everything in this browser only. The iPhone and Android apps add reminder notifications at each dosage time. For help setting the times, see how to plan a medication schedule for twice or three times a day.

Frequently asked questions