9 smart tips for remembering to take medications

  

It’s one of the worst feelings, waking up in the middle of the night and wondering, “Did I take my bedtime medication?” Or pausing mid-morning and thinking, “Geez, I think I forget to take that pill today. Or did I?”

 

For anyone living with multiple sclerosis, those little memory blips can crop up anytime.

 For example, I have a prescription that is dosed weekly. That means I have to remind myself on that day of the week to do it. Making matters worse, this drug has to be taken a full hour before eating anything. How many times have I forgotten, only to remember it after eating my breakfast? (Don’t ask.)

 I know I am not alone in this. Lots of people (especially MSers, anyone reaching a certain age, or anyone who may be a little overtired or stressed – OK, I can fit all of those criteria on a given day) can slip up with medication doses.

 

Here are nine practical steps we can take to keep track of our regular medication doses.

 We don’t all have to do all of these things. It’s important for each of us to find the methods that work best for us, so we’ll stick to them. 

1. 
   Use a weekly pill sorter box. In our house, we call those “smutwurfs,” because they are marked S-M-T-W-T-F-S. The idea is to place each day’s medications into its marked spot. (If you take AM and PM meds, you might want two of these sorters.) Lots of people use these for traveling, but they are equally handy at home. (I even use one to keep track of our senior doggy’s medicines.) Here’s one example of a pill organizer. And here’s one for someone taking medications three times a day, marked for morning, noon, and night. 
   

2. Location. Location. Location. Set out morning doses before bedtime, and setup evening doses on the nightstand. That makes medications hard to miss. 

3. Set alarms for medication times. Smart phones are ideal for this, although some people still prefer an actual alarm clock. It’s easy to set up recurring alarms on a smart phone or tablet, if you take your meds at certain specific times of day and/or night. 

4. Put dosage times on your smart phone calendar. If this makes more sense to you, it’s equally simple to create recurring calendar events on your smart phone calendar. What’s more, you can even set start and end dates, if a medication will only be used for a specified duration. 

5. Make yourself a chart of checklist to record when you take your medicines. Keep it in a visible and convenient spot, and mark it each time you have a dose. Here’s a medication tracker/pill reminder gadget with little sliding buttons for AM and PM. Some people prefer to use daily medication log books (or even large print versions) to check off doses. 

6. Keep extra meds handy. If you may find yourself out and about at medication times, it’s smart to carry a few doses in a pocket, pack, or purse. That way, you won’t find yourself without your dosages when they are due. Although some folks keep their extra meds in their cars, this is not advisable when extreme temperatures are possible, as those may degrade or alter the potency of the medications. Here’s a convenient little daily pill organizer with four compartments to hold one day’s medications while away from home. 

7. Enlist another for reminders. Some folks find it helpful to clue in a trusted and reliable friend or family member, just in case they happen to forget when it’s dosage time. (If you have a caregiver, then this step is likely already in place.) 

8. Stay current with your medical team about your medications. It’s easy to lose track of medication regimens, especially if your treatment plan changes. Old medications may no longer be recommended, and new ones may be prescribed. Mixing old and new drugs can be problematic, potentially causing dangerous or unpleasant interactions, so it’s essential to keep things up to date. 

9. Keep your medication supply current. If a drug is no longer part of your treatment plan, it’s time to get rid of it, so you won’t risk taking it by mistake. Most communities offer periodic drug turn-in days, when they accept such medications and dispose of them properly and safely. (I take my Rx labels off first for privacy’s sake, but that’s just me.)

Each individual will quickly determine which steps are most helpful. The main thing is to manage medications accurately and eliminate missed or incorrect doses. 

Related items:

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• Beware of prescription drug auto-fills!
• Changing meds: Safety tips for tossing leftover drugs
• Heading off three midnight medication mistakes
• Should MS treatments stop after age 50?
• Simple OTC product helps vertigo?

  

Image/s:  Public domain photo/s, Pixabay

 

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Should MS treatments stop after age 50?

 

Maybe you’ve heard this: Plenty of multiple sclerosis doctors seem to be halting patients’ disease-modifying treatments at or after age 50. Others point to 60 as the magic age when such prescriptions may cease. The popular theory says the efficacy of such medications commonly diminishes as patients age, while the risks of continuing with the drugs may increase.

 However, recent research also reveals that up to a third of those included in the studies found their MS relapses and related disabilities increased after discontinuing their meds.

 

Holy moley. What’s a middle-aged MSer to do?

 We have to wonder whether this is an efficacy issue (for the medications), an economical one (for insurance companies), an efficiency concern (for medical providers) or perhaps an ethical one (for all of us).

 

We have to be our own advocates.

 Most definitely, each MSer needs to continue to research and learn and question his or her own care and treatment.

 Some of us may be able to stop disease-modifying treatments without suffering for it. After many years of unchanged MRIs (e.g., no new lesions), this may be an option. But this tactic is clearly not for everyone battling multiple sclerosis. Those with the most progressive forms of the disease may be least likely to benefit from such a choice.

 This simply cannot become an across-the-board standard for all MSers, regardless of health challenges, symptoms, and other conditions.

 

It’s not like the medical world can turn us out to pasture, as we age.

 Some 50-somethings (or even 60-somethings, 70-somethings, and beyond) still pursue a wide range of activities and endeavors. We may still have careers in our later years. We juggle multiple responsibilities and chase all sorts of interests.

 

Don’t let them tell you it’s all downhill from here.

 We still have mountains to climb and summits to reach. And if that means we need to continue disease-modifying therapies, then let’s make darn sure those remain available (and insurable) for us.

 

Related items:

·        Ain't nothin' pseudo about a pseudo-exacerbation

·        Beware the MS hiatus hangover

·        Changing meds: Safety tips for tossing leftover drugs

·        Reviewing the four types of multiple sclerosis

 

 Image/s: Adapted from public domain image/s.

 

 

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Simple OTC product helps vertigo?

File this one under “NOW they tell me.”

 Here we go again, I groaned, as vertigo sent me a-whirl. It started in waves of dizziness, unsteadiness, and nausea – as it generally does. But it built into a non-stop tsunami of nastiness that sent me to bed for three straight days.

 

The slightest movement or turn of head made it worse.

 By the end of day number two, I called my physician’s office. No answer. No callback.

 Tethered to bed by the raging MonSter’s thrill ride from hell, I logged my symptoms (along with what I ate, how much water I drank, and when I took my migraine medication or ibuprofen or anything else).

 On day number three, I dragged myself to my computer and accessed my patient portal. I emailed my symptom log from my smartphone to my PC and copied-and-pasted it in a message to the doctor’s office. Then I slogged my way back to bed.

 Minutes later, the nurse called with an appointment. I was to appear in the clinic two hours later.

 

Amazing how that happens when the message gets through, right?

 I arranged a ride (as I was in no condition to drive, feeling carsick merely being still).

 In the office, the doctor reviewed my symptom log, checked my vitals, and wrote me a prescription for …

 

Wait for it …

 The script said “Meclizine.”

 What’s that?

 Meclizine is an antihistamine. It’s generally used for nausea, dizziness, and vomiting from motion sickness. And it’s available over the counter. Brand names include Bonine and Dramamine Less Drowsy Formula.

 As a child, I frequently experienced motion sickness on longer car rides, especially on curvy, bumpy roads or in stop-and-go traffic. So I am very familiar with Dramamine.

 

But duh.

 It never occurred to me that Dramamine might help with MS vertigo. And no doctor or MS specialist ever mentioned that to me.

 I want those three days of miserable head-whirling bed-rest back - along with all other times I was sidelined with the whirling nightmare of vertigo.

 And now I keep motion sickness medication in my nightstand, my car, my purse, and my gym bag. I even have the chewable tablets in my running pack. Just in case.

 I’m also looking into the anti-nausea bracelets that lots of cruise ship passengers and air travelers wear to find out if those might help with MS vertigo as well. (There may be a product review here in the future.)

 

NOTE: I am not a doctor. I do not have advanced medical training, licensing, or certification in medical or pharmacy sciences. I just know what works for me. Please confer with your own medical team before taking any medications, therapies, or treatment regimens.

 

By the way, the doctor tried performing the Epley Maneuver for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), in case my symptoms happened to be caused by shifting calcium crystals in the inner ear. That made the whole experience worse. MS is unlike any other animal, and this simply proved that again.

 

Related items:

• Dizziness - Facing MS symptoms from A to Z
• Does stress overload set you awhirl with MS vertigo
• Got vertigo? Try this first
• MS is like a carnival thrill ride without the thrill.
• Side-to-side eye movement may help memory, but it makes me wanna hurl.
• Vertigo - Facing MS symptoms from A to Z
• What makes the world go 'round? Nope, it's not love.

 

Image/s: Adapted from public domain image.

 

Feel free to follow on Twitter. Please visit my Amazon author page as well.

You are invited to join the Kicking MS to the Curb page on Facebook and the Making the Most of MS board on Pinterest.

Got MS? Should you get the COVID-19 vaccine?

 Multiple sclerosis warriors are wrestling with this sticky question, as pharmaceutical giants feverishly roll out their own versions of coronavirus vaccines. For many, this is an answer to prayer. But for MSers, the whole COVID-19 issue may be stealing our sleep.

 

The answer is that there is no easy answer.

I’m not playing click-bait or bait-and-switch here. It’s the reality.

 

MS is different for everyone who has it. And that colors the answer about the vaccine.

Each of us needs to make his or her own inquiries about the vaccine.

At this moment, it seems specific testing has not been done with MS patients and COVID-19 vaccinations. That makes our decision more difficult. It does appear a group of MS experts are examining the possibilities, so we may learn more about this eventually.

Here are the questions I have asked, in my personal search for answers about the accepting a coronavirus vaccine. Frustratingly, there are at least two sides to every answer.

 

What kind of MS do I have?

Life is very different for those with the more progressive forms of MS than it is for those of use currently living with relapse-remitting MS (RRMS). So is the COVID-19 threat.

 

Based on my type of MS, how should I proceed?

Those with progressive types of MS may be categorized as high-risk and boosted ahead in the line to receive COVID-19 vaccinations. The coronavirus can be extra dangerous for those already immunocompromised and physically challenged in various ways by MS. On the other hand, their personal medical conditions (and MS medications) may increase their risk of MS complications arising in response to the vaccine.

Those of us with RRMS tend to have stretches of time (of unpredictable duration) where some or most of our symptoms seem to abate. Of course, the last thing we want to do is awaken the sleeping giant. COVID-19 can do exactly that. Can the vaccine to that too?

 

Am I taking medications that may compromise my immune system?

Many of the disease-modifying therapies commonly prescribed for MS are aimed directly at the immune system. That may forestall some MS flare-ups, but it can also leave a person extra vulnerable to infection. And that includes the coronavirus. For that reason, a physician might direct an MS patient to have the COVID-19 vaccine.

At the same time, lots of experts recommend MSers refrain from this vaccine (and perhaps also flu shots) because those shots are intended to cause the body to produce antibodies. That means rousing the immune system.

The issue is really a double-barreled shotgun for anyone with MS.

 

Which would be worse, catching COVID-19 or reacting to the vaccine?

It’s a crap shoot for sure. The simplest response sounds like a pat answer, but it rings true:

Check with your own MS doctor.

Sorry, that’s the best we can do.

 

Which COVID-19 vaccine will I be offered?

It’s too early to tell, at least around here. Currently, two coronavirus vaccines are in play, with more potentially entering the arena soon. Each may come with its own set of potential side effects and risks. We may or may not have the opportunity to pick which shot we receive, as shipments seem to target various organizations and facilities.

We kind of have to watch and wait … and pay attention.

 

As for me, I am generally leaning towards receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

I took a flu shot for the first time in a decade last fall. And I had minimal adverse reactions. I did feel a little funky for a couple days, but I have (so far) avoided the flu. My hopes are high that I will respond similarly to the COVID-19 vaccine.

 

My opinion about the COVID-19 vaccine may change before I am eligible for it.

We are likely to learn a lot more in the coming months, so I’ll be reevaluating my position on an ongoing basis. My personal characteristics place me pretty far down the list in vaccine priority.

I refuse to pass judgment on anyone who does or does not choose to have the coronavirus vaccine, although I do look forward to the day when the pandemic lifts.

 

On the up-side, we MSers are pretty good about enduring injections.

We definitely take this in stride. I cannot tell you how many people I have heard complaining about having to get a COVID-19 vaccine, simply because they dread shots.

Heck, we could do it ourselves!

 

Related items:

• Reviewing the four types of multiple sclerosis
• Are flu shots safe for people with multiple sclerosis?
• MS is like the cancellation disease.
• MS symptoms fire when we’re sick.

 

Image/s: Adapted from public domain image.

 

Feel free to follow on Twitter. Please visit my Amazon author page as well.

You are invited to join the Kicking MS to the Curb page on Facebook and the Making the Most of MS board on Pinterest.