Kicking MS to the Curb

Kicking MS to the Curb steps out of the box of multiple sclerosis with determination and humor. The MS journey brings challenges and concerns, stumbles and successes, triumphs and trouncings. We celebrate races run and battles won. And we stumble, reel and rise to try again.

Throughout, the orange thread traces our dogged determination to continue placing one foot in front of the other for as long as possible - until we win, until healing comes, or until the medical miracle is found.

Showing posts with label memory. Show all posts

Tuesday

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.)

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.

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:

Image/s: Public domain photo/s, Pixabay

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Friday

Overdo leads to overdue.

Multiple sclerosis warriors know firsthand. We really do. We’ve been there again and again. But lots of us still fall into this trap. OK, repeat after me:

Overdo leads to overdue.

(And that leads to overdone.)

Yes, it’s true (even if this long-time career editor just broke a couple of grammatical errors to get the point across).

When we feel pretty good, we tend to make the most of it. We do and do and do. And we keep on doing until the MS MonSter rears up and swipes at us with his ugly claws. By then, we’re already nearly spent, because of all that doing.

Our “Do-be-do-be-do” has done got up and gone.

That makes us easy prey.

I’m there today. Right now. A couple of weeks of doing and overdoing are pushing into peril. On the up-side, I’ve knocked several items off my to-do list. I’ve enjoyed lots of intriguing and enjoyable activities. I’ve met my personal fitness goals for several days in a row. And I’ve juggled more than the usual amount of stress and emotional overload.

Guess I sort of earned this setback.

Tomorrow, maybe I’ll be back on my feet. But for today, I’m sending more than a few calls directly to voice mail. I’m tabling a couple of not-quite-due deadlines. The overachiever hat will have to sit on the shelf for a bit.

I think every relapse-remitting MSer knows exactly what I’m talking about. It’s a classic condition. When we feel good (or less terrible), we usually have more energy and less pain. We get up and go. We eat what we want. We accomplish amazing amounts of activity (at least by MSer standards). We stay up later than usual.

And we wonder if this is how everyone else feels all the time.

It’s almost a high to not feel low.

And maybe, just for a short spell, we almost forget what it feels like to battle MS with both hands and both feet and everything we’ve got. Until the MonSter rails on us and reminds us.

Yup. Overdo leads to overdue. And that leads to overdone. But sometimes it’s sort of worth it.

Image/s:

Word art generated by this user.

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Monday

Zoning Out - Facing MS symptoms from A to Z

Yesterday, I rode in a car through a raging thunderstorm. The clouds were so low to the road that they blocked most of the visibility. The driver had to follow the brake lights of the vehicle in front of us for several miles until we had passed through the stormy area.

Cruising through the foggy stretch was disorienting and uncomfortable. It took all of the focus the driver had, just to keep our car moving forward safely and on-route. Even so, it was a struggle to focus and stay on course.

Sometimes multiple sclerosis feels sort of like that.

People call it “brain fog.” Similar symptoms can accompany other medical conditions.

Folks report attention issues, focus problems, memory challenges, and multi-tasking difficulties with chemotherapy, chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic stress, depression, exposure to toxins, long periods of physical inactivity, lupus, menopause, nutritional deficiencies, pregnancy, sleep deprivation, when taking certain medications, and during the grieving process after a loved one’s death.

Anyone can zone out a bit when overtired, overburdened, or overloaded. MS just tends to tip the scales in that direction much of the time.

Despite our earnest efforts to pay attention (especially when we’re viewing programs and presentations or when someone is speaking to us), we may zone out for a moment. We might miss a piece of something a person just said, take a few extra moments to answer a question, or forget an appointment.

Sensory overload can do that to us. So can MS fatigue, pain, or any number of other MS-related symptoms that interrupt our daily functioning and ability to concentrate.

MSers join the countless crowds who keep daily calendars, to-do lists, and other reminders, just in case they zone out. We might ask others to help us remember something important (although we cringe at the idea of inviting nagging). We set up notes on our smart phones.

And we try like heck to stay in the zone.

Note to loved ones: Beware of telling an MSer that he or she has brain fog or is zoning out. It’s much safer, more tactful, and wiser to let us tell you about it, if we feel like sharing.

Series title graphic adapted from public domain artwork.