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. 

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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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MS makes me clumsy sometimes.

Some days I wake up and want to be a dragon-slayer. I climb out of bed with great ambitions, hoping to tackle a long list of tasks. I want to work out and run a bunch of miles. I’d love to fill my calendar with all sorts of stimulating and enjoyable activities, especially with people I’ve been wanting to see for a while.

Basically, I aim to put multiple sclerosis on the back burner – as if that were actually possible. Sometimes we can sort of do that for a while, if we’re between exacerbations.

I should have known better today.

This past weekend, I ran a half marathon. Yes, that’s 13.1 miles. And I pushed the pace a bit. So I might have expected to feel pretty spent (and out of so-called “spoons”) for a couple of days.

That’s the staccato rhythm of MS, as I live it:  Feeling good, feeling crummy, feeling good, and so on.

I lounged around yesterday, for the most part. I finished some sedentary projects, but didn’t exert myself much physically. That was a given for the day after a big race.

Today I was raring to go.

I hit the gym for a midday break and cranked out a 5K on the elliptical machine, followed by two miles of track running and weight circuits. Midway through those, I bumped into one of the weight machines, with the metal handle smacking me squarely in the middle of my back.

“Ouch!” It’s not like I don’t already have MS demyelination in that neighborhood. And it’ll definitely leave a mark.

I yelped and grimaced and gasped. Then I kept going with my workout routine.

Eventually, I climbed into my car and reached for my seat belt.

“Yow!” I bent an entire fingernail back, catching it between the car seat and the center console.

Not exactly nimble.

It is certainly shaping up to be an MS-clumsy day. I probably should have seen this coming, as soon as my toes went numb during the first mile on the elliptical.

I almost want to wrap myself up (head to toe) in bubble wrap till this bout passes. And I am evaluating all of today’s remaining calendar commitments to determine which are worth the risks my current clumsiness can bring.

Image/s:

Adapted by this user from public domain photo

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Not all nose-dives are MS' fault

Multiple sclerosis is profoundly inconvenient. The MS MonSter can cause all sorts of mishaps, including sudden tumbles and stumbles. I cannot count the number of times I have been jogging or strolling or even standing still, only to find myself suddenly flat-out on the ground, looking up at the sky.

Hey, it happens.

Only that’s not what happened to me today.

I laced on my sneakers, grabbed the leash, and stepped outside for a jog with my dog. (I’ve committed to a somewhat ambitious mileage total, at least by my standards, for the year. So I need to get out there as much as possible, especially on days when the Upper Midwest’s version of Old Man Winter isn’t too wicked.) With the best intentions, we loped down the road towards a nearby industrial park to knock off a few miles.

Around mile two, a big truck rumbled by, kicking up some gravel along the way. As best as I can tell, my dog spooked at this commotion and bolted straight at me, knocking me off my feet. Tangled in the leash, we both toppled to the ground – right there in the street. She squealed, and I groaned.

We collected ourselves and limped pitifully homeward.

Dog photo - public domain. Other photos by this user. All rights reserved.

 

I guess I can’t really blame this on MS. Not this time.

Sure, I woke up with an MS headache this morning, but that’s sort of a given. I’m also battling a bout of heightened MS vertigo, and I’ve been dropping all sorts of things (like keys, pens, silverware, and other stuff) randomly for a few days. Those tend to be tip-offs that the MS MonSter is lurking in the background.

Still, although inconvenient MS may often make a convenient excuse for painful mishaps like falls (and often rightly so), the blame for this particular plunge lies elsewhere. Right now, she’s pouting by my feet, while I ponder how to mend both knees on a brand-new and pretty pricey pair of nifty Nike winter stretch running tights.

And I’m thinking: Once I catch my breath, I’m gonna have to stop at the store and pick up another bottle of ibuprofen. I’ll be needing that soon. 

On the plus side, I did not land on last-year’s fractured wrist. Can we just call that a silver lining?
 

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Changing meds: Safety tips for tossing leftover drugs

Pharmaceutical companies constantly research and modify medications. New drugs enter the medical marketplace frequently. Patients living with multiple sclerosis or other conditions often find that their physicians write new prescriptions to change treatment plans. Plenty of us may be instructed to take certain drugs on a trial or short-term basis, leading to an accumulation of partially used prescriptions in our medicine cabinets.

What should be done with the old meds?

Please refuse to discard unused medications in the trash. This presents an obvious risk in the home and farther down the trash disposal chain.

Don’t rinse them down the sink or flush them down the toilet, either. Consider the ecological implications of adding medicines to the water supply.

Here are a few basic common-sense guidelines for getting rid of leftover medications.

1.  Remove and destroy the labels from all prescription drug bottles or canisters. Stick the labels on a sheet of junk mail, and run it through a shredder. Or cut them up with scissors. It’s a good idea to take off drug labels routinely before throwing out empty drug containers, too. This step is important for multiple reasons.

• Anyone who finds your still-labeled prescription container will immediately know what medication you take, what pharmacy you use, what doctor treats you, and more. Whose business is that?
• Why risk having anyone pick up your prescription bottle and try to refill the medication inappropriately?
• What if someone is caught with your leftover medication, still bearing your personal information? Sure, you would likely end up proving your innocence. But what a hassle that process could be.

2. Take the now-unmarked leftover medication to an approved drug disposal location. Most counties have official drug drop-off sites. These may include local pharmacies, police departments, public safety departments, or other facilities. If in doubt, ask a pharmacist for referrals. The aim is to prevent any possibility of leftover drugs (particularly controlled substances) from winding up in places where they do not belong.

3. Follow published guidelines for sharps. Needles and other injection equipment require special care for disposal. Rules tend vary by state. Some require users to place used sharps in special FDA-approved containers. Others permit disposal in sealed, clearly marked hard plastic containers (such as laundry detergent bottles). Several communities have hazardous waste collection sites, which will accept such drop-offs.

Safe disposal of leftover medications is responsible, eco-friendly, and smart.

Related Item/s:

Got leftover drugs? September 26 is Rx Drug Take-Back Day

Image/s:

 Adapted from public domain artwork

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