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Does anyone take regular medication?

post #1 of 12
1/13/11 at 5:47pm
Thread Starter 
I have an endocrine disorder (Addison's Disease) and a seizure disorder. I have to take medication for both twice a day. When I'm working and have a regular schedule/routine it is easy for me to remember to take my pills at both times. I have no problem remembering to take my first dose when I first wake up. No big deal. But for the life of me, I cannot remember to take my second dose now that I'm not working b/c my schedule is all out of whack. It doesn't affect my Addison's Disease too much, but I've had two seizures in the past week and a half b/c of missing my doses. I'm supposed to call my neurologist every time I have one, but I didn't with either of them b/c it was my own stupid fault. The medication works fine, and I don't need to up my dose, so long as I actually remember to take it. lol

All of my life, if I'm not forced (by job or school) my sleeping schedule shifts to where I'm staying awake until 3-4am and I sleep until about 2:30. It's like clockwork. Without an alarm or anything, I just automatically wake up at 2:30, almost on the dot. Not being up in the morning isn't a big deal b/c my husband takes my son to school. I'm kind of a loner in general, so being alone all night doesn't bother me either. I actually get more done around the house in the middle of the night.

When I have a "normal" schedule I just take my second dose of meds around dinner, but dinner is now around my "lunch." lol How do I figure out how to remember to take my second dose?? Does anyone have any tips or ideas for me?
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post #2 of 12
1/13/11 at 5:51pm
I remember my meds because I take them in the morning when I first get up, and right before I go to bed at night. You could try setting your watch alarm, to go off at the times you must take your med. That might work?
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post #3 of 12
1/13/11 at 5:58pm
I use the calendar on my phone to remind me to take my meds. I have a daily recurring event set up that sends an alert to my phone that says "Take AM Meds" and another one that says "Take PM Meds". I also keep the information on when I need to call for refills (either to doctor or pharmacy) in there, so it pops up to remind me to call at the right times. It didn't take long to set up. I have an android OS phone that syncs with my Google Calendar, but I'm sure you could do this on just about any phone out these days, and most people keep their cell with them all the time. There are probably some apps out there to remind you to take your pills also.

Before I started using my phone to remind me I kept my pills where I needed to take them. I had two pill organizers, one for morning and one for night. Since I take my morning pills with breakfast, I would keep that one in the kitchen next to the fridge/coffepot/cereal. The night pills went in the bathroom next to my toothbrush. Seeing the boxes reminded me to take my medicine. Of course, if I changed my routine and went out to breakfast or for some reason forgot to brush my teeth, that didn't work. Which is why I changed to the electronic reminder.

Good luck!
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post #4 of 12
1/13/11 at 5:59pm
I also thought to suggest an alarm of sorts, on your cell phone even? Daily at 6PM or whatever time.

Good luck, and be safe!!!
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post #5 of 12
1/13/11 at 6:01pm
I used to take mine right after brushing my teeth, but now I have an alarm on my phone that says "pill." Goes off at 11 every night.
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post #6 of 12
1/13/11 at 6:02pm
There are also apps specifically made for reminding you to take your meds.
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post #7 of 12
1/13/11 at 6:05pm
I take my meds every morning. My doctor switched my dosage to that since my BP was a bit high. I take 3 pills and a plavix.

DH has an organizer on the table so he can take his main meds every evening. If he misses even one dose, he cannot sleep, even with sleeping pills. He often forgets his other pills.
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post #8 of 12
1/13/11 at 6:06pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by strange_wings View Post
There are also apps specifically made for reminding you to take your meds.
Really? **running off to look** lol
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post #9 of 12
1/14/11 at 5:05am
I usually take all of my meds at the same time each morning with my coffee. Sometimes I forget on the weekends until midway through the day where my weekend schedule is always different.
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post #10 of 12
1/14/11 at 12:08pm
I set an alarm on my phone too
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post #11 of 12
1/14/11 at 2:44pm
Daily is easy, when I get up and just before bed.

What I have a problem with are the two that I take every two weeks. These I alternate on Fridays. Like you, now that I am not working this gets messed up. First I have to remember that it is Friday then which drug it is that I should be taking.

I need a calendar for this and since my computer crashed and I lost my daily planner software I have to write it on a paper calendar. Still sometimes I mess up. I need to find a replacement for my daily planner.
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post #12 of 12
1/14/11 at 6:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by strange_wings View Post
There are also apps specifically made for reminding you to take your meds.
One of these finally did the trick for me. I got an iPod Touch for Christmas last month, and one of the first things I did was downloaded the MyReminder app! It's so nice.

Previously I'd tried just remembering on my own to take it before going to bed (not so good because I don't go to bed at the same time every night) watch alarms (but I stopped wearing a watch) Phone alarms (I hated my phone's alarm system) but I love the reminder app!

I have it set up to give me a notification 10 min before I'm supposed to take my pill, and right at the time too. It gives me a Push Notification that won't be cleared unless I manually clear it, and it has me record what time I took my pill (and if I took it at all) and keeps a record so if for some reason I'm fretting about whether or not I took it the day before, I can just check to see if I recorded it! It's very nice. I don't think it was a free app, but for something as important as remembering to take my pill, it was worth it.
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