Do You Forget to Take Your Meds?
Many people who have mental & emotional health issues are on a medication regimine. If you are anything like me, there may be times you forget to take your meds, and you (and your family/friends/coworkers) can probably tell, too. If you struggle to faithfully remember to take your medications, read on, print this out, and then put it on your fridge … remind yourself that you need to remember to take your medications!
Put a post-it note on the fridge with a note “Take your meds!” or something to that effect. Maybe post a picture of yourself or a loved one who will “remind” you to take you medications!
Do what I do - keep your medications on your nightstand. I take three pills before bedtime and always have the supply right there, along with a large Nalgene bottle filled with water. The Nalgene bottle filled with water also comes in handy when you wake up thirsty at 3am!
Do what else I do - keep your morning medication by your toothbrush, your contact case, your breakfast bowls - anything that you regularly see first thing in the morning. I keep my anti-depressant right next to my compact case AND toothbrush so that I remember to take it every day.
If you’re feeling really motivated, and have a friend who takes medications daily, set up a plan where you call to remind them every day to take their medication. It may sound silly, but it’s also a good way to catch up!
I have heard of peple using their voice mail or their cell phone service to call them and remind them of doing things - you could probably set this up for reminders to take your own medication as well.
My nighttime meds are not only on my nightstand, they are in a weekly pill box. This makes it easy for travelling and I always know that I’ve gotten all my meds when the little boxes are emptied!
You can also, I have learned from my work computer, have reminder set up (kinda like your cell phone alarm) to remind you to take your medcations when you turn on your computer. It works well if the first thing you do is check this blog!
January 13th, 2007 at 5:22 pm
If your medications are time-sensitive and you have a mac, you can also use iCal to send you reminders. It would be really handy for people who take things every-other day or once a month or whenever, too, or regimens that can get super-complicated (can’t take med A within 3 hours of med B but doses of B have to be 8 hours apart etc.).
January 16th, 2007 at 10:38 am
Great tips, Sarah! I used to work in a psychiatric hospital as a social worker, and I can’t tell you how many times we had patients who were readmitted for stabilization because they’d gone off their meds!