If you have brain fog and/or a complicated medication schedule, how can you remember to take your meds - on time, every time?
Write out your ideal medication schedule - what to take, and when
It all starts by knowing what you should be doing every day. Sit down and write out your schedule for a typical day - mine looks something like this:
8 am - take x, y, z
3 pm - take yy
8 pm - take zz, z, y, and z.
Base this on a "normal" day - for me, my ideal schedule is based on weekdays (when I go to work).
If you aren't sure what you are supposed to be taking at what times, go back to your doctor and ask. Important questions include - How many times a day? Morning or evening? Before or after a meal? Can I skip doses? What should I not do when taking this medicine? (That last question helped me learn that I should take my antidepressant doses at least 6 hours apart - taking them closer together could cause seizures).
After you know your ideal pill schedule, you need to remember to follow it. Some tips and tricks:
Use a checklist or notecard to track your progress each day
Photocopy your medication schedule. Each day, take a copy of the schedule and place a checkmark next to each medication as you take it. (You can also do this on your computer.) This will help you remember what you have already taken and what you still need to take. You can also confirm that you are taking meds at the right time.
Every day, I do something like this. I use a 3 by 5 card and jot down the date and the time and name of any meds that I take. Then I place the 3 by 5 card in a plastic 3 by 5 card storage box. As days go by, I accumulate more and more completed cards. If I get confused on a particular day about what I should take or when, I can look at previous days' cards to remind myself. The repetition of writing down things like "3/15: 8 am: Wellbutrin, prednisone 7 mg, Advair" every day helps me remember my routine. Keeping a daily record of your medications is also helpful when you are making changes to your routine (adding or stopping a medication). And it can give you a record you can refer back to when filling out disability applications or preparing to visit a new doc. You have a record of what meds you have tried for problem x and how long you have been on them.
Add pill boxes
Many people also love to use pill boxes to map out their day or week's pills. When I was taking pain medication regularly (every 4-6 hours), I used a 4-compartment plastic pill organizer with the labels morning, noon, evening, bedtime. I filled up the box in the morning with my full days' worth of pills. Then for the rest of the day, I could concentrate on taking the pills and not worry so much about whether I had the right doses. Similarly, some people get massive pill boxes/sorters that hold a week's worth of pills. They fill the box on a quiet day - maybe a weekend day - and then simply take the pills for the rest of the week. You can even get a 7-day pill box system that includes four separate compartments within each day - so you can map out morning, noon, evening, and bedtime doses for each day of the week. (this also comes in a flat tray version).
Remind, remind, remind
If remembering that you need to take medications in the first place is the problem, there are a variety of helpers. You can put post-its on your computer or your bathroom mirror that remind you of which pills to take at which times. You can leave yourself a voice mail message (at home or work) that tells you what pills to take and when... just play the message each day to remember. You can set alarms on your smart phone. You can use a program like Outlook and set up individual appointments in your calendar to remind you to take the med. Outlook will even give you an on-screen warning 15 minutes before the time of the appointment (i.e., the time that you need to take the medication).
There are also fancy watches that will let you set up to 12 alarms a day to remind you to take your pills; vibrating pill boxes with built in electronic alarms (up to 4 a day); and new services that will phone, email, or text you every time you need to take a pill (these often require a monthly paid subscription). Samples of the reminder service include BlueberryRx, On Time Rx, and FreeRxReminder (which is free if all you require is text reminders).
More tips and resources:
15 Questions to Ask Your Doctor About Your Medications, from about.com
Top 5 Ways to Manage Your Medications, from about.com
Managing and Remembering Medications, from the bipolar community on About.com. Includes some inventive ways to organize yourself and to motivate yourself to take your pills - like using a spinning spice rack to hold bottles, and having a friend pay you every time you remember to take a dose.
