Hello everyone,
I've just seen the post from carneuny about forgetting to take meds!
Reading it and the replies about lapses of memory, l realised that what really is scary is forgetting that I have just taken them, (During a distraction or TV etc)
How dangerous is accidentally "double dosing"? And what do you do if you do it? Could happen when you're on twice daily dose 365 days a year?
I'm on Bisoprolol and Apixaban
Best wishes
I don’t worry about it. I have forgotten to take meds and on a couple of occasions double dosed Apixaban. The important thing to remember is ‘if in doubt - do nout’ ie:- do not try to make up for a possible missed dose by taking an extra dose or fitting one in between.
Both will take some time to clear your system so you will have some coverage for 12 hours until your next dose.
Warfarin is a little more complicated as the double dosing will affect INR and that is a different story but don’t I don’t worry at all about Apixaban.
If I can’t remember if I have taken a dose - and I have something like 16-20 tablets a day to take - is it’s better to miss a dose than to take a double dose.
Several things you can do - Mark the Apixaban foil pack at the top with M = Morning N - Nightime with a Sharpie so you will have an instant reference. I can’t remember if Biso comes in a pack? For the loose tablets I need to take I transfer the number I need for the day into a pill box so just by counting them I know. I also have an alarm on my watch which is persistent until I press it but I found this is not foolproof as I will stop the alarm sometimes but forget the pill!
I know exactly what you mean and forgetting whether I've just taken my pills, or not, is one of my fears too. The trouble is at times we take them routinely without concentrating on what we're doing.
I now have to take three times daily a half of a white pill, but it's not the same pill - just two different types, taken at different times, if you can understand that. My way to get around this confusion is to keep one lot of pills on my bedside cabinet and the others out on the kitchen counter. Oh yes and then there's my pill box which contains my daily Warfarin dose. I do have a reminder set up on my mobile phone to take thyroid medication an hour before eating too.
I've sometimes found a tablet on the floor too, but where has it come from!!
It's all so complicated isn't it? We're growing older and our memory's are not as sharp as they used to be.
I think more pill boxes neatly labelled may be the answer.
Jean
We are not medically trained Sebhel so we can only recommend following the instructions contained within leaflets issued with the medication. In terms of the potential outcome of double dosing an anticoagulant, I guess the assumption is that, for a short period, you could be more vulnerable to a spontaneous internal bleed and cuts/nosebleeds etc will take longer to stop bleeding. Our advice is generally to (metaphorically) wrap yourself in cotton wool and not do anything which could increase the risk of bleeding for around 24 hours. Also, ring 111 and seek their advice as to what is best thing to do. Regarding betablockers, as these reduce heart rate and blood pressure, again ring 111 or in extreme cases, go to A&E if either of these events occur. Most of us take precautions to prevent it from happening but we are human (well most of us are 😉) but I cannot recall hearing anybody post about issues which have occurred due to an accidental overdose of medication....
This had happened to me so many times....did I take them or Not??!....i seem to take so many pills that I now diligently have them in daily am and pm boxes and am alarm on phone for a 3pm tab.( I've now been able to stop my blood pressure tab and iron tab so that's 2 less to think about)
My short term memory isn’t as good as it was and I find that any distraction or deviation from routine make me more like to forget if and how often I’ve taken my meds.
I try some tips - I never have a discussion to distract me when tablet taking and I try to think ‘tabs’ whilst taking them. Physical evidence helps too - a labelled box or a dish which should be empty or with the day’s dose showing allows me to check what I have done. I find that the dose I forget most often is the evening lot - morning ones seem easier to remember.
Get a seven day pill box and USE IT. One has to be pretty stupid to forget what day it is. By the way what day is it?
Sunday .......
Hi Bob
Hope you fit and well now! Thanks for advice
I have box at home, which my better half supervises!
Problem is sometimes when I travel (work), stay in a pub, and have the pills in my pocket. I usually take spare ones, just in case of delays, which we scared could lead to forgetting either way - ie maybe "double dosing"
Old age and accumulated worries ?
Take care
I take my box everywhere even for over night trips as you never know how long delays may be.
I do the same Bob. I have pill boxes..with the day and am and pm. I bought them in Lidl but Amazon do them, so cheap. Once a month `I make them up. I have a sweet little baker light screw top container. I put the next dose into that..and put it on the hall table. If I go out I take it with me. We have extra medication in the car. I take four tablets am and two in the evening. So far so good. (Hope you are doing well x) ( stroke the cat and rest x)
I have missed or taken the wrong pill at the wrong time and have been fine, but a pill box and a mobile phone reminder is a great help to me.
7 day pill box set,with 4 section helps me a lot! But have still sometomes forgotten evening doses! Phone alarm goes off 9 pm...may be on house phone or in loo......next morning discover last nights pills in there still!!! Ho hum..must try harder.....
The pill boxes work for small pills from a bottle BUT if in a foil pack such as Apixaban DO NOT remove until you need to take them as humidity will dissolve some casings - as I found out to my cost.
I posted pic in separate post of how I mark foil packs with a Sharpie to avoid confusion.
I have four pillboxes, each holding a week, two morning, two evening. That way I have up to two weeks in hand. I refill every few days and make sure that I have seven tablets in the morning pack and three in the evening.
Even with all that palaver, I stopped before putting them in my mouth one day and realised that I had 2 x 10mg of Bisoprolol in my hand. 🙈
My dose is 12.5 mg, a 10 mg and a 2.5 mg, which is the maximum dose allowed with HF and AF. I had no idea how many days I had been taking the incorrect dosage, although it can’t have been more than four as I would have refilled the box then.
I had felt a bit strange for a couple of days, but I reckoned that, if I was still alive 24 hours after my overdose, I was going to be ok.
Double dose of Apixaban this morning 
Possible double dose of edoxaban 
Extra dose of pradaxa 
AF and now coronary artery disease at 47. I recently had a CT angiogram and the results aren’t great. Back to being scared and worried.
