Last night my other half asked ""what's up?"" as I was holding one of my packs of tablets with a confused look on my face just before bed. I said ""I'm trying to remember if I've taken one of these today already"".
In recent weeks I've found that when I should have run out of amtihistamines that I've had a couple left over, same with montelukast. It's the other way around with my Seretide as I'm nearly at the end of my inhaler and don't have enough doses left (I know when I started it therefore when it should run out) and I've no idea when I took the double doses, ooops. As meds need taking at different times of the day and different frequencies I'm finding it hard to keep track. Add some Pred and antibiotics and I'm completely hopeless.
Does anyone else find this? And what do you do to try to take the right meds at the right time? I was thinking of making a little tick list for everyday, but I'm interested to know if you've found something that works well for you. Would love your ideas.
Oh I get this! Symbicort sometimes seems to run out before it should, and when I was on three puffs twice a day it was mostly ok but as I liked to space it out there were times when I couldn't remember if I'd taken 1 or 2 already! Otherwise it's not too bad for me for regular meds as mostly what I take is first thing in the morning and last thing at night - so ok.
What I really have problems with is 'how many puffs of reliever have I had?' as I do sometimes find myself wondering. I'm not usually that forgetful but I think it's having to leave a minute or so in between, because then I do something else and forget; as Atrovent can take a while to work it's not always easy to tell for a while whether I've had the proper amount. I'm trying to train myself to leave the cap OFF after the first one and put it ON after I'm done, so I know if it's open then I need another puff - or if out, to have it out of my bag till I'm done. Ditto with the Symbicort - open and on the side till I'm done, though that's easier with two puffs than with three.
Montelukast I find easier for some reason - though I did manage to misplace a box and re-order early, confusing the pharmacist even more than I do already!
Sorry for ramble - not sure if this helps, just to let you know you're not alone! I do feel like an old lady though - not just all the meds but forgetting what I've taken...
Snap! I'm exactly the same!!!
I even managed to swallow a spiriva capsule recently which I should have inhaled via the handihaler as I was distracted........ Ooops!
Maybe a reminder with alarm on your mobile?
Might try taking my own advice on this one
I have to juggle 20 different meds and find that I have to look at a small chart because I forget what has to be taken when, where and how. Especially as I have a couple of meds which have to be taken a couple of hours appart.
I use 2 x 7 day pill holders and once a week fill them up, one for am and one for pm. I put my lunchtime tablet in the am and set a reminder on my mobile for that one. Otherwise I would be absolutely useless.
I get confused Philomela with whether I have reactivated the Symbicort between puffs as it is such an automatic thing to do that I don't remember doing it. I'm ok remembering the 3 puffs though.
Tablets are fine, I use a pill box. I'm on so many meds though that I had to get one designed for vitamins and supplements!
I'm shocking at remembering my inhaler though, morning and evening ones are fine, but the lunch and teatime ones, I'm terrible with!
Thank goodness I'm not alone on this one, I'm terrible at remembering!! I wake up in the morning not sure if I've taken my singulair, then get tucked up in bed not sure if I've taken my inhalers. I never know whether just to take them and risk doubling the dose or leave it and risk not taking enough. At the moment I'm on extra medication that needs taking 6 hours apart just to add to the chaos
Oh yes JF, had forgotten but I get the same with 'have I activated it?' Though I think in general I had and I managed to get all three, judging by the shakes and extra leg cramps lol.
I'm really glad I'm on something that's just morning and evening now though, as when I was on Intal I did find it annoying taking it 4 times a day and often forgot the teatime one (are you on that Piglet? Or is there another one you have to take not just morning/evening?)
I do like only having one reliever atm too - taking Ventolin AND Atrovent together, which I used to do as I found it worked a bit better, was a bit of a faff though there are worse things.
I'm actually surprised by how easy it actually is. As I'm not severe I'm not going to be on the piles some of you are (and I only have one non-asthma thing which I've been on for life so forget about, and I don't have hayfever which maybe makes it easier, but I don't feel like I'm on lots of medication unless I have to fill out a form saying what I take! Which I guess is good. On the other hand, I don't feel like I'm quite on top of things yet!
When my meds got upped I had the same issue, I take some tabs in the morn, some at night and 3 lots during the day, to help with this I bought a tray oil, dispenser with 7 individual trays, then each morning I take out the days tray and leave if where I can see it, and it's clearly obvious if I have taken them or forgotten and then just repeat each day, I find this helps no end!
With the inhailers, the symbicort I can take up to 16 puffs a day and got well confused so bought a clip lap counter thingy, I then click it each time I take one and reset each night back to zero and since doing this have not got confused once!
When I was on Symbicort SMART I used to have a small piece of paper in my pocket from one of those little square pads and do a tally chart each day.
I like it at the moment that I don't really need to count my ventolin puffs cos I know I need it daily but I am not needing my neb (touch wood) so know I don't need to know the quantity.
It looks as if we're all as bad as each other. I can manage tablets using a pill box but I have to set reminders on my phone if I need to use an inhaler more than once a day. I don't know about anybody else, but I feel such a fool when I rush off to find my inhaler immediately after I've picked up a message on my phone. Still, it's nice to know I'm not alone!
Thank you everyone. It's great to know what's working for others. Think I might try a pill boxes and setting some reminders on my phone for inhalers.
JF, Philomela- when I was on pulmicort I would get the ""have I activated it"" moments too.
I'm glad I've never been on SMART though, as I'd have no idea how many puffs I'd taken, even if I had a click counter or a tally chart I'd start to wonder if I'd clicked the counter or not.
Yesterday morning I took my seretide, rinsed with water then spat out. Then I took my antihistamine and took a mouthful of water but instead of swallowing the pill I rinsed and spat out. Oh well, at least I had a few spare. Glad I don't have anything in a handihaler otherwise I would probably do the same as you Angelica
For anyone with an iOS device (iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad) there's a handy app called Pillboxie which has a clear, easy to set up interface which will remind you to take your meds and show you if you've taken them. Of course, this relies on you having the device nearby when the alarm goes off...! I've converted to this from another one called Dosecast, which is also very good. Both are paid for apps, but they're not much and are, in my opinion, well worth their small cost.
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