Medication organisers : When i first... - British Heart Fou...

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Medication organisers

Bassman65 profile image
14 Replies

When i first started taking one or two medications a day i was getting them out of the cupboard as required, but as the list of medications grew longer I invested in a seven day pill box which was fine when they all had to be taken in the morning.

I was then put on other medication to be taken at evening and bedtime and different morning times so progressed to a bhf seven day wallet.

The issue i have is that most of the pill boxes i have seen assume morning noon evening and night. This is fine whilst i am coherent and able to sort it out for myself but what if i wasnt....

Currently i take

lansoprazole and indapimide at 06:55

Put a dissolvable aspirin in water

Wait 30 minutes, eat breakfast,

Then take ranolazine, bisoprolol, isosorbide mononitrate, rosuvastatin and tamsulosin with the aspirin solution

At 6pm i take another ranolazine after food

At 9:30pm i take losartan

Wouldn’t it be great if the pill boxes came with time stickers instead of assuming fixed parts of the day and five compartments would be useful too (at least for me)

I know this isnt a huge issue in the grand scheme of things but it was niggling away enough for me to write it.

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Bassman65
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14 Replies
Smarticus profile image
Smarticus

Hi, have a search on amazon for dosset boxes amazon.co.uk/s?k=dosset+box... hope that link works. HTH

Bassman65 profile image
Bassman65 in reply to Smarticus

I have looked at many different websites and tons of dosset boxes, and none meet what I described above, most are 4 fixed time slots a day

Smarticus profile image
Smarticus in reply to Bassman65

Hi, sorry, I sort of skim read your post.. can you not take your ranolazine at 9.30? (I dont think you "need" to take it with food? As you say most boxes are 4 compartment. You could get (add) a 1x7, so yes, two boxes but it would solve part of the problem... Probably doesn't help..

edit: how about Anabox 7 day Weekly Pill Box? Its got 5 compartments :-)

amazon.co.uk/s/ref=choice_d...

Bassman65 profile image
Bassman65

Yes I was kind of leaning towards getting that one but may need to get a dymo labeller if they even exist in 2021 😂

andy110519 profile image
andy110519 in reply to Bassman65

The lablers do still exist. I only take warfarin once a day and rely on my phones alarm to remind me, don't know how I would cope as many as you take, lol.

Bassman65 profile image
Bassman65 in reply to andy110519

I use an app - medisafe it reminds at particular times and keeps count so i can check when i fill the pill box each week that i have the same amount it says i should have

Sunnie2day profile image
Sunnie2day in reply to Bassman65

Here's another 'they do exist' and I couldn't function without mine! I'm at a point I have to use two doss boxes, I got mine on eBay for a very reasonable price - a stout plastic container holding 7x3 compartment boxes inside. None of the compartments are marked so my label maker is brilliant for making labels for each compartment and as times/needs change it's a doddle to remove the old label for the new one.

If the only box you can find is one with markings that don't suit, you can always use that label maker to label over as needed.

If you use the search term - multi compartment medication dispenser box - on any online retail source, you'll find boxes that come as 1 through 6 compartments per day. When I bought my boxes I couldn't find one with 6 compartments or I would have bought those. Oh well, what I have works thanks to my little hand held label maker:)

Your local council can provide you with a pill reminder if you ask them. It's basically a bit like siri and it prompts you what pills to take and when. Hope this helps

mccaulref profile image
mccaulref

Hi... most pharmacies in the UK will supply you with pre loaded dosset packs of your prescription free of charge. These normally come in weekly packs with the 4 sections per day.

Boss123 profile image
Boss123

I have all my tablet delivered to me in a doset box by my pharmacy team I arranged this though my gp practice I was having the same problem at first as I'm dyslexic I found it hard enough to sort out my tablet's

Ecki profile image
Ecki

My GP surgery has a pharmacy and they are being paid to participate in a trial of dosset boxes for elderly patients on multiple meds. We were asked to try this. I only had them once, it was rubbish. Tablets in wrong compartments, some clearly changed but still wrong and labels stuck over making it hard to open, very unwieldy and difficult to open anyway, but the thing I disliked most was that there is no way of checking that you've been given the correct drug at the correct dose. I've gone back to doing it myself, with reminders from my smartwatch and Google Home, works well for me. I use little plastic pots with different coloured lids.

Fredders profile image
Fredders

I have mine in three separate one week pill dispensers with time on the front, as I take three tablets in the morning, warfarin at 6.30pm and five tablets in the evening, one of which has to be taken two hours after any food. I find it easier having the separate boxes as I have the morning one next to my bed so that I can take them first thing, then by the time I’ve fed all the cats, had a wash and got dressed the required hour has passed for me to be able to have breakfast.

Wendy

panda22 profile image
panda22 in reply to Fredders

Am your Pharmacy to put your medication in a dessert box. I makes life easier

4138 profile image
4138

hi there. I couldn’t agree more with you. I too am on several different drugs at different times of the day. It would be great if you could buy one with changeable times on them. If anyone knows if there is such a thing please do let us know!! It would be really great. I can set reminders on my phone, but being a woman I don’t have my phone on me all day long!! All the best.

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