I am almost 6 weeks post surgery and only need to take warfarin everyday. I have had to rush home because I forgot it twice or I didn't realise I'd still be out at 6.30pm. How do you remember to always be prepared and where does a man carry it? Do you have a wallet with a spot for it or maybe a mobile phone case? Or a man bag? Any ideas?
How do you always remember to have yo... - British Heart Fou...
How do you always remember to have your medication with you before leaving the house?
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Pefki
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Hi Pefki
I remember when I was first prescribed my GTN spray, I never remembered to put it in my bag when I left the house. I then started putting reminders on my phone. I have now become accustomed to taking it everywhere with me and no longer need the reminders.
Perhaps you could set an alarm on your phone for the night before to put it in a bag if you have one? You may find that if you take it out of the box, you can get it in your pocket.
I’m sure others will give you suggestions too.
All the best.
Tos
Interesting question, thank you,
I take my morning medication before I leave the home, I then use an individual daily dosett box { part of a weekly set } that I slip into my pocket, that way if I am out and about Im not tied to a time to be home.
But most medication has a ' Window ' in which to take it in, the leaflet with your drugs will tell you what that is { some are as long as 6 hours } so its not always written in stone the exact time to take them, but even spacing seems to be the norm.
Take care
Hi Pefki,I certainly do forget. I take warfarin too and on occasion have forgotten to take it with me. Generally it's no big deal, just take it when you get home, as long as it's not three days later lol. I do understand though, as a relatively new user, you are probably concerned, I certainly was, a d still am to a degree.
If you DO want to remember, there are a number of apps that have a function to remind you of things when you do something else. They are called 'if this, then that' apps. So for example 'if you leave home' (the app will detect by either GPS or it disconnects from your home wifi) then a reminder will ping on your phone saying ' tablets?', for example. You can of course program these to do whatever you think your phrase or trigger should be. You can then choose to turn around and go home, if you need them, or ignore it if you don't, before you go too far!
Good luck
Pete
I like this idea alot. As a person who will admit I am like a bit of a mad professor. I never know where my keys, sunglasses, wallet are. I love studying and I'm good at it and may become an academic after getting my PhD but with practical things, well... you get it. I have turned around from airports and rushed home to get my passport, I have missed planes, ferries etc but like most of my generation, my phone is always with me(although if I'm involved in something, I have been known to ignore my alarms). This might actually work.
Can’t answer on how you carry it around as I'm a woman who usually has an enormous bag attached to her shoulder, but when I’m at home, I keep my medication alongside the things I have to take with me when I leave the house, like keys, wallet and glasses. I don’t always need to take the meds with me of course, but it’s a useful reminder if I do.
If only I was like that....my keys are somewhere in a pocket of something I wore but can't remeber what, my glasses somewhere else, my wallet maybe on my desk or next to the bed or fallen on the floor, my pills could be next to the fridge where I went to get some water or in the lounge or somewhere else. What can I say.
Oh, Pefki - sort yourself out! 😂 Seriously, as a sometime writer, I do identify with head-in-the-clouds brain, but in the end, I became so exasperated with the time I wasted, looking for things where I thought I’d last put them down, I developed my system of keeping everything essential in one place (usually the coffee table) for a check before I leave home. (Of course, having typed that, I’m now terrified I’ve tempted fate and will lock myself out in the next few days! 😉)
Having already been taking 2 types of medication it was easy to carry around in my wallet. But now I'm taking 5 types meds, sometimes 6 with painkillers, so I usually put them all in a bag and carry them. Although sometimes I can squeeze the packets into my wallet. Somehow I still remember to take them all! Advice already been given by others, find a spot in your wallet maybe and set reminders
Hi, if your a woman it's easy, just take a bag with you,if your a man and don't want to carry a bag, I would either go to a larger wallet or zipped small wallet sized bag and always have it with you, get used to having it with your keys, keep refilling it and checking it, if you can leave more than enough meds in it.If you have a gtn spray you need a few, either loose in your pocket, or in that small bag if it can fit. You could have one in your car, upstairs, downstairs,at work. I mean if you get used to that small bag being with you at all times you won't need as many.
It may look abit bulky in some clothes,but use jackets, gilets, cardis, cargo pants, it shouldn't be a problem good luck x
It appears that from what you have said you only take one daily medication (Warfarin) so why not cut one from the blister pack and keep it in your wallet?Then if you forget on any day you have one with you and there is no need to rush home. And if you use it on any day whilst out of the house you simply replace it on your return, which is what you might need to do every month or so to ensure it is always in date.
Warfarin used to make my stomach feel sore, but now that I take it mid breakfast I'm fine. I always go on my PC every morning, to check emails, and eat my breakfast there and that's where I keep my days of the week warfarin pill box.
hi. I’ve got the Medisafe app on my phone which alerts me when my meds are due. It’s free to download. You could try carrying spare warfarin in your wallet or phone case.
Hi Pefki I’m a woman so I keep meds in my hand bag and I wrap my warfarin, and Entresto in tissue and pop it in my bag. I usually keep a strip of Bumetanide and painkillers in my bag. As a man it’s more difficult unless you get a little man bag😊or a bum bag. just wrap it in a piece of tissue and keep it in your wallet. At least then you don’t have to worry if you’re out longer. Good luck and I hope you find a nice little man bag if you decide to go down that route😊
My wallet doesn't even have a section for a coin, just cards. I have a very unpopular bum bag which I had retired because everyone hated it. It has come out of retirement on trial. 😂
I take Warfarin too and take it early evening. I've set a reminded on my Echo (Alexa) to remind me in case I forget. I never take the medication out with me because I was told as long as I take it that day its fine.
Oh, that’s interesting because I take warfarin but I was never told that. I was told to take it at 6 in case I have INR test done on that day and it shows my levels are too high or too low they can begin the change on that day.
I have a large bright yellow post it note stuck just above my front door handle which says
Glasses
Teeth
Purse
Shopping list
Keys
My friend has a similar one which is stuck on the side of her car mirror !
Love it!!!!🤣👏👌😍
My mantra - "keys, wallet, phone....keys, wallet, phone........keys, wallet, phone......
I have a small drawer right next to place at the breakfast table and I keep my meds there. If I go away overnight I have a separate set of meds in my overnight bag. I don't know about warfarin but it is my suspicion that it's not absolutely essential to take one's meds strictly at the same time every day. Unless anyone knows otherwise?
Well, I'm fortunate to have the luxury of a driver. He makes sure before we leave the house he has, medication, phones, WiFi, reading and sun glasses.. then his alarm goes off at 3pm to remind me to take them.. Such an asset to my medical life...
I had to rush back from work ONCE soon after starting meds but that was enough to embed it into my mind. I think you will be ok now. Put them in front of the tea/coffee etc .. something to have to access at breakfast.
Good Health to you
it will become a habit as time goes on. I forgot to take my meds at the start but as time went on it got to where I didn’t even have to be reminded.👍
I always keep my wallet in a ‘bum bag ‘ which has a spare compartment for such items as keys and pills.
In addition since having a pacemaker I often carry a single strap rucksack if I need to carry such items as water / light fleece or sun hat !
PH - male 77 years
Hi Pefki
iPhones have a medication section in the heart App. You can enter your daily medication in the App and set alerts to remind you to take it, or in your case remember to take it with you. I use the App for my 6 daily meds.
I keep my meds in a weekly box with daily pods. After 12 months it’s now a habit to take the days Med or more with me when I go out or travel.
If I forget, which I sometimes do! I take it as soon as I can, if it’s too near the next dose I leave it and take the next dose at the scheduled time. No harm missing a single dose.
Take care
I always set an alarm for the evening meds has helped alot 8f I'm away from home I've got a pretty pill box that I can put my pills in and then just pop it in my pocket if away longer will take my bigger box and pop in my bag..
I sort out medication first thing in the morning, while preparing breakfast. Those needed during the day I put in a pill box and put the pill box by my wallet. Those needed towards the end of the day I put in a small container near the tea bags. [I will need a cup of tea with my evening meal. :-)]
Before all this I put my bus pass on the front door mat. Leaving that at home could cause me more problems!
wow! I may need to try your idea for my evening pills. I just take two at night so I could place them near my coffee pods. I love a cup of coffee after dinner.
You are very well organized! 😊
I keep two days worth in the car just in case and usually leave my tablet cases on the kitchen worktop so there are always in view. Still occasionally forget them though
Perhaps try putting it out at night next to your cup or whatever you have your first drink out of in the morning.....but then I suppose you have to remember to have a drink lol 😉
Just get a man bag. Or keep it in the car with you if you drive. Then just set an alarm on your phone to remind you daily. Brian
I have a little canister on my keyring which I keep my most important meds and ones I need during the day. I can’t go out without locking the door & won’t get far without the car, so I have to take my keys!
As I still have to shield, I don’t go out so much, so I write the expiry date on the back of the packaging of each tablet, as I have to cut them out carefully to fit them in & still remain sealed.
(from Amazon, search for key ring pill box)
If I am out I use a small screw top vial to put my meds in. This sort of thing, but check with the size for your meds. Mine fits my Omeprazole and 2 water tabs and my Azithromycin if I'm out for breakfast!
My wife asks me, constantly.
I take my meds twice a day and I have them in a small container which lasts 7 days,.. but I need to keep my nitro spray with me at all times so my wife and daughter made me this... Maybe you could Make something similar to carry a dose of your medicine?
Dark colors
Hi Pefki,
Further to my previous post with the link, I was out all day yesterday, until 10pm, so I was well outside my normal window for Warfarin. I normally take between 4-7pm most days. Yesterday I knew I'd be home late, so I took Warfarin and Entresto with me. To be honest if I didnt need the Entresto at about 9pm I'd probably have left the Warfarin until I got home, which isnt a problem.
I dare say anyone on Warfarin has been in your position at times, particularly early on, however, in time it becomes natural to sort yourself for the day. The ramifications for missing it, focuses my mind, with the messing about with the Warfarin Clinic and the possibilty of a Tinz jab.
If i know I wont be home such as yesterday I use a small plastic bag and put it in my pocket. I've done this for years, more so since I've taken Entresto.
Best wishes
Med bag
to be fair after a while you get used to it, I always have a pill box with certain medications in just in case I’m out longer than I should, also have lots of GTN sprays dotted around, coat pockets, inside the car upstairs, downstairs Mrs’s handbag etc, hope this helps
Ali
I've made it a habit to prepare the next day's meds right before I go to bed. Being female they go in my handbag which is just as well as one of them is liquid that has to be measured out into little 15ml pill bottles. Unfortunately you can no longer get such small pill bottles and I really don't fancy carrying around 3 or 4 big bottles. I did start off carrying the whole bottle with me but after leaving it in the car in the sun, decided that wasn't a good idea.
Hi,Pefki,
You have asked such a great question! At 66, soon to be 67, I can quite simply forget why I walked to the kitchen. But for this question, I may have a sensible suggestion.
When my ex-husband had six stents placed and afterward, he was a teacher. He would (per doctor’s orders), keep tiny nitroglycerin tablets with him each day. I bought him a small round metal cylinder key chain. It had a screw-off lid and the pills could be placed inside the little metal cylinder. He sometimes fastened the keychain to a belt loop on his pants or carried it in his pocket. It was discreet and easy to carry and remember. Each night, he placed it on the dresser with his other essentials like his wallet and some change and a clean handkerchief. Each morning, he simply loaded his pockets.
I think that I bought the keychain cylinder at my local Walgreens Pharmacy, but, now, you could likely find one on Amazon or Boots.
Since ladies use purses generally, I have washed out an old prescription bottle, taken off any labels, and I just tuck in a couple of pills that I might need during the day. I use this method for carrying dissolvable low-dose aspirin.
I really hope this suggestion can work for you, or help spark a better idea. Just be careful not to try to carry too many pills together that you might confuse with one another. I used the pill cylinder idea and the empty bottle idea for one type of drug that might be needed at a moments notice.
Best wishes to you. 😊
I take my warfarin just before I go to bed, whatever time that may be. I take all my meds at the same time.
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