I gather, from reading another post, that not everyone uses a pill dispenser. I find mine invaluable. There are lots of different ones on the market, but I find most of them too small.
I load my 'arsenal' once a week, in my case on Sunday, carefully checking off the pills. There is a second divider, but I removed that since I don't take pills at lunchtime, except for painkillers if I need them. Once a month or so, I put all the compartments in the washing machine. As the units are all separate, if I'm going away for a night, I can just take one.
They do make them with reminder alarms, but so far, the bright red case has never failed to attract my attention at the right time.
I'm sure that most of you have your dispensing all organised. I just thought this might be helpful to newcomers, as I remember how overwhelmed I initially was by so many bottles and packets.
Jora
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Jora
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I was getting in a muddle as I take 3 of mine in the evening but one is alternate evenings so bought a smaller version of yours, saves me wracking my brain, 99p from the chemist. Makes all the difference. All the others I taking in the morning so I don't bother with those.
Another tip which some may find useful, I store my MTX pens in piles & write on the packet R or L. Only injecting weekly it serves as a reminder which side to inject although since switching to pens I'm in no doubt as the bruise from the previous week reminds me!
That pull dispenser looks different from anything I seen before. I think us Canadians must be way behind the times! Or perhaps I just don't know where to look. I have a plastic big square thing with flip tabs. It only has Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and an evening tabs. I need more, bit these plastic squares get ridiculous in size and don't fit in my purse and are very noticeable if I have to take in public. I like yours! You can take each one out!
That's why I get mine blister-packed. Honestly, it was either that or the plastic one, and I'm taking so many pills now that I was as likely as not to mess up filling it anyway!
I take 30 pills plus 5 injections every day lol so I'm very very happy I don't need to search all the boxes lol, it would take days to sort one day out. Blister pack from your GP has got to be the only way forward.
Forgive me, but I don't quite understand, or maybe it's that wasn't very clear in the first place. I only fill up my boxes once a week. I don't do it a day at a time, but, for example, put omeprazol in all the compartments, then prednisilone, etc. That way, I make sure I don't forget anything, and importantly , the Methotrexate is not overlooked on the Wednesday.
Do you mean that all of your medications are blister-packed in weekly lots (Monday, Tuesday …. etc) and that you don't have to go to each bottle, or packet for each of the pills every day?
If so, I totally agree that that is brilliant, but I didn't know that such a service was available.
Yes sorry, they put an entire weeks worth of pills in a blister pack the pack is decided into day and into morning, dinner time, evening and bed time. Which makes life so much more livable lol. It's a brilliant idea. I asked my gp who then sent request to chemist who then deliver to me every Monday. I have 180 pills a week so it helps so much.well worth a chat with gp.
Several of you seem wedded to blister packs and I am pleased you are happy with them. I'm sticking with my dispenser! With packs, I would have to remember to take them every day and I'm sure some of them would be too large to be blistered.
At the last count, I take over 120 pills a week. I think I would get repetitive strain injury from popping that many blisters! Still, there is probably a pill for that…
Reading this reminded me of what a huge step it was to buy my first pill dispenser! Even tho' it was dead cheap, the fact of investing money in getting one was my first real acknowledgement that I had a chronic disease that wasn't going away. Sadly I bought one that was too small, so very quickly had to get another one.
And now, rather than eyeing up high heeled shoes and so on, I've spotted a VERY snazzy one in wood and leather, rather than plastic and am seriously tempted. How life changes!
I often think that when my h for the umpteenth time points out the snazzy patterned walking sticks in our chemists. If I eventually admit to myself I have the need for one I will definitely get one that stands out!!
Mine stood out too far. It was stolen! I had to get a cab home. It wasn't ideal in any case as it didn't have RA-friendly handles. I'm now on NHS crutches. I have thought of buying a snazzy coloured pair, but I've decided tho believe that, once my knees have been replaced, I won't need crutches. I also have a collapsible stick with a very good shaped handle. The only problems are. a) My hands/ wrists aren't strong enough to pulls the sections apart and collapse it. b) it nearly caused a nasty injury to someone who went to de-collapse it for me. It sprung open violently. I still use it ( it has an adjustable length) but not the collapsible feature.
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