I, like Sarah and so many others, used a pill carrier divided into days of the week and times of the day. I would fill this each Sunday evening while watching a TV show (memory trigger: show=fill carrier).
from Mawakapo
I use 2 weekly pill boxes. One is for my morning pills - I carry this in my purse and take my pills as soon as I get to work (sometimes the meds I take make me lightheaded so I don't want to be driving). The other pill box I keep on the end table by "my chair." I live alone so don't have to worry about kids getting into it. Saturday night I refill.
Other ideas that I've heard:
- Keep your pillbox where you see it often and after you have taken your pills leave that lid open - easy for you or a significant other to see if you have forgotten your pills.
- When you take your pills, set the alarm on your watch or pager to go off at the time for the next dose.
- There are also pill boxes that have a timer/alarm on them to remind you it's time.
from BPBunny
I keep life charts, and the ones I was given include space for meds and doses. I keep the chart on my bedside table, take everything first thing in the a.m. (except the Klonopin that I take to sleep), and fill in the chart immediately. It's easy to double check, since I see the chart again when I fill in the moods part, which I don't do until I'm wider awake. If all else fails, the charts are right there when I'm getting dressed.
Doing it all in writing is especially helpful for keeping track of all the changes in doses. If someone isn't using life charts, they could do the same thing in a notebook -- one column for the date, columns for each med and a couple extras for any new meds. Keep it somewhere real visible.
from Diane
I found a wonderful "child safe" pill box that is large enough to hold all my pills - one for morning, one for evening, and one for vitamins. It came in three colors, so I can color code my pills and always know which case to grab. I keep the boxes with me all the time, so even if I forget to take my pills before I leave for work in the morning, I don't miss a dose.
from Joy
I decided just to fill up my tiny little red Tupperware container (not much larger than a plum) with my daily dose of meds the night before, and then at the end of the day I could tell whatever I might have missed because I could literally see it in the tub. Also, for traveling with meds, while traveling around with five med bottles that look almost the same in poor lighting, I found it extremely helpful to beforehand take a black permanent marker and just write on the lid of each bottle a simple, easy-to-read abbreviation for each med (T for Topamax, A for Ativan and so on). Makes the darn things much easier to find in almost darkness or wherever you may find yourself needing to pull them out as you travel. Just a helpful hint.
