I take a number of different medications daily and even though I’m diligent about taking them, I have struggled with staying on top of my refills. My doctors are usually pretty responsive and quick at sending over new prescriptions but I have had instances where there was a day or two delay. This could be because it was a weekend or holiday or simply just because that’s just how it worked out.
The Problem
Staying on top of my medications is obviously important for maintaining my health, but it’s critical for pain management. I take three medications for pain management. Unfortunately I think this has resulted in a physical dependence which is different from dependence from an addiction perspective. I don’t experience any “highs” from my medicines. My pain levels are just maintained at about a 3 or 4 out of 10. But if I have to miss more than a dose or two I start to feel the withdrawal effects. It’s so frustrating.
I’ve tried a variety of different ways to organize and manage my medicine: smartphone apps, weekly pill boxes, keeping the medicine in their original containers and stored in hanging organizers or plastic boxes. All of these methods and tools can be helpful in specific situations. For example, when traveling my hanging organizer is great because it holds so much and I can grab it and zip it easily. I can keep the pills in their original containers which I think is wise when traveling anyway in case you need the info from their official labels.
But, right now I am not traveling. Keeping my hanging organizer in the bathroom meant that when people came over I’d usually have to flip it backwards or put it away in a closet or drawer. I would do this for safety reasons as well as just to keep the bathroom looking clean.
My Current Routine
Therefore, I decided to try another way for organizing my medicine. I found a monthly pill organizer on Amazon and also some small memo style notebooks. Both fit in my bathroom drawer along with other items. The organizer I purchased came with 2 sets of stickers. One set is are the numbers 1-32 and the other are the days of the week. This allows you to choose the labeling method that works best for you.
I chose to to label the individual boxes with the numbers. My thinking is that if I sit down and fill up my monthly organizer, in one sitting I could easily figure out the exact date for my expected last dose for each medicine.
In the notebook I place stickers containing info about the medication (name, dosage, prescription number) that actually come with the refill. I never paid attention much to the papers/info that come with my medicine but turns out they usually include the extra stickers the pharmacy printed but didn’t need to use. The font is which is annoying but at least it reduces the amount of writing I need to do. For each medicine I’ll put the stickers on the page and then write the expected last dose and number of refills left. Then, I create a reminder on my phone. This way if I need to know this info I can either grab my notebook or my phone.
Conclusion
Every day I can simply locate the box of the current date and take my pills. After taking my bedtime medicine I can flip the box upside down so the number sticker is not visible. This make it easy for me to identify what day it is without having to check my phone. Since the boxes for each day can be removed individually it’s also easy to grab it and take it with me if I’m going to be away from the house for most of the day.
I’ve only been doing this for about a month so I’m still unsure about if it’s going to work in the long-term. I think this routine will work well if I’m home for most of the month. I could see taking 2-3 individual date containers for a short trip. Anything longer would probably get messy. For that situation I’d prefer to travel with the pills in their original bottles and some type of larger holder or container.
But, I think this method will work well overall. It’s so nice having a rough idea of when I need to request refills and that I can “hide” my medicines in the bathroom drawer easily.
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