Ways to remind self to take meds, please post the things that help you.
TazKat said
Oct 2, 2014
oh gosh, when I was on the incivek (the one u had to take with 20 grams of fat every 8 hrs). I had my phone set on an a sound just sounded like a bunch of aliens coming out their spaceship.. I heard that sound on my mom a weeks or so ago, & I just cringed... ughhhh.lol with the solvadi in the morn with 2 riba & at night 1 riba, shot on Friday morn. which really did me in. if I recover from this one 100% I will jump as high s my ole body will let me.. lol
peace out
Taz
lilbit said
Oct 1, 2014
You will think this is a bit batty but my dogs remind me to take my meds. I have a dog that has seizures and has to have meds twice a day. When I give my girl her pill the other two have to have a treat also. They start reminding me around 6:00 am that it is time for dog bisquits. After I give them theirs I take mine. Same in the evening. They start hounding me around 6:00pm it is time for supper. They get theirs and then I take mine. Works like a charm. Heaven help me if I forget. They are huge and hard to ignore. hehe
wmlj1960 said
Oct 1, 2014
Fireman Rob wrote:
I went old school for keeping track but it was more of a count down system for me. To keep it simple, I had three months of calender pages from an extra day planner that I taped to the fridge. Every morning after taking my meds, I put a large "X" through the day immediately following the glass of water.
Worked for me.
-Rob
That's a great idea to keep track of my lactulose because I take my pills in my bedroom but the lactulose (syrup) is kept in the fridge and I also need a tablespoon from the kitchen to measure the dosage. I have no way of keeping track of whether or not I went to the kitchen to take this and with failing memory, I imagine a lot of doses get missed or doubled. Lactulose is not as crucial as my other meds but it still needs to be taken consistently and this will help with that. Thanks Fireman Rob!
wmlj1960 said
Oct 1, 2014
Thanks everybody!.
I just moved and it will be a while before I develop a routine so I'm limited for a while on what I can count on doing at the same time every day.
I have a basic assurance wireless phone with no internet or apps but I do use the factory alarms on it. I do have 2 old deactivated cell phones too with good batteries so that's a great Idea Tig. The phones don't have to be activated in order for the alarms to work.
My girlfriend moved out of state over a month ago and I also move to a new state a couple of weeks ago, so having someone call me won't be much of an options until I make some new friends. And my disability check is not sufficient to survive as it is, so I can't afford a service to call me.
I do have a strict rule that may have saved me many times but I'll never know. And that is to never dismiss / cancel the alarm until the pill has been swallowed. My ability to complete a task before starting another is getting worse by the day, so I know something may distract me right when I'm about to swallow the pills. If I don't notice the untaken pills quickly then It may be hours before I do. So I always just snooze the alarm if I haven't actually swallowed the pills yet. Better 10 minutes late than hours late.
I may be over paranoid about possibly missing a dose, but I consider this paranoid to be much healthier than paranoid from drugs!
Now where are those old cell phones...
Fireman Rob said
Oct 1, 2014
I went old school for keeping track but it was more of a count down system for me. To keep it simple, I had three months of calender pages from an extra day planner that I taped to the fridge. Every morning after taking my meds, I put a large "X" through the day immediately following the glass of water.
Worked for me.
-Rob
Scruffy said
Oct 1, 2014
I had an app on my itouch it worked ok. I really didn't need a reminder though on the old triple tx thats all you did all day was take meds. Like Tig said i'm sure there is a service that will call you to remind you.
Loopy Lisa said
Oct 1, 2014
My husband phoned me to take meds on time as well as alarms. :D
Tig said
Oct 1, 2014
Sounds like you've got all your bases covered with the list you offered. There are apps available for both iOS and Android that will notify you but they are similar to your alarms, but redundant systems saved me more than once. AppaGrapha is one of those new apps. I'm sure we can track down a service that would call you and make individual contact, but that might be at a financial cost. Can you change the alarm tone on your phone to that obnoxious "old phone" ringer? When it's set to ring until turned off, you would be sure to hear it. Do you have a second phone that you aren't using? You could set it as a secondary alarm and it would be small enough to carry with you. Again, redundancy is good!
Tig
Dzdayscomin said
Oct 1, 2014
Here's an Idea....commit to doing something each day every day at the same time you need to take those pills, it'll be part of the routine.
Make it something fun that you want to do....not excercise or labor activity that will be easy to say...ummm forget.
wmlj1960 said
Oct 1, 2014
I take meds 3x per day (9am,3pm,9pm) and I use the alarm on my cell phone mostly as a reminder, but also have 2 alarm clocks and use notes on my TV remote, car keys, and fridge. But yesterday I was napping at 3pm and my cell phone had a shirt covering it and the 2 alarm clocks are set for 9am,9pm only. So I was about an hour late taking 3pm meds. Looks like I need to buy another alarm clock but I'd like some other idea too just in case.
BTW I take my HCV Tx meds at 9am and 9pm so this occurrence did not effect them, and I want to keep it that way. So if you have a trick or a few that you use for reminders, please share so we all can reduce the chance of any of us missing or being late on a dose.
HERE is a few ideas I found on the Prezista site (one of the non-HCV meds I take).
oh gosh, when I was on the incivek (the one u had to take with 20 grams of fat every 8 hrs). I had my phone set on an a sound just sounded like a bunch of aliens coming out their spaceship.. I heard that sound on my mom a weeks or so ago, & I just cringed... ughhhh.lol with the solvadi in the morn with 2 riba & at night 1 riba, shot on Friday morn. which really did me in. if I recover from this one 100% I will jump as high s my ole body will let me.. lol
peace out
Taz
That's a great idea to keep track of my lactulose because I take my pills in my bedroom but the lactulose (syrup) is kept in the fridge and I also need a tablespoon from the kitchen to measure the dosage. I have no way of keeping track of whether or not I went to the kitchen to take this and with failing memory, I imagine a lot of doses get missed or doubled. Lactulose is not as crucial as my other meds but it still needs to be taken consistently and this will help with that. Thanks Fireman Rob!
Thanks everybody!.
I just moved and it will be a while before I develop a routine so I'm limited for a while on what I can count on doing at the same time every day.
I have a basic assurance wireless phone with no internet or apps but I do use the factory alarms on it. I do have 2 old deactivated cell phones too with good batteries so that's a great Idea Tig. The phones don't have to be activated in order for the alarms to work.
My girlfriend moved out of state over a month ago and I also move to a new state a couple of weeks ago, so having someone call me won't be much of an options until I make some new friends. And my disability check is not sufficient to survive as it is, so I can't afford a service to call me.
I do have a strict rule that may have saved me many times but I'll never know. And that is to never dismiss / cancel the alarm until the pill has been swallowed. My ability to complete a task before starting another is getting worse by the day, so I know something may distract me right when I'm about to swallow the pills. If I don't notice the untaken pills quickly then It may be hours before I do. So I always just snooze the alarm if I haven't actually swallowed the pills yet. Better 10 minutes late than hours late.
I may be over paranoid about possibly missing a dose, but I consider this paranoid to be much healthier than paranoid from drugs!
Now where are those old cell phones...
I went old school for keeping track but it was more of a count down system for me. To keep it simple, I had three months of calender pages from an extra day planner that I taped to the fridge. Every morning after taking my meds, I put a large "X" through the day immediately following the glass of water.
Worked for me.
-Rob
I had an app on my itouch it worked ok. I really didn't need a reminder though on the old triple tx thats all you did all day was take meds. Like Tig said i'm sure there is a service that will call you to remind you.
My husband phoned me to take meds on time as well as alarms. :D
Sounds like you've got all your bases covered with the list you offered. There are apps available for both iOS and Android that will notify you but they are similar to your alarms, but redundant systems saved me more than once. AppaGrapha is one of those new apps. I'm sure we can track down a service that would call you and make individual contact, but that might be at a financial cost. Can you change the alarm tone on your phone to that obnoxious "old phone" ringer? When it's set to ring until turned off, you would be sure to hear it. Do you have a second phone that you aren't using? You could set it as a secondary alarm and it would be small enough to carry with you. Again, redundancy is good!
Tig
Here's an Idea....commit to doing something each day every day at the same time you need to take those pills, it'll be part of the routine.
Make it something fun that you want to do....not excercise or labor activity that will be easy to say...ummm forget.
I take meds 3x per day (9am,3pm,9pm) and I use the alarm on my cell phone mostly as a reminder, but also have 2 alarm clocks and use notes on my TV remote, car keys, and fridge. But yesterday I was napping at 3pm and my cell phone had a shirt covering it and the 2 alarm clocks are set for 9am,9pm only. So I was about an hour late taking 3pm meds. Looks like I need to buy another alarm clock but I'd like some other idea too just in case.
BTW I take my HCV Tx meds at 9am and 9pm so this occurrence did not effect them, and I want to keep it that way. So if you have a trick or a few that you use for reminders, please share so we all can reduce the chance of any of us missing or being late on a dose.
HERE is a few ideas I found on the Prezista site (one of the non-HCV meds I take).