What's the biggest challenge about keeping on top of your medication? Share your thoughts for a chance to win a £200 voucher

I take tablets on a morning and a night. The one thing that does happen is if I don’t do it at the same time each day I sometimes forget. That plays havoc with the dosage. If my routine changes ie have to get up early for an appointment or even on holiday I sometimes just forget to take my tablets.

I have two dosette boxes. One for all the morning pills and one for the am /pm pills. My problem is the once a week osteoporosis pill, which has to be taken half an hour before food and no lying or bending down afterwards. I have to leave it next to the kettle, the night before, so that I remember to take it!

Spacing them out during the day is a problem for me- and remembering the prescription that is twice a week

The biggest challenge is that when you take them regularly you begin to question whether you have taken them or not as you always seem to be taking tablets and your memory tries to deceive you. Another bug bear is that when you get the next lot from the pharmacy they often change colour and/or shape which makes it even more confusing. Why can't the pharmaceutical companies be made to make all tablet xx the same shape and colour as everyone else as the older you get the more worried you get about taking the right medication. One Mr P takes is sometimes white, sometimes red/yellow and other times (now) green/yellow. You can get in a muddle if you are not careful.

I have alarms set for my evening pills as every now and again I forget to take them. It's usually when I have a change of routine, eg. going out for a meal, sitting outside in the garden, having visitors. The one I take in the morning never gets forgotten as its the first thing I do when I wake up, its next to me on my bedside cabinet. I don't know why different companies have different colours for the same tablets. I thought they would be standardised so people could recognise them if not in their packet.

I take multi medications a day, I use a weekly box system with spaces for morning, noon, evening and bedtime, I refill the boxes every 2 or 3 days so it's fairly easy to keep track of them. Only been abroad once since I have been taking multiple medications, I just informed the airline and I was allowed a medical bag with everything I needed as an extra cabin bag FOC. Cabin Crew kept the bag in a non public area so if I had to leave my seat for the loo it was being looked after.

I write the date I started a new box of tablets and if unsure I have taken or not that day I count the number of tablets left in the box against the date I took the first one - it works for me

I am well organised with ordering my meds. I know when I start the last strip of a particular one I need to put the repeat script in which I do on the NHS app. Taking meds, no problems - I take them with my breakfast and keep them close to where I sit for my meals. Collecting from the pharmacy is a breeze as I use the pharmacy at the supermarket we go to so pick them up when we do our weekly shop. But there is a big challenge for me and that's getting into the darn things! The boxes have a taped seal which I can't open with my nail (perforations would make it easy!) so I have to resort to a knife. I only take two prescribed meds and one is so small getting them out of their foil covered hidey hole is a nightmare - they often end up getting flicked over the table, or worse still onto the floor and then the search begins. I also have to take vitamins as directed by my consultant - I have to buy these over the counter but the containers often bring me to tears. I simply cannot get the lids off! The frustration is immense. Thank goodness for the beatific husband who has to come to the rescue.

I use pill boxes and make up 8 weeks' worth at a time. A note on my calendar reminds me to order every 8 weeks too.

I keep all my medication in a sealed box in a kitchen cupboard. I tip it all out each day and only put each bit back in the box when I have taken the required dose. That way I know I have taken each tablet.
Our surgery is very good, I order over the phone on a recorded message, and if I forget to order in time and will send an urgent prescription to the chemist near my home. If I am given something new to take the pharmacist rings me about a week or so later to ask how I am getting on.

Our pharmacy/surgery is outstanding, repeat prescriptions usually dealt with same day.

In the past when needing a lot of medication the challenge was getting it all into a dosette accurately I always checked back and my mistakes were frequent.
I have often thought this should be offered as a service, it’s requires a lot of concentration and often the very drugs you are taking or the nature of your illness means this is not an easy task.

It would have been one less worry for me with my Mother when she was “confused”.

One of my frustrations is with the packaging, the blister packs are not recyclable.

Justwidowed

It takes me 35 minutes once a week to sort my pills into a 7 day four times daily dosette box.I sit at a small table on my own with no TV or music.At least one pill will roll onto the floor and depending on the colour will take some finding !!.
The most awkward part is when the manufacturer changes either the shape or colour of the pills or both.
I also chew one calcium tablet twice a day,plus four insulin injections.
Thank god for the NHS and a sense of humour.

Same here, without the calcium tablets and insulin. I take vitamin D3 daily on doctor’s advice.

I have four pills to take each morning. They come in blister packs which I keep in a lidded box. I tip them all into the lid and take a pill from each pack, one at a time, putting each blister pack back into the box as I go. It works for me.
But what I do find awkward is keeping track of ordering repeat prescriptions online. Because all the pills were originally prescribed at different times, they start running short at different times. I make notes in my diary reminding me what to order when. It is a bit of a faff.

I order via the NHS app. So easy.

My GP surgery says it needs at least three working days to deal with repeats. My pharmacy also needs at least three working days to process a prescription.

I'm not complaining. It's a busy urban practice and the small pharmacy is picking up the extra work after four other pharmacies closed down. It's a tiny shop and they simply don't have the space to employ more people. They are doing their best.

However, factor in non-working days for each and you may have to allow almost two weeks for a repeat request to be fulfilled.

When it’s a drug that you know you will have to take for life and the surgery will not issue a prescription for more than a month at a time, the patient is pretty much having to request the repeat while picking up the latest supply.

I presume it’s something to so with budgeting and pharmacy stock but it all seems like a lot of extra work for everyone involved. A longer supply, say three months would save a lot of time.

I’d be interested to know what records pharmacies keep about patients who need lifelong medicines and whether ordering from pharmaceutical companies takes into account anticipated regular repeat requests.

petra

Tizliz

Why are some pills packed in 28s and some in 30s? Do you throw away the odd two or save them up for 14 months and try to remember not to order them that month?

Why would you throw them away or save them up. You just carry on taking them.
It is estimated that £480 million is wasted every year on drugs thrown away.

Because I have to take two, one comes in a. 28 pack and one in a 30 pack.

I save them up but it is a pain - and I would never throw them away but return to the chemist if not needed.

I usually remember to take any meds I need by putting them in a very obvious place then moving them back when I have taken them, but I know that Mum struggles to remember which tablets and when, and the ones that you should take after food or an hour before.So anything which takes the stress out of this routine would be really helpful.
On top of that, the GP will only prescribe for one month not two and needs 5 working days to prescribe them, which can be a nightmare to manage.

This works for me; I keep my morning pills by my bed and take them before I get up. I keep a glass and carafe of water by my bed. I store my evening pills in the kitchen and take them there before I go to bed. That way the two lots don't get confused.

I have been ordering my repeat prescriptions online for ages but just recently I arranged to have my pills delivered. It is so much nicer than standing in a long line of fed up people, often with bored children, while the dispensers rushed around trying to serve everybody as quickly as they could.

Mine are kept in a pouch I keep by my toothbrush. I have to take mine in the morning and top up 2 at night, those particular two I put an elastic band which I wrapped around the packets so easy to identify.
Leaving by my toothbrush works for me.

Tizliz

Why are some pills packed in 28s and some in 30s? Do you throw away the odd two or save them up for 14 months and try to remember not to order them that month?

Why would you throw them away or save them up. You just carry on taking them.
It is estimated that £480 million is wasted every year on drugs thrown away.

I have eye drops. At least 6 times a day with one lot.
Different eye drops. 1 vial at bedtime, followed by eye ointment.
(Also pills that make my eyes produce oil three times per day.)

Plus build up drinks to fit into the day, too.
If I misjudge my meds, I usually vomit the whole lot up, anyway.
Or, feel so rotten with them all that I have to lay down and be very still until they've gone down a bit.

Why are some pills packed in 28s and some in 30s? Do you throw away the odd two or save them up for 14 months and try to remember not to order them that month?

I sort out my DH’s meds once a week. He takes 6 a day.
I don’t take any but have eyedrops 3 times a day for glaucoma.

I take 1 tablet in the morning and 3 at night. My biggest challenge is when the brands are changed and the pills look different to what I had before. Also, I hate taking giant pills! So I break them in half and swallow twice.

henetha

Why is it that I never forget my morning tablets but have trouble remembering my evening ones? I really must find a way.

I put mine on my pillow. You can’t miss them when you pull the covers back. Fool proof.