Meds-keeping track

[Bill]

Hi everyone! I might have a little organizational tip for keeping track of meds. and dosages, I don't know. Hopefully, it may help some. My wife, Nicola, was on many different medications, and was being switched from oxycodone over to methadone for pain control. It was very difficult/impossible to keep track of everything with the pill-keepers and relying solely on memory. We always kept a daily journal of events and meds. I started using colored pencils to differentiate the meds. she got, so that, at a glance, it was much easier to keep track of. Nausea meds (several types) were a green pencil. Chemo (Xeloda or Tykerb) were a blue pencil. Pain meds. were red. This was critical as she was switching from oxycodone over to methadone. She had to take something almost every two hours, around the clock, for weeks, so the color-coding really helped me to keep everything straight.

[SoCalGal]

Hey - good tip. I still keep a separate calendar to note tykerb time and amount every day along with my wobenzymes. Then on a pad I jot down my daily meds because every day I am sure I already took stuff when I haven't. Being an artist I like the idea of colored pencils.

[Rich66]

Thanks Bill.
Things are probably relatively simple at this point with my mom. But..I just got done calling to remind her of a pm Xeloda dose. 2 days ago she took a 12 hr dose 5 hrs early! I just bought an AM/PM divided pill box which may help. A place I used to work for has talking digital timers to that you can record reminder mesages into.

[Cannon]

Thanks for the tip Bill.

I actually have a large # of pills to take (crohn's, thyroid, depression, etc.) and they need to be taken at 3 different times of day. I got multiples of the 7-day pill boxes - small for AM, medium for midday, extra large for evening, marked them week 1, week 2 and week 3, and made index cards with a list of everything that's supposed to go in each box. I often can't remember.

I try to fill up all three weeks at once, and then I'm on top of when I need refills also. It takes a long time, but then I can just look at the box and know if I took the meds or not (as long as I can remember what day it is!).

I do also keep an excel spreadsheet with my meds and supplements, dosages, and who prescribed them. Any time I have to see a new doctor, I take a copy with me. Often they would rather hear it and write it down themselves, but at least I don't have to try to remember it. If I were smart, I would also keep a copy in my pocketbook for those unfortunate times I end up in the ER (last time it was gallbladder - nothing cancer related).

[WomanofSteel]

These are all wonderful ideas not only for me, but for my elderly parents. Thanks!