You’re already busy with your work and personal life, and on top of all that, now you need to remember to take medication every day!
Keeping up with your prescription drugs can be a real challenge, no matter how much you remind yourself.
It has been reported that nearly 50% of patients forget to take their medicine doses, and 25% of people forget to get their regular medicine refills!
If you’re also suffering from a similar problem, known scientifically as medication adherence, this article is just for you!
1. Learn about the medicines
This might not seem like a piece of very useful advice, but honestly, learning more about your medicine and its components will give you the necessary psychological boost.
It will reinforce your will to complete your medication cycle and not miss a pill. Even learning the history behind your medical condition and its scientific basis might help you.
You don’t have to get into too many details, just read the overview and try to understand as much as possible.
Also, know more about the side effects of not taking your medicines on time, as that will help you to recognize symptoms.
2. Keep the medicines in front of you
One of the most common reasons why people forget to take their pills is because they stash them somewhere in a box and then keep the box inside a drawer or their cupboard.
This leads to the classic example of “out of sight, out of mind.” The less you see your medicines, the more likely you will forget about them.
So, you must keep the pills in a place you visit daily, such as the bathroom counter or your bedside table. This way, whenever you forget to take a pill, you can see the medicine strip right in front of you and remember to take it.
3. Buy a pill organizer box
A Pill Organizer is also an effective way of not missing a single dose. These are compartmentalized storage boxes that can be found in any pharmacy or online store.
Pill boxes are especially useful if you need to take different kinds of medicine every day or on different days of the week.
Even elderly people can easily use pill boxes since they are divided into different sections. Each section is either marked with days of the week or different hours of a single day.
Moreover, they can also be fitted inside travel bags or purses so that you have your medicine even when you’re on the go!
4. Put an alarm on your phone
Nowadays, everyone has a smartphone, and all smartphones have alarm features. So, use it to your advantage and keep a reminder about when to take which medicine.
This trick is useful, especially if you’re busy in a meeting and have forgotten about your pill or if the medicine has to be consumed only at a specific time during the day.
You can also set two or three alarms at five-minute intervals to keep reminding yourself in case you snooze the first alarm.
5. Add your medicine to an activity
Many patients feel that forgetting to take their medicines closely relates to their psychology. If you feel the same, combine a daily activity with taking your pill.
For example, if there’s a medicine that you need to take before breakfast, keep it on your bathroom shelf. Then, right after you finish brushing your teeth, pop a pill and go about your daily routine.
Or, if you need to take medicine in the evening, have it during your evening workout sessions. You can remember easily if you add your medication routine to a desirable activity.
6. Install a pill reminder
Many medicine companies have developed a “pill reminder” app that can be customized as per the user’s needs.
For example, you can insert a complete list of all the medicines you take daily in the app and set regular reminders there. Then, even if any of your medicines are about to get over, the app will alert you for a refill.
Besides this, pill-reminder apps also help you add personal notes next to each medicine so that you can easily access more information about it later.
This feature is an easy way to keep a list of all your medicines, especially right before visiting the doctor.
Over to you…
While remembering to take medicines is important, you must also keep track of the expiration dates of your pills.
Avoid keeping different medicines in physical contact if they’re out of the packaging. Otherwise, they might react adversely to each other.
If you still miss any medicine, contact your healthcare professional about your next dosage.
