Nearly 10 months ago, I wrote the post “3 Tips: Taking Medicine on Time.” At that point, I was still on monthly chemotherapy and taking many more daily pills than now. That post included strategies I practiced for many months, such as setting an alarm at the time to take medicine, keeping a checklist and checking off medicine morning and afternoon, and writing start dates on medicine boxes.
While I’m not on as much medicine as I was earlier (thank goodness), I still have a fair number of pills that I have to take every day for the seizure management associated with my brain tumor. It’s important that I take them every twelve hours. I have to admit - I’ve lapsed with my checklist over the past few months. And even though I still set an alarm twice a day, I often get up to take medicine and then get distracted. A few minutes later, I can’t remember - did I take the pills? Did I forget to take them? It’s become so routine that it’s easy to forget.
Last week, I went ahead and ordered myself a pill box. Never mind the fact that I already had one from last year. I don’t think I was ready to use one yet at that time. It’s still sitting on a shelf, and doesn’t even fit the number of pills I need per day. And to be totally honest, I felt that I'm too young for a pill box! So that’s that.
It sounds silly, but of all of my medicine management strategies, the pill box has proven most effective. I count out and put my pills in the box for the week on Sunday night, with each day’s pills in their own color-coded and labeled space. I take half of them in the morning and half of them in the evening. I leave the box in accessible plain sight for easy reference. If there’s any doubt that I didn’t take them or not, I just check the box and count the number of pills left for that day.
Based on my experiences thus far, the pill box works. If you’re like me and get easily distracted, it’s a great addition to medicine management strategies. And if you’re hesitant, I get it. It took me nearly two years from diagnosis to embrace the idea. I don’t enjoy taking pills, but am very grateful for the fact that they mitigate risk for further seizures. So I got a box that I like. It is bright and multicolored. I may buy some stickers and personalize it even further. Why not?
If you have to take pills throughout the day for any reason, and have any trouble keeping track of them, I hope that this tip may resonate with you. You can’t argue with a box.
November 25, 2022
Picture: Pill box with seven sections and colors - each section labeled for the day of the week
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